TN bill to make tourism records secret passes House: 'Get the Super Bowl,' lawmaker says

A bill proposed by the Lee administration, which seeks to 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,” passed in the House on Thursday, despite pushback over how it could deal a blow to transparency.

The bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, is modeled after a similar exemption for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development that passed in 1988 and keeps records deemed sensitive secret for five years, with the possibility of an extension for a second five-year term.

The House passed the legislation, HB 1692, on a 69-14 vote. The bill has not yet been heard in a Senate committee.

Rep. Andrew Farmer, R-Sevierville, presented the bill in the House and repeatedly said the option of secrecy would help Nashville "get the Super Bowl."

"This would allow the department of tourism, in their negotiations with businesses and tourism interests with the state of Tennessee, to keep their trade secrets and proprietary information safe while the negotiations are going on," he said. "This would help entice things like when we get this stadium going in Nashville. This could help us get the Super Bowl, for example, and things of that nature for our mega event funds. We want Tennessee to stay on top of our tourism efforts — that keeps our taxes low and everything running smooth.”

Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, asked Farmer what records would be kept secret under this bill — citing an economic development trip to France and Italy that Lee and other administration officials took last year. Some of the records from that trip were kept secret under the ECD's public records rules, from which this bill is modeled.

Farmer said issues such as international trips are not related to the bill, and when pressed for specific examples of what the bill does cover, again noted the Super Bowl.

"This bill does not deal with that direct issue," he said. "This just deals with business relations here in Tennessee, and hoping to procure more business related to tourism...I believe now (the NFL) have negotiated out to 2027, 2028. That’s the ones they’ve announced. I would think they’re probably in negotiations for 2028, 2029, and 2030. And I would like to see Nashville on that list for the Super Bowl and other mega events that could be available to the state.”

Rep. Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, also spoke against the bill, pointing to a state regulation that allows for contract records to be destroyed after six years — an assertion Farmer said was "inaccurate," but later supported.

“So in committee, someone said there was confusion whether the statute would apply for two five-year terms or one six-year term, plus two years," Behn said. "But inevitably, the commissioner can keep any detail secret for two five-year periods, 10 years total. Everything can be destroyed before it would possibly see the light of day."

Farmer said this was "partially correct."

"What this bill does is allow for a 10-year period because the issues (tourism) deals with is much larger, and negotiation periods take much longer," he said.

He then said the state regulation regarding records disposal would apply to tourism, but brushed the transparency concern aside because the bill would help "bring big things" to Tennessee.

"The department of tourism would hold records for up to six years," he said. "But here’s the deal: we’re trying to negotiate with businesses and bring big things to this state. We’re not trying to hide things. We’re not trying to pay people, and we’re definitely not going to put them in posh hotel rooms and private jets. We’re not Washington DC. We’re smart with our money in here in Tennessee."

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"It just feels that it gives more subjectivity to the commissions on what and when to disclose," Behn said. "Call me old-fashioned, but I believe the public taxpayers and our constituents deserve to know what the government is spending money on, and this diminishes transparency."

Open records advocates in the state previously pushed back against the proposal, calling it overly broad and lacking in true accountability.

"It's particularly concerning from a transparency standpoint, because it gives complete discretion to the commissioner of the department, along with the attorney general, to keep anything confidential that he thinks would be sensitive," said Deborah Fisher, executive director of Tennessee Coalition for Open government. "It's just a very broad definition, and very subjective based on what the commissioner feels is sensitive. If you were trying to get a record, there would be no way to challenge it."

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee tourism records: Bill to grant secrecy passes House