House, Senate speakers want lawmakers to stop business with state
Tennessee’s House and Senate speakers are attempting to crack down on legislators doing business with the state, an issue that gained attention again this year with news of an FBI case involving multiple lawmakers and campaign marketing businesses.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton, Rcrossville, and Lt. Gov. Randy Mcnally, R-oak Ridge, have filed a rare, joint bill to bolster Tennessee’s existing law on members conducting business transactions with the state.
If passed, the bill would prevent legislators with political consulting companies from billing other members’ state postage and printing accounts for constituent update mailers, which multiple lawmakers have recently done.
While state law currently prevents Tennessee elected officials or state employees from selling or offering to sell goods to the state, the speakers’ House Bill 1040 and Senate Bill 798 would specifically prohibit members of the General Assembly from selling “services” to the state.
In the House public service subcommittee Wednesday, GOP Caucus chairman Jeremy Faison added an amendment to the bill to clarify it would apply to state legislators. While presenting the bill, he specified that members of the legislature could not charge a state “postage account,” money available to elected lawmakers to send out updates, surveys and other communication to residents in their district.
“I believe in Tennessee, that has probably blurred the lines of some of the things we do in here, and I feel like moving forward, we would best serve the people and the people’s money by putting ‘services’ into the bill,” said Faison, R-cosby.
Rep. Glen Casada, R-franklin, and Rep. Robin Smith, R-hixson, last year both billed state postage accounts from their political consulting businesses for legislative update mailers they created for other Republican members.
Both Casada and Smith had their homes and offices searched by the FBI Jan. 8, along with Rep. Todd Warner, Rchapel Hill. No charges have been filed in the federal case.
According to invoices submitted to the legislature, Casada’s business, Right Way Consulting, billed $12,439 to six legislators’ postage accounts between January and March 2020. Those members include Reps. John Ragan, Andrew Farmer, Dennis Powers, Susan Lynn, Chris Hurt and Bud Hulsey.
Smith’s Rivers Edge Alliance billed $10,969 to three members’ postage accounts in January 2020 for mailers created for Casada and Reps. Esther Helton and Dan Howell.
Helton, chairman of the public service subcommittee, presided over the vote Wednesday.
“I support the legislation,” Casada said in a statement when asked about Sexton’s bill, confirming that he understood the legislation appears to prevent Right Way Consulting from being able to bill members’ postage accounts in the future.
Casada said he has started another business venture, but is not yet ready to announce it.
Smith, who sponsored a bill last year that would have prevented campaign funds from being used to pay family members, said Wednesday she had not yet seen the speakers’ new bill.
Her legislation last year stalled “due to opposition within the caucus,” Smith said.
Smith’s attorney Ben Rose on Thursday provided a comment on the proposed bill, saying “in reviewing the proposed legislation, Rep. Smith is generally supportive.”
“The bill would be even more effective if it contained an amendment extending the prohibition to members’ employees, consultants, or agents and limited the use of the member postage and printing account to official correspondence only,” Rose said.
He said Smith still believed her legislation filed last year should be passed, and questioned whether Faison would “support that one, as well.”
Faison beat Smith this fall in an election for chair of the House Republican Caucus.
Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@ tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.