News - Page 43 of 125 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

16 Nov, 2018

Memphis considers using code names for companies getting economic development incentives

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T11:47:08-06:00November 16, 2018|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Al Bright, Commercial Appeal, economic development, EDGE, Memphis, Richard Smith, State Rep. Sam Whitson|0 Comments

The Economic and Development Growth Engine Board for Memphis (EDGE) is seeking at Attorney General's opinion on whether it can use code names to keep secret from the public the identity of companies before it votes to award the companies government cash grants and other economic development incentives. Al Bright chairman of the Memphis Economic Development and Growth Engine, said if using code names for companies when voting on cash grants and incentives instead of publicly disclosing identities would encourage more businesses to come to Memphis, "by all means, we need to do it." The attorney for the board told the Commercial Appeal (Companies seeking tax breaks from [...]

14 Nov, 2018

Questions about photography ban, ID requirement prompts committee to stop agency’s public records rules

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T12:17:04-06:00November 14, 2018|Categories: requests, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: identification, photos of public records, public records policies, State Rep. Bo Mitchell, State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, State Rep. Jeremy Faison, State Sen. Janice Bowling, State Sen. Mark Pody, State Sen. Mike Bell, State Sen. Rusty Crowe|1 Comment

The Joint Government Operations Committee voted today to ask the Department of Financial Institutions to hold a public hearing on its rules related to public records requests after questions about the agency's proposed ban on photography of records and the requirement of a Tennessee driver's license or photo ID to inspect or get copies of records. Some committee members said that hearing public records rules of state agencies during the rule-making process this year has prompted them to believe changes to the public records act are due. The Department of Financial Institutions is one of many state agencies going through the rule-making process related to public records access. All state [...]

14 Nov, 2018

What records are open and closed on the Amazon deal?

By Deborah Fisher|2020-11-19T12:37:18-06:00November 14, 2018|Categories: exemptions|Tags: Amazon, Bob Rolfe, economic development, State Funding Board, tax credits|0 Comments

Now that Amazon has announced that it will locate a logistics hub with 5,000 big-paying jobs in Nashville, what documents related to the $102 million incentive deal are subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act? The incentives announced yesterday break down this way, as reported by news outlets: A $65 million grant from the state based on Amazon creating 5,000 jobs and investing $600 million within a seven-year period. The grant can be used for land acquisition, site preparation, building construction, infrastructure improvements and development, including, but not limited to, sewer, water and utility infrastructure, or "any other eligible activities," according to a Nov. 2 summary of state incentives obtained by [...]

9 Nov, 2018

TBI Director announces more transparency on internal investigations

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T14:25:42-06:00November 9, 2018|Categories: Public Records|Tags: David Rausch, Phil Williams, TBI|0 Comments

TBI Director David Rausch has announced that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will no longer shield from the public the outcomes of internal investigations into possible misconduct by its agents. TBI Director David Rausch Previously, if a member of the public complained about an agent's actions, the department would conduct an investigation, but claimed that those investigations were confidential under the public records law exemption that makes all TBI investigation documents confidential. "What I am doing is on our internal complaints that come from the public, we will make those an administrative investigation. And administrative investigations, when they are concluded, are open to public review," announced Rausch, who [...]

8 Nov, 2018

Bill Lee says he will lead “complete overhaul” of public records, open meetings laws

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-08T19:31:15-06:00November 8, 2018|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings, Public Records|Tags: ACOG, Bill Haslam, Bill Lee, exemptions, Open Records Ad Hoc Committee|1 Comment

Governor-elect Bill Lee announced today on the priorities page of his new website that he "will lead a complete overhaul of our open records and open meetings acts" and receive public comments before he signs new laws. Gov.-elect Bill Lee says he will lead an overhaul of the public records and open meetings law to make government more transparent for citizens. Under "Open and Responsive Government," the priority says: "Tennessee taxpayers deserve a transparent and open government. Bill will initiate a new program to invite and receive public comments on new laws before signing, and he will get out of the bubble of Nashville to deliver State of the [...]