Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

'Advisory board' that would oversee Memphis school board would be exempt from Open Meetings Act - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government An advisory board that could oversee the Memphis Shelby County School Board, including influence over removing school board members, would be given an exemption to the Open Meetings Act under the Sena...

No sunshine here: tcog.info/advisory-boa...

Wired is dropping paywalls for FOIA-based reporting. Others should follow As the administration does its best to hide public records from the public, Wired magazine is stepping up to help stem the secrecy

They're called public records for a reason. Starting today, WIRED will *stop paywalling* articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, becoming the first publication to partner with @freedom.press to offer this for our new coverage.

Tennessee seeks to make secret revenue sharing payments to college athletes It's all about winning. Tennessee was one of the first states to push for NIL rights for athletes and this is an extension of that strategy.

In Tennessee, lawmakers are likely to pass a bill to allow our public universities to keep secret how much they pay student athletes in revenue-sharing agreements. The total amount would be public though (a bright spot). www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2...

TN immigration enforcement division to be largely exempt from state public records laws A newly-created immigration enforcement office will be largely kept secret after being exempt from state public records laws.

A new law limiting access to records in Tennessee's new immigration enforcement division was written so broadly that it could shield whether this new multimillion agency actually gets any results, and what those results are: www.tennessean.com/story/news/2...

Backroom Deals in Our Backyards | The New Press Most Americans are likely to encounter the effects of government malfeasance or neglect close to home—from their governors, mayors, town councils, school boards, police, and prosecutors. In fact, deal...

Looking for bookstores, communities, civic organizations, podcasts - all ideas welcome! thenewpress.com/books/backro... is out May 6 & is especially timely with its real life examples of people fighting local, state and federal government secrecy that harms communities and benefits big business.

Cash for Clout database: Tennessee's million-dollar club • Tennessee Lookout A group of companies, families and corporate associations have spent more than $1 million each since 2009 to lobby the Tennessee Legislature.

I've updated our Tennessee million-dollar club in political spending. The $1 million club provides a 15-year look back at who's spending the most money to influence state politics.

tennesseelookout.com/2025/02/24/c...

Firing of FOIA officers leaves experts worried about public records access under Trump - Poynter ‘Anytime that whole FOIA offices are getting fired, it portends terrible things’

Firing of FOIA officers leaves experts worried about public records access under Trump “The gutting of the institutional knowledge at the National Archives is going to impact every agency across the federal government.” @laurenleharper.bsky.social www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...

Colorado Supreme Court affirms a litigant’s right to use CORA to obtain public records, but two justices object - Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition People who sue state and local government entities are still entitled to get public records from those entities by using the Colorado Open Records Act, a majority of the Colorado Supreme Court ruled.

People who sue state and local government entities are still entitled to get public records from those entities by using the Colorado Open Records Act, a majority of the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday.

Tennessee specifically requires in statute that its charters are subject to public records and open meetings law.

A few times, Tennessee's Treasury Secretary expressed great concern about national deficit and need to return deficit spending to normal levels. (A little editorial, he admitted, but clearly on his mind)

Overall - Legislature is getting word that they will have negative revenue growth because of a big business tax reduction that resets business tax portion of revenue to 2021 levels. So tight budget.

Some recognition of a birfurcated economy. Declines in purchasing power of lower income/working class may be offset from wealthier families whose purchasing power has increased. In other words some get to buy more stuff; others, less stuff, but maybe a wash on sales tax collection.

Labor market participation has dropped as more retirees move to the state, with labor participation down to 59.4%. Housing prices, once lower than border states and U.S, are now higher than border states and U.S. Median sales price is $427,000, possibly affecting worker inflow. Rents up, too.

Some items: Sales tax revenue is more important than ever to funding government b/c of policy cuts in business taxes. Good news for TN govt (but maybe not citizens in general): Inflation has helped the state's sales tax revenues and prices are expected to remain high with no deflation expected.

YouTube video by Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury State Funding Board Revenue Estimating Meeting - 11/4/2024

If you want to know about the economy in TN, this is a good video to understand it with explanations from various economists as they give the state its tax revenue projections for the next budget year. youtu.be/sbXhxIV9syA?...

Tennessee Supreme Court to hear case on sealed court records The Tennessee Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in which a lower court judge refused to unseal court records in a test of the First Amendment right of access by the public to court proceeding…

The Tennessee Supreme Court agreed to hear a case from @nashvillebanner.bsky.social about sealed court records in a Davidson County Court. Goes to heart of First Amendment access & what standards can be used to justify a seal. @reporterscommittee.bsky.social for amici. tcog.info/tennessee-su...

Johnson City police accused of altering, concealing evidence in new allegations • Tennessee Lookout New allegations in the civil lawsuit alleging members of the Johnson City Police Department protected a business owner accused of sexual assault.

Johnson City police knew as early as July 2020 about the existence of graphic photographs showing Sean Williams sexually abusing children, but failed to investigate, a class action lawsuit filed by his alleged victims claims

JCPD has denied wrong doing.

tennesseelookout.com/2024/11/11/j...

Our colleagues over in Colorado have created an open government starter pack for those interested in what's going on with FOI at the state level.

I created an FOI and Open Government starter pack and will add to it when I see more FOI warriors on Bluesky.