News - Page 42 of 128 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

7 Mar, 2019

Mom fights for law to allow parents to view school bus video

By Deborah Fisher|2019-03-07T18:36:17-06:00March 7, 2019|Categories: Legislature, schools|Tags: Brooke Wilkerson, FERPA, school bus video, State Rep. Rick Tillis, State Sen. Shane Reeves|3 Comments

Lawmakers will consider a bill next week to allow parents to view school bus video after reports of physical harm, harassment, intimidation or bullying involving their child. Sen. Shane Reeves, R-Murfreesboro, is sponsoring SB 182, after hearing from a Lewisburg mother who faced roadblocks in finding out what happened to her kindergartener on the bus. Brooke Wilkerson, a Lewisburg mom who faced roadblocks in trying to see school bus video after her kindergartener told of her of a "secret tickling game" with a 12-year-old that took place on the bus. Brooke Wilkerson said she was concerned when her young daughter told her about a "secret tickling game" on the [...]

7 Mar, 2019

Confidentiality of government settlements in sexual harassment claims at issue in proposed law

By Deborah Fisher|2019-03-07T11:55:37-06:00March 7, 2019|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|0 Comments

A bill that would allow the identities of victims of sexual harassment and sexual criminal offenses, and possibly other identifying details, to be concealed as part of settlement agreements with the government is going back to a subcommittee for an additional amendment. State Rep. Carson Beck, D-Nashville The bill, HB 594 by state Rep. Carson Beck, D-Nashville, was referred back to the House Civil Justice Subcommittee because of a late-filed amendment. The language in the current bill says: “Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any provision of a settlement agreement entered into be a governmental entity that has the effect of prohibiting the disclosure of details or the [...]

7 Mar, 2019

House subcommittee approves bill to improve vetting of new public records exemptions

By Deborah Fisher|2019-03-07T11:30:00-06:00March 7, 2019|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: caption bills, exemptions, Open Record Ad Hoc Committee, State Rep. Bob Ramsey, State Rep. Jason Zachary|1 Comment

A House subcommittee approved a bill on Wednesday that would change the way legislation to create new exemptions to the public records law are vetted. The bill, HB86 by state Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, will require House bills that create an exception to the Tennessee Public Records Act to be referred to the House Government Operations Committee for a positive, negative or neutral recommendation. State Rep. Jason Zachary, co-chair of the Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, said in December the task of going through 563 exemptions was too large to get done in five months. Zachary explained any such bill would then go back to the standing committee [...]

7 Mar, 2019

Government business is not a trade secret

By Deborah Fisher|2019-03-08T06:50:00-06:00March 7, 2019|Categories: Legislature|Tags: economic development, trade secrets|2 Comments

Government officials have found an effective way to keep secrets, especially when they don’t want taxpayers and voters to know about sweetheart deals with favored businesses. It works something like this. First, the government officials sign a non-disclosure agreement with the business that says that anything in an upcoming government contract with the business could be considered proprietary, a trade secret or otherwise confidential information of the business, and not disclosable under Tennessee Public Records law. Next, they agree that they will not disclose anything to members of the public about the deal’s details, even at a public meeting in which a governing body must vote on it. Often, they [...]

6 Mar, 2019

Commercial Appeal: Bill would require Tennessee governments to disclose payments to companies

By Deborah Fisher|2019-03-06T09:12:57-06:00March 6, 2019|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: economic development, Google, State Rep. Martin Daniel, trade secrets, University of Tennessee|0 Comments

The Commercial Appeal recently did a story about a bill in the Legislature, supported by TCOG, that would solve the issue of business entities claiming that government documents about payments made to them are confidential because the payment they received constitutes a trade secret. It flies in the face of the Tennessee Public Records Act that states "all documents ... made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any governmental entity" are public records. But the business are getting away with it. See below for an example with Google and the Montgomery County Industrial Development Board, and the University of [...]