vendor confidentiality Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

5 Mar, 2017

Lawmakers question redaction of vendor names

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-05T16:44:23-06:00March 5, 2017|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: public records exemption, State Rep. Bill Sanderson, State Sen. Ken Yager, vendor confidentiality, vendor names|0 Comments

Proposed legislation clarifying a 2016 law that made identities of certain government vendors confidential passed out of a Senate committee and House subcommittee this week after questions from lawmakers. An amendment was added in the House that would allow access to the identities by state lawmakers. The lawmakers carrying the bill for the Haslam administration said the statute needed to be clarified because the intent was only to keep confidential names of vendors who provide IT security. The earlier language caused some to be concerned the exemption was too broad, state Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon, told a Senate committee on Tuesday. State Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston State Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, and [...]

26 Apr, 2016

15 decisions on public records by the Tennessee Legislature in 2016

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-09T08:23:32-06:00April 26, 2016|Categories: court records, crime records, exemptions, fees, Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel, requests|Tags: birth certificates, civil asset forfeiture, court records, death certificates, drones, exemptions, fees for public records, government contracts, legislature, police body cameras, police records, police shootings, public notice, tax records, TBI, vendor confidentiality|1 Comment

This year, Tennessee lawmakers punted on public records bills that could have created new access rights to see police body camera video and files of finished investigations into officer-involved shootings. But they did pass several new laws — some that exempted more government information from public view, and others that hold promise for improving government transparency. Following is a roundup of action by the Tennessee Legislature related to public records and access. 1- Police body cameras: After a late-in-session effort to pass a body camera bill and disagreement among stakeholders, the House State Government Committee instructed the Advisory Committee on Open Government to study the issue and provide them with [...]

16 Feb, 2016

Vendor confidentiality bill moves out of key House committee

By Deborah Fisher|2016-02-17T08:42:46-06:00February 16, 2016|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: cybersecurity, legislature, State Rep. Bill Sanderson, State Rep. Cameron Sexton, vendor confidentiality|0 Comments

A Haslam administration bill that would make confidential the names of vendors who provide goods and services "used to protect government property, government employee information, or citizen information" passed out of the House State Government Committee. The bill was amended so that it applied to all state government, and allowed local government to opt into the exemption if a local governing body "voted affirmatively to make such information confidential." The amendment also allowed for a governmental entity to provide the identity of the vendor to the comptroller of the treasury and to lawmakers on the fiscal review committee, but said those people should not share the vendor identities with others. The [...]