State integrity news for Tennessee, from the Tennesseean:

A website debuting today will make it easier for the public to see some of the economic incentives the state has given to companies doing business here.

But the move is only a first step toward full transparency regarding the jobs actually created by those firms at a time when economic pressures are making elected officials especially willing to use incentives and subsidies, according to an accountability group that advised state officials as they developed the site.

Read the rest of the story at the Tennesseean.

State integrity news for Tennessee, from TNReport:

The State of Tennessee is lately booting up new technologies designed in theory to ease the public’s often wearisome interactions with government bureaucracies.

But genuine progress toward making government more transparent to taxpayers is actually pretty slow going, according to groups that promote easy access to public information.

Read the rest of the story at TNReport.

State integrity news for Tennessee, from the Tennesseean:

Gov. Bill Haslam says it’s “not easy” to strike a balance between efficiency and transparency in state government. Haslam has signed measures to make confidential the names of all but the three finalists for leadership positions in state colleges and universities, and to prevent parents from finding out the evaluation scores of teachers.

Haslam in an interview with The Associated Press last week also continued to defend his failed effort to close off information about companies — including the identities of their owners — that receive cash grants from the state.

Read the rest of the story at the Tennessean.

By Kent Flanagan, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

Secrecy seemed to be a common thread running through the session of the Tennessee Legislature that ended May 1. The latest “secret” revealed is that key members of the Legislature met on April 23 at a Nashville restaurant of the session to work out deals on amendments to the governor’s $34.1 billion state budget proposal.

The secret session was revealed in an Associated Press story filed the following day.  No one in the Legislature or the governor’s office seemed upset that the meeting was held or revealed in news stories. But a representative of Gov. Bill Haslam did take care to note that no one from the governor’s office participated in the weekend meeting.

Tennessee political reporters and observer s know that this happens near the end of every legislative session in Tennessee. And it’s the reason the State Integrity Investigation, a national project to determine the potential for corruption in all 50 states, gave Tennessee a score of 0 out of a possible 100 on whether the "state budgetary process is conducted in a transparent manner."

State integrity news for Tennessee, from the Tennessean:

Senators voted 30-0 to replace the Court of the Judiciary, which reviews and rules on complaints against judges, with a new 16-member board appointed by judges, legislative leaders and the governor. The new Board of Judicial Conduct would be created after years of complaints that the Court of the Judiciary did not aggressively investigate claims of judicial misconduct and was too closely tied to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which appointed more than half of its members.

The measure, Senate Bill 2671, also sets up a procedure for investigating complaints against judges and requires the board to report regularly to the legislature on how grievances are resolved.

Read the rest of the story at the Tennesseean.

Corruption news for Tennessee, from The Tennesseean:

A longtime state employee who has been diagnosed with cancer has filed suit charging that top officials in Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration illegally terminated him in violation of some of the same civil service laws and rules the governor is seeking to abolish. William B. Wood, 54, of Nashville has charged that he was terminated without cause or notice just six months before he would have become eligible for retirement health insurance. His suit, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court, states that Wood currently is unable to get coverage or treatment for his cancer.

The suit charges that Wood’s job, as an attorney and workers’ compensation specialist, was improperly classified as “executive service” and that he was improperly denied the right to challenge his dismissal.

Read the rest of the story at The Tennesseean.

Corruption news for Tennessee, from the Times Free Press:

Top legislative leaders want to rewrite Gov. Bill Haslam’s legislation that would keep the public from seeing the names of owners of companies receiving taxpayer-funded economic incentives.Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, and House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, said citizens should know the ownership interests behind companies getting state Fast Track development grants, tax incentives and tax credits.

A bill sought by Haslam (pictured, right), a fellow Republican, and Economic Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty seeks more detailed information from companies receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money. It includes “information on business processes, organizational structure and ownership, financial statements” and similar data.

Read the rest of the story at the Times Free Press.

Corruption news for Tennessee, from Politifact:

It was Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey’s mantra – Open! Transparent! – from Jan. 4 when state legislative redistricting plans were first made public through Jan. 13 when they won final legislative approval.

Despite the rhetoric, Jan. 27 was the first moment in the five-month process of drawing and approving new districts that Tennesseans could zoom in on their homes on the Internet and -- particularly for those living near district boundaries -- determine precisely which state House, Senate and congressional districts they’ll be voting in for the next 10 years. That was two weeks after the maps were adopted – too late to contact legislators or appear before a committee to try to alter the outcome.

Read the rest of the story at Politifact.

Corruption news for Tennessee, from the Knoxville News Sentinel:

The effort to gut Tennessee's Open Meetings Act has been called off for this legislative session, a welcome development that shows many in Nashville understand the importance of transparency in local government. House Speaker Beth Harwell stepped in to voice opposition to a bill that would allow members of local legislative bodies to meet in private as long as a quorum isn't present, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The sunshine law requires that government bodies like county commissions, school boards and city councils give sufficient public notice of their meetings and bars two or more members from deliberating in secret.

Read the rest of the story at the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Corruption news for Tennessee, from the Tennesseean:

Tennessee lawmakers have failed for two years to fill a seat on the panel responsible for regulating lobbying activities, financial disclosure requirements and ethical conduct within state and local government.

The Tennessee Ethics Commission was created in 2006 to help restore the public’s faith in government after the Tennessee Waltz bribery scandal of 2005 led to the convictions of nine state and local officials and a lobbyist. Appointments to the body, however, havn’t been treated with urgency in the years since, contributing to criticism that the commission is ineffective at fighting corruption in the executive and legislative branches.

Read the rest of the story at the Tennessean.