Amends TCA Title 2, Chapter 10, Part 1; Title 2, Chapter 10, Part 2; Title 3, Chapter 1, Part 1; Title 3, Chapter 6, Part 1; Title 3, Chapter 6, Part 2; Title 4, Chapter 55 and Title 8, Chapter 50, Part 5.

This bill revises various provisions relative to ethics and campaign finance laws, as follows: (1) In regard to the provisions governing penalties for violations of the financial disclosure laws, this bill prohibits the registry of election finance from accepting a settlement in which the aggregate amount of assessed civil penalties exceeds $25,000, unless the settlement proposal is considered at either a regular meeting or a special meeting called by the chair in which at least 24 hours' notice is given to each member of the registry and each party seeking a settlement proposal. If a special meeting is called pursuant to this bill, an agenda for the meeting must be placed on the home page of the registry website at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. The agenda must include the style of the matters to be discussed, and the special meeting must be limited to consideration of the matters listed on the agenda; (2) This bill requires that each regular meeting agenda be published on the registry's website at least five business days prior to the date of the meeting; (3) This bill requires that each regular meeting agenda for the ethics commission be published on the commission's website at least five business days prior to the date of the meeting; (4) In regard to penalties under the Tennessee Ethics Commission Act of 2006, this bill prohibits the commission from accepting a settlement in which the aggregate amount of assessed civil penalties exceeds $25,000, unless the settlement proposal is considered at either a regular meeting or a special meeting called by the chair in which at least 24 hours' notice is given to each member of the commission and each party seeking a settlement proposal. If a special meeting is called, an agenda for the meeting must be placed on the home page of the commission's website at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. The agenda must include the style of the matters to be discussed, and the special meeting must be limited to consideration of the matters listed on the agenda; and (5) This bill requires that each regular meeting agenda for the bureau of ethics and campaign finance be published on the bureau's website at least five business days prior to the date of the meeting. ON APRIL 14, 2022, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENTS #1 AND 2 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1005, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT revises other various provisions regarding ethics and campaign finance law (in addition to those revised by the bill as introduced, as described above in the bill summary), as follows: (1) Deletes the present law provisions whereby a multicandidate political campaign committee other than a committee controlled by a political party on the national, state, or local level or by a caucus of such political party established by members of either house of the general assembly is prohibited from making a contribution to any candidate after the 10th day before an election until the day of the election; (2) Revises the present law provisions governing the contents of contribution and expenditure statements. Under present law, if neither the contributions received nor the expenditures made during the period for which the statement is submitted exceed $1,000, then only a statement to that effect, and not individual contribution and expenditures, have to be included; if either were in excess of $1,000, then information has to be given of each person who contributed, or to whom an expenditure was made, of a total of more than $100 during the period for which the statement is submitted. Under this amendment, the filing a statement that all contributions and expenditures were $1,000 or less will apply to only local candidates, and state candidates will have to report each contribution and expenditure regardless of the amount; and once local candidates pass the $1,000-threshold, those candidates will also have to report each contribution and expenditure, regardless of the amount. This amendment also requires that all in-kind contributions be reported, regardless of the amount; under present law, only such contributions with a value of $100 or more have to be reported; (3) Revises the provisions governing reporting within the 10 days before an election to add authorization for electronic delivery of the report; specify that the report must contain the information of each person and "political campaign committee" from whom the candidate or committee accepted a contribution, loan, or transfer; and revise the amount that trigger the report requirement. Under present law, the applicable contributions are those in excess of the following amounts: a committee participating in the election of a candidate for any state public office, $5,000; or, a committee participating in the election of a candidate for any local public office, $2,500. Under this amendment, the applicable contributions will be each one that, in the aggregate, equals or exceeds the following amounts: $5,000 for a committee participating in the election of a candidate for any statewide office; $3,000 for a committee participating in the election of a candidate for senate; and $1,000 for a committee participating in the election of any other state or local public office. This amendment also requires reporting of expenditures in those same amounts during those 10 days. This amendment requires that the reports filed with the registry of election finance be posted on the registry's website and that the reports filed with a county election commission be posted on the commission's website; (4) Revises the provisions governing penalties for violations of the laws governing financial disclosure or contribution limits. Under present law, for any civil penalty levied by the registry against a multicandidate political campaign committee for such a violation, the treasurer of the committee is personally liable for the penalty. This amendment revises this provision so that any person who directly controlled expenditures will be personally liable for the penalty. However, for such a civil penalty levied against a multicandidate political campaign committee that named or certified one or more candidates as a treasurer or officer at the time an offense occurred, or was constructively controlled or directed by one or more candidates in the commission of an offense, the candidate, or candidates, and any person who directly controlled expenditures for the committee will be personally liable for the penalty. Any such civil penalty must not be paid using funds from a multicandidate political campaign committee; (5) Revises provisions governing funds maintained in a separate segregated account. Under present law, funds maintained in a separate segregated campaign account are not deemed to be the personal property of any candidate or other individual. This amendment makes it a requirement to maintain funds in a campaign account separate and segregated from other funds, including personal funds. A violation of this requirement will be a Class 2 offense and the violator will be subject to a civil penalty by the registry of not more than $25.00 per day up to a maximum of not more than $10,000; (6) Revises provisions governing being designated as a political campaign committee for reporting purposes. Under present law, a corporation that uses corporate funds, moneys or credits for communications expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate which funds, moneys or credits are not used with the cooperation or with the prior consent of, or in consultation with, or at the request of, or suggestion of, a candidate or any agent or authorized committee of the candidate is considered a political campaign committee for purposes of reporting such expenditures. This amendment adds that 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization will be deemed to be a political campaign committee for purposes of reporting expenditures and filing an appointment of treasurer form if: (A) The organization expends an aggregate total of at least $5,000 in organizational funds, moneys, or credits for communications that expressly contain the name or visually depict the likeness of a state or local candidate in a primary or general election; and (B) Such expenditures or communications occur within 60 calendar days immediately preceding a primary or general election in which the named or visually depicted candidate appears on the ballot; (7) Adds, in regard to the provision for the senate and house appointed members to the registry of election finance, that if the either the democratic or republican caucus does not appoint a member, as provided for in present law, within 120 days after receiving written notice of a vacancy from the registry or after receiving written notice of the expiration of a term from the registry, the appropriate speaker will appoint a democrat or republican, as applicable, to fill the vacancy or make the appointment. This amendment adds a similar provision in statute governing appointments to the ethics commission, whereby the appropriate speaker will appoint a member if the applicable caucus fails to give the speaker a list of candidates within 120 days after receiving written notice of a vacancy; (8) Prohibits registry members, and members of such members' immediate families from engaging in certain activities for one year subsequent to removal, vacancy, or termination of the term of office of the registry member. Under present law, the registry member and members of the registry member's immediate family are prohibited from engaging in the activities (such as lobbying or holding state or local public office) during the registry member's tenure on the registry, and this amendment extends the prohibition for one year after the member leaves the registry; (9) Requires the registry to complete and release its audit findings, in regard to audits of candidates for the general assembly and such candidates' committees (which audits occur during odd-numbered years), within such odd-numbered year or another odd-numbered year. Present law requires all candidates and campaigns to retain copies of all checks, bank statements and vendor receipts for two years after the date of the election to which the records refer, in order to comply with an audit. This amendment specifies that the requirement also applies to political campaign committees and revises the list of materials to be retained to be checks, money orders, wire or account transfer statements, withdrawal statements, credit or debit statements, bank statements, vendor receipts, and other documentation directly resulting from a financial transaction involving the receipt or disbursement of any funds subject to disclosure; (10) Requires a person or entity that contracts to pay a member of the general assembly or a staff person or employee of the general assembly a fee, commission, or other form of compensation, for the provision of campaign services, to disclose certain information (such as to whom the fee was paid and a description of the services rendered) to the ethics commission, in the same manner as information regarding consulting services are made to the ethics commission. In regard to the required information of "the person to whom the fee was paid," this amendment adds that the full names and identities of a person or other entity through which payment flowed to or from the person making the disclosure must also be included. This amendment requires that a copy of disclosures regarding campaign services submitted to the Tennessee ethics commission under this provision be sent by the commission to the registry of election finance; (11) Requires a member of the general assembly or a staff person or employee of the general assembly who contracts to receive a fee, commission, or other form of compensation, for the provision of campaign services to a person or entity, the member, staff person, or employee to make the disclosures required under present law, currently applicable to contracts for consulting services. This amendment requires that a copy of any disclosure regarding campaign services submitted to the Tennessee ethics commission under this provision be sent by the commission to the registry of election finance; (12) Increases, from a Class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor, the penalty for knowingly failing to file a disclosure regarding consulting services, adds failure to file a disclosure regarding campaign services, and adds that it is also a Class A misdemeanor to knowingly provide false, incomplete, or misleading information on the disclosure form in regard to consulting or campaign services. These changes are applicable to the disclosures described above in (10) and (11); (13) Adds members of the governor's cabinet to the list of persons who are prohibited from receiving compensation for consulting services; (14) Requires, beginning January 1, 2023, members of the general assembly and candidates for the general assembly to disclose, on the annual conflict of interest statement filed with the ethics commission, the name of any multicandidate political committee established or controlled by the member or candidate within the immediately preceding five years of the date of the disclosure; (15) Specifies that chancellors, circuit court judges, criminal court judges, and judges of a state trial court of record must file the annual conflict of interest statement with the ethics commission; (16) Adds an oath to the annual conflict of interest statement stating the person is subject to the penalties of perjury for a false or incomplete disclosure statement and that the information is true, complete, and correct to the best of the signor's knowledge; (17) Prohibits a candidate or political campaign committee, in soliciting and receiving a contribution from a person, from utilizing pre-checked or pre-marked boxes in a solicitation authorizing or requiring continuing future contributions to that candidate or committee from the credit card or another form of payment provided by the person from whom a contribution is requested. Such a request for a continuing future contribution from a potential contributor must be accepted and acknowledged in writing by the potential contributor in clear and precise language evidencing the intent of the contributor to authorize a continuing contribution. Such continuing contributions must not exceed the contribution limits established in present law; and (18) Requires a multicandidate campaign committee to have at least one person who directly controls expenditures. This amendment also requires a multicandidate political campaign committee that registers on or after July 1, 2022, to submit to the registry evidence of identification for each officer, person who directly controls expenditures, and treasurer. For multicandidate campaign committees in existence as of this bill's effective date, the committee must submit such required evidence of identification by January 31, 2023. AMENDMENT #2 makes the provision that deems certain tax exempt groups to be a campaign committee for purposes of reporting expenditures and filing an appointment of treasurer form applicable to entities that are exempt from federal taxes under Section 501(c)(4), (5) or (6) (instead of only 501(c)(4) organizations). ON APRIL 21, 2022, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 1005 FOR HOUSE BILL 1201, ADOPTED AMENDMENTS #1 AND #2 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1005, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 revises provisions of this bill (and present law) as amended by Senate Amendments #1 and #2, as follows: (1) Removes the changes made by Senate Amendment #1 in regard to contents of the report regarding contributions (described in (2) of the summary for Senate Amendment #1), so that will remain as under present law, and revises the requirements for expenditures to require information on each person to whom an expenditure was paid, regardless of the amount. (2) Removes the changes regarding reporting within the 10 days before an election made by Senate Amendment #1 (as described above in (3) of the summary for Senate Amendment #1), except for the authorization for electronic delivery of the report to require information regarding each "person, political campaign committee, or contributor" and to set the trigger amount at $1,000 regardless of the office. This amendment also requires information on each person or recipient entity to whom a total aggregate amount of not less than $1,000 was paid during such period, the total amount paid to that person or entity, the date the expenditure was made, and the purpose of the payment. For an independent expenditure, the report must include the name of the candidate or measure supported or opposed. This amendment retains the provisions of Senate Amendment #1 regarding the posting of the reports. (3) Removes the provisions, described above in (4) of the summary for Senate Amendment #1, whereby any person who directly controlled expenditures will be personally liable for the penalty, and revises the liability provision for when a penalty is levied against a multicandidate political campaign committee that named or certified one or more candidates as a treasurer or officer at the time an offense occurred, or was constructively controlled or directed by one or more candidates in the commission of an offense, to provide that the candidate, or candidates, and treasurer of the committee (instead of any person who directly controlled expenditures) will be personally liable for the penalty. (4) Changes the amount of penalty for a violation regarding segregated funds, as described above in (5) for the summary of Senate Amendment #1, to be a maximum of $750 dollars for each day that such funds were not separated or segregated (instead of a maximum of not more than $10,000). (5) Removes the provisions of Senate Amendment #2 regarding reporting by certain 501(c)(5) and (c)(6) organizations (in addition to (c)(4)). (It should be noted that House Amendment #2 restores (c)(5) and (c)(6) organizations to this provision, with some revisions). (6) Revises the provisions governing appointments to the registry of election finance, described above in (7) of the summary for Senate Amendment #1) to shorten from 120 days to 30 days the period of time after which, if a caucus fails to appoint a member to fill a vacancy, the applicable speaker will appoint. This amendment also adds authorization for a caucus to meet electronically for the purpose of appointing a member. This amendment removes the provision from the bill as amended by the senate which would make a similar change regarding appointments to the ethics commission. This amendment also adds that a member of the registry may not consecutively serve more than one full term, irrespective of the appointing authority; this provision will apply to terms being served upon the effective date of this bill. (7) Removes a registry member's immediate family from the present law prohibitions on being employed by the state of a political subdivision of the state, participating in an election campaign, and lobbying or employing a lobbyist. Similarly, this amendment removes the present law prohibition on an immediate family member of an ethics commission member from being employed by the state of a political subdivision of the state and participating in an election campaign. (8) Removes the provisions added by Senate Amendment #1 regarding campaign services, as described above in (10) and (11) of the summary for Senate Amendment #1 and removes the penalty increase (from Class C to Class A misdemeanor) described above in (12) of the summary for Senate Amendment #1). (9) Adds to the present law conflict of interest disclosure requirements. Under this amendment, beginning January 1, 2023, for each candidate for or member of the general assembly, the governor, members of the governor's cabinet, cabinet-level staff-members (now required to disclose under this bill), members of the registry of election finance, members of the Tennessee ethics commission, secretary of state, comptroller of the treasury, state treasurer, and members of the state election commission, including the spouses thereof, if private income from a single source is equal to or greater than $5,000 in the 12-month period immediately preceding