It’s Sunshine Week in Tennessee.
It’s certainly nice to feel the warmth of the bright, big star after a cold, snowy winter, but the sunshine in question concerns transparency and openness in government.
When it was created, the Volunteer State’s Sunshine Law was praised as being one of the best in the country. And while a few clouds have recently drifted across the sun, there is still much to praise. The information available on the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance website, for instance, offers voters information about candidates, who gives to them and how they spend their money in their campaigns and while in office. In general, such transparency and full disclosure help keep legislators accountable.
The recently released annual report to the governor and General Assembly of the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, further, reveals that political action committees actually spent less to influence elections in Tennessee in 2014 than they did in 2012 and just slightly more than they did in 2010.
However, independent expenditures — expenditures made to support or oppose candidates without consulting the candidates or candidates’ committees — hit a record $3,257, 980 in 2014 after declining for the last two election-year cycles.
Taken together, the total amount of PAC spending — $10.1 million — was less than the previous election year’s spending for the first time since officials began keeping records in 1996.
The decline might well show a satisfaction with the Republican majorities in the General Assembly, a lack of credible Democratic candidates or both. Or neither.
But political action committees are rarely standing still and did not take a break after the November election.
For state Rep. Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, the House majority leader, and state Sen. Bo Watson, R-Chattanooga, the Senate speaker pro tempore, in particular, PAC money just kept rolling in.
In the fourth quarter reporting period between Oct. 26, 2014, and Jan. 15, 2015, McCormick collected $26,650 and Watson $21,200, almost all of it — for both public servants — from PAC money. Neither had opponents in the 2014 Republican primary or November general election.
McCormick’s contributions came from PACs created by law firms, health insurance companies, energy companies, automotive retailers, hospital firms, pharmaceutical firms, housing firms, quick cash companies, communications companies, retirement companies, architect groups, broadcaster groups, chambers of commerce groups, public education groups, grocery/convenience store groups, highway contractor groups, oil marketer groups, utilities groups and wholesalers associations, among others.
In his position, he is often doing legislative business while home in Chattanooga, as his itemized expenditures in the fourth quarter reveal. In that time, he expensed one meal at Bluewater Grill, three at Champy’s Fried Chicken, one at Clyde’s on Main, four at Community Pie and one at Lakeshore Restaurant. He also made itemized expenditures on gasoline, flowers, lodging, self-storage rental, cellular telephone service, postage, fundraising, advertising, receptions, printing and various dues.
Meanwhile, McCormick made donations to the Children’s Advocacy Center, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Fifty Plus Alzheimer’s Research, Haslam Inaugural Committee, House Republican Caucus, National Rifle Association and the Pachyderm Club.
Watson, a third-term senator, received contributions in the fourth quarter from PACs created by law firms, health insurance companies, automotive retailers, hospital firms, pharmaceutical firms, communications companies, retirement companies, anesthesiologist firms, architect groups, broadcaster groups, grocery/convenience store groups, utilities groups, railroad companies, ophthalmology groups, life insurance companies, mortgage banker groups, optometrist groups and orthopaedic groups, among others.
He expensed charges for cellular telephone service, Christmas card mailings, framing, gasoline, parking, legislative travel, office supplies and postage.
Their end-of-year balances showed $35,154.72 for McCormick and $282,828.40 for Watson.
The two legislators were not alone in receiving PAC contributions, but clearly power and longevity have their privileges.
For instance, among other Hamilton County legislators who faced election in November, newly elected state Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, received $7,050 in the fourth-quarter reporting period, newly elected state Rep. Marc Gravitt, R-East Ridge, $5,900, and state Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, $4,450. The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance did not list any contributions for state Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, during the period.
The clouds that emerged Tuesday, though, revealed that some Tennessee House committees have routinely been meeting in unannounced “pre-meetings” to discuss pending legislation before bills come up for public consideration in committees and subcommittees.
House members say since no vote is being taken, the meetings don’t violate the state’s Open Meetings Act, but they certainly violate the spirit of it. And since the “pre-meetings” have their own set of rules, depending on the committee, the indication is they’re not a part of the orderly House procedure.
Now that the “pre-meetings” are out in the open, if the House is serious about their time-saving worth, members should welcome the public to them or work toward a compromise that offers both the transparency Tennesseans deserve and the efficiency in government legislators desire.