financial disclosures

20 Mar, 2017

Ethics bills would require lawmaker disclosure of gifts, including for travel

By |2017-03-20T11:03:17-05:00March 20, 2017|Categories: Legislature|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment

Two different sets of ethics legislation on House and Senate calendars this week would require more disclosure of gifts, including for travel, received by lawmakers from people with an interest in influencing public policy. Both sets of bills would increase transparency. Currently, anyone who is not a lobbyist or an employer of a lobbyist can give any amount of money or gift to a lawmaker and the lawmaker does not need to report that gift to the Tennessee Ethics Commission. The issue of such unreported gifts came to light last year after Dave Boucher and Joel Ebert of The Tennessean reported about a Gulf Shores fishing trip hosted by a [...]

15 Feb, 2017

Interested in open government? Bills to watch in 2017 in Tennessee

By |2017-03-17T15:00:31-05:00February 15, 2017|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Lawmakers have filed dozens of bill this year that could affect a citizen’s ability to get information about their local and state government.  While it’s still early, here is a list of bills to watch. Economic development records HB 947 / SB 1179 - State Rep. Sam Whitson, R-Franklin / State Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald - Makes confidential county and municipal records related to economic development. Part of this bill would make confidential any county or city economic development contracts, agreements and related records until after a contract is entered into. The other part of the bill allows a county or municipality to keep any documents confidential after a contract [...]

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