Tennessee Senate adds more transparency to bill that would keep tourism records secret for 10 years

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, spoke with Fox News Digital about his school choice proposal advancing in the state legislature as parental rights remain a key 2024 election issue.

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.

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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.

Yet some Senate lawmakers expressed discontent about adding more public records exemptions.

The Tennessee Capitol is seen on Jan. 22, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee. The Tennessee Senate changed a proposed bill that would keep the state's tourism records hidden from the public eye for up to ten years to add that records can