Tennessee lawmakers have tweaked a bill to allow the public to eventually know how much money officials spend to bring an NFL Super Bowl to Nashville.
But the legislation still allows signed contracts to remain hidden for years.
“This is a better bill, but it requires the tourism department to follow its intent,” said Deborah Fisher, the executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government.
Under the new version — which passed the state Senate on March 25 and is awaiting another vote in the House — once the state tourism department spends money, the contracts should become available to the public.
In practice, the public could have to wait years to know how much officials would spend to host big-ticket tourism events like the National Football League championship game or a political party’s national convention since the spending of money could happen long after a deal is signed.