News - Page 41 of 125 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

6 Feb, 2019

Listen to TCOG on the Grand Divisions podcast with Rep. Jason Zachary

By Deborah Fisher|2019-02-06T08:52:37-06:00February 6, 2019|Categories: exemptions, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Grand Divisions podcast, Open Record Ad Hoc Committee, State Rep. Jason Zachary|0 Comments

This week, I was interviewed along with state Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, on the Grand Divisions podcast about open government legislation. We primarily talked about a bill that will require a review of all existing 560-plus exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act. Zachary was the co-chair of an ad hoc joint committee, appointed by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and then-House Speaker Beth Harwell, to consider the growing list of exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act for those that need to be eliminated, tweaked, re-examined. Follow this link to hear the podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/user/9033845/grand-divisions-tennessee-news The Grand Divisions podcast is great for anyone interested in state politics. I've been listening since last [...]

31 Jan, 2019

Burchett introduces bill to require open meetings of TVA board

By Deborah Fisher|2019-06-08T07:33:36-05:00January 31, 2019|Categories: US House of Representatives|Tags: open meetings, Tim Burchett, TVA, U.S House of Representatives|0 Comments

U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, has introduced legislation to require TVA board meetings to be open to the public. U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, R- Knoxville, introduced legislation that would require that TVA's board meetings, and meetings of board subcommittees, be open to the public. The current law governing the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which was created by Congress in 1933, requires it to have four meetings a year. But there is no provision requiring that all of its meetings be open to the public, nor that minutes of meetings be publicly available. Burchett's legislation would require the board and subcommittees of the board to hold their [...]

30 Jan, 2019

Update: Casada’s office says only disruptive behavior will result in a person’s removal from meetings

By Deborah Fisher|2019-01-30T12:05:07-06:00January 30, 2019|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|0 Comments

Cade Cothren, chief of staff for Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, clarified in a statement today that only someone who "actively violates House policy by disrupting the legislative process" would be removed from a legislative committee meeting. The full statement: "House session and committee hearings are and will continue to be shown on the General Assembly’s website and on public television stations across the state. If someone actively violates House policy by disrupting the legislative process — through unruly live-streaming, blatant disregard for decorum, or disrespect of members or the public — they will be removed from the area. Legislators, stakeholders, and those visiting to see government in action must [...]

30 Jan, 2019

Let’s not throw citizens out for video streaming the Legislature

By Deborah Fisher|2019-01-30T10:57:36-06:00January 30, 2019|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings|Tags: camera ban, legislature, open meetings, video streaming|1 Comment

Some House committee and subcommittee chairs announced Tuesday that they are not permitting video streaming in their committee meetings or they won't allow it without prior permission from the chair, according to a report today in The Tennessean. Some said the policy will only apply to lawmakers; others did not make that distinction and their statements appeared to suggest it could apply to anyone in the audience. Cade Cothren, chief of staff for House Speaker Glen Casada, clarified that members of the news media would not be banned from taking video of meetings and told me that only if someone was causing a disruption would they be removed. And, as [...]

17 Jan, 2019

Nashville housing board agrees to put more information on meeting agendas

By Deborah Fisher|2023-04-11T10:58:09-05:00January 17, 2019|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: agendas, MDHA|0 Comments

Updated Friday, 4:30 p.m. Nashville Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency told a Metro Council committee this week that it will improve what it shares with the public on its meeting agendas, and the board members will now file annual ethics and disclosure forms, according to The Tennessean. The Tennessean had earlier reported how the board awards millions of dollars to developers, but operates with little oversight or transparency. For example, while the board posts its meeting agendas online, the agendas are bare-bones with few clues as to what actually might be discussed. The public doesn't much chance in guessing what an agenda item might mean. See an example here from [...]