Tennessee Senate passes altered tourism secrecy bill
One of the state's largest industries may soon be able to keep records secret from the public, following the Senate passage of a bill on Monday that would change public records laws around tourism documents.
The bill, SB2093, will allow records from the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development to be exempt from public records laws if the tourism commissioner and attorney general deem them “sensitive.”
The House passed the bill in February, but the legislation has faced more debate in the Senate, where amendments were added to define how long documents could remain secret without being destroyed.
The House version of the bill states if documents are deemed “sensitive,” they could be kept secret for up to two fiveyear periods. This timeframe posed a concern for some legislators, who pointed out that state regulations allow many contract records to be destroyed after only six years, effectively eliminating any chance for the public to see what taxpayer money is funding.
The amended Senate bill details that records deemed sensitive can only remain confidential until one of three things has happened: 10 years have passed since they were declared sensitive; state funds were disbursed; or “the conclusion of the event in which the contract or event was negotiated.”
Despite the amendment, many remained skeptical, with numerous senators speaking against the bill before it went on to pass by a 24 to 6 vote.
“Anytime we tinker with open records laws and allow exemptions for different bodies and stuff, I think we're going down a slippery slope,” said Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-chattanooga, who has routinely advocated for strong open records laws. “Respect to Senate sponsors, but I'll be voting no on this.”
Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-nashville, agreed with Gardenhire.
“What could possibly be so secretive that we're trying to hide, and that the public doesn't have the right to know, when it relates to tourism?” Oliver said. “Why do we need a bill like this? ... What is so sensitive that we can't allow the public to have a right to know how their taxpayer money is going to be used?”
Since the bill's debut in January, lawmakers questioned its overall need, as well as possible transparency concerns.
Rep. Andrew Farmer, R-sevierville, who presented the bill to the House floor in February, said the bill was crucial as it would help Tennessee “get the Super Bowl.”
As the House and Senate versions remain different, the two chambers will have to work out their differences before the legislation can go to Gov. Bill Lee for his signature.
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