NASHVILLE -- An expanded blackout on incumbent legislators using taxpayer funds for pre-election mailings would be imposed under a bill filed last week by state House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick.
McCormick says he will consider adding other changes to the sometimes controversial "constituent communications accounts" when the bill comes up for debate during the upcoming session of the 109th Tennessee General Assembly, which convenes Jan. 13.
Current law prohibits legislators from using the funds to send mass mailings to voters 30 days before an election. The bill (HB9) would expand the blackout to 90 days before an election.
The Chattanooga Republican said he was inspired partly by reports that former state Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, sent out a mailing on the last possible day -- July 8 -- before the blackout preceding the Aug. 7 primary.
"I've seen it before over the years, and I think it's abused at the federal level," McCormick said. "It's a matter of public perception. We have incumbents sending out these things that look suspiciously like campaign materials."
At the federal level, congressmen get free postage for their mass mailings under a system called "franking." At the state level, each senator gets $6,832 per year placed into a "constituent communications" account; each representative gets $2,016.
While rules prohibit political messages in the constituent communications, critics note such mailings are often used to promote a legislator's accomplishments and general name recognition -- tactics that can be valuable in campaigning or re-election.
McCormick said it is appropriate for legislators to keep constituents informed about legislative developments and seek their input through questionnaires and the like.
"I don't want to interrupt that in any way," he said.
But putting more distance in time between such endeavors and an election will help avoid a perception of political overtones, he said.
Dick Williams, president of the government watchdog organization Common Cause in Tennessee, said he will urge McCormick to go further in reforming the constituent communications accounts. While not opposed to expanding the blackout period by some amount, Williams said 90 days might not be necessary if a mailing is a "legitimate constituent information tool."
Of more concern from a public interest perspective, Williams said, would be a ban on allowing legislators to build up a large amount of money in their accounts, then spending it in an election year or transferring money from their accounts to other legislators.
Currently, when legislators do not spend money in their accounts, the funds are rolled over to the next year. Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Bo Watson, R-Hixson, has accumulated more than $110,000 in his account -- the highest banked amount of any lawmaker.
Some of that was, in effect, inherited from legislators who previously held Watson's seat. The present system provides that, when a legislator leaves office, money remaining in an account is available for the new legislator in that district to spend.
On the other hand, some lawmakers overspend their annual allotment and wind up writing checks to the state to cover the excess spending.
Also, legislators can transfer unspent money from their accounts to other legislators. Typically, this happens when the transferring legislator has no opponent for re-election and the receiving legislator does.
"Under the current law, I don't blame people for handling it the way they do. I just don't think it's appropriate," Williams said.
A better system, he said, might be to set a "reasonable and appropriate amount" for spending annually by each legislator. If not spent, the money would revert to the state's general fund for other uses under such a "use it or lose it" approach.
McCormick, unopposed for re-election last year, is among those who have transferred unused money to fellow Republicans who face opposition.
"Yes, I've done that myself," he said, adding he has "not given much thought" to the idea of prohibiting transfers -- but is not necessarily opposed.
McCormick said the provision of current law that sends a retiring or defeated legislator's money to a successor in office is "something that needs to be looked at" along with "anything we can do, looking forward, that helps provide open, honest and transparent government."
Campfield, who lost the Aug. 7 Republican primary to Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, drained his constituent communications account shortly before his term ended in November by spending $2,248 on a "farewell" letter to constituents and transferring most of the remaining money to other Republican senators -- a move that prevented Briggs from inheriting any funds in his account. Other exiting legislators have made similar moves.
At the time, Campfield said his actions were all appropriate and approved as provided under current law. Reached by phone Saturday, Campfield declined to comment on McCormick's proposal.