Tennessee Senate tweaks bill seeking to keep tourism records secret for 10 years

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s Republican-controlled Senate on Monday tweaked a proposal initially designed to keep the state’s tourism records hidden from public scrutiny, bidding to add more sunshine into how the state secures high-profile events.

Last month, the GOP-dominant House approved legislation that would have allowed the head of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development to exempt any public records for 10 years deemed “sensitive” by both the commissioner and attorney general.

The bill, backed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, alarmed open government advocates who argued that tourism records could legally be destroyed within that 10-year period and thus never see the light of day.

In response, Senate members changed the proposed bill to say that tourism records deemed “sensitive” can bypass the 10-year waiting period if the state funds involved have been dispersed, the negotiated event concludes or the contract entered into by the state expires.

While there’s still a chance some documents could be withheld for 10 years, the Senate’s proposal also states that those records cannot be destroyed during that time period.

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