Silencing conservatives using ear tingling words like reform and transparency.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? What good and fair-minded conservative would be against more transparency and campaign finance reform?

Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton and his RINO henchman, Sam Whitson are using the guise of a campaign finance reform bill to stuff in a small and seemingly insignificant section of the 12-page bill that has nothing to do with campaign finance, but everything to do with the activities of grassroots conservative organizations in Tennessee. The main talking point is the need for more transparency. But do voters want more transparency from nonprofits, or are they asking for more transparency from their government?

For almost two years now, Tennessee Stands has existed to hold elected officials accountable to the people by informing you as bills move through the legislature as well as advocating for key issues like medical freedom, election integrity, and getting social-emotional learning initiatives out of our public schools. And as voters, you have become vocal, and their moves to kill legislation that would secure liberty for individuals have now been made more public than ever. And they do not like it.

2022 is a contentious election year. In light of multiple FBI indictments and subpoenas, some legislators have resigned in disgrace, and many have now opted not to run for re-election. The truth?  The Speaker’s House is wrought with corruption. Other legislators are now being primaried, some for the very first time since they have been in office like the Senate Majority Leader, Jack Johnson.

Here is a list of bills, all of which died in committees:

  • Protect employees from medical discrimination. DEAD
  • Protect patients’ rights. DEAD
  • Protect parental rights in our public schools. DEAD
  • Criminalize actions of those who bring obscene materials in our schools. DEAD
  • Better maintenance of our voter rolls. DEAD
  • Pathway to secure paper ballots. DEAD
  • More secure elections and process for more regular election audits. DEAD

This is just a very small list of many efforts this year that were put forward to address the concerns of so many conservative Tennesseans. Instead, our legislators have focused on passing a state budget 25% larger than last year’s budget including a taxpayer subsidy to the tune of $500 Million for a new Titans stadium in Nashville. All the while Tennesseans are struggling over inflation and rising costs.

But now, enter HB 1201 (SB 1005), a “campaign finance reform bill” that hit the committee at the very last minute and passed through the House Local Government Committee with no roll call vote and with an amendment that was untimely filed, which no member had the opportunity to read before voting on the bill. Not to mention, that the public did not have access to the amendment to provide feedback to their legislators. But that is the typical business of how the sausage gets made here in Tennessee. But remember, this bill is about transparency.

No. This bill is not about transparency. This bill is about protecting incumbents during a contentious election cycle.

One small section of the 12-page bill actually has nothing to do with campaign finance, but the activities of 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations. If passed, the bill would significantly limit the speech of grassroots conservatives across the state by requiring these organizations to register as a PAC at the mere mention of the name of a candidate for office or the use of their likeness 60 days prior to both primary and general elections. Meaning that every two years for a total of four (4) months, Tennessee Stand’s efforts to simply inform voters on the actions of their legislators leading up to these important elections would be significantly hindered. Apparently, Tennessee Republican leadership does not believe that voters have a right to be informed as they show up to the polls.

In a most rare occurrence, Speaker Sexton showed up at a committee hearing to lobby in favor of the bill and urge members of the committee to vote yes. He went through significant effort to disparage groups, who according to him, have been spreading misinformation about the bill. We can only assume that he is affectionately referring to Tennessee Stands.

The Speaker directed the committee’s legal expert to state to the committee that this bill would not in any way require a 501(c)(4) to divulge its donor list as part of the reporting requirements in the bill, but only the organization’s expenditures. In his estimation, that requirement is reasonable and does not inhibit the free speech of these organizations. Upon that recommendation, the bill passed in committee.

The problem with that is the Supreme Court does not agree with that argument, especially upon review of Citizens United v FEC (2010). Here are just a few quotes from that court opinion.

“Because speech is an essential mechanism of democracy — it is the means to hold officials accountable to the people — political speech must prevail against laws that would suppress it by design or inadvertence.”

“Political speech is ‘indispensable to decisionmaking in a democracy, and this is no less true because the speech comes from a corporation.’”

“First Amendment protections do not depend on the speaker’s ‘financial ability to engage in public discussion.’”

“The First Amendment does not permit laws that force speakers to retain a campaign finance attorney, conduct demographic marketing research, or seek declaratory rulings before discussing the most salient political issues of our day.”

“In MCFL, the Court found unconstitutional § 441b’s restrictions on corporate expenditures as applied to nonprofit corporations that were formed for the sole purpose of promoting political ideas, did not engage in business activities, and did not accept contributions from for-profit corporations or labor unions.”

“`First Amendment freedoms need breathing space to survive.'”

“[T]he concept that government may restrict the speech of some elements of our society in order to enhance the relative voice of others is wholly foreign to the First Amendment”

These are just a few statements from SCOTUS in relation to campaign finance and the necessity to uphold our First Amendment rights of free speech at all costs. If we are to err, we must err on the side of our Constitution.

But here is the truth. Speaker Cameron Sexton and his legal expert lied (see minute 50:00 on video) to members of the committee and to the public regarding the reporting requirements that this bill will create. The bill will require 501(c)(4)s to register as a political action committee (PAC) and comply with TCA § 2-10-105(h). If you read subsection (h), you will see that this law has nothing to do with reporting expenditures and everything to do with reporting contributions.

How is it that the bill’s intention is only to require the reporting of expenditures, but the bill will require a 501(c)(4) to comply with a section of law that requires the reporting of all contributions, including the names and addresses of donors?

This bill is unconstitutional. And this bill has one purpose – to encumber the free speech of grassroots conservative organizations in Tennessee and silence political opposition during an election.

Tennessee Stands, Americans for Prosperity, Tennessee Firearms Association, and the Beacon Center have all vocally and publicly opposed this bill.

Please read the Legal Memorandum on the constitutionality of HB 1201 from Larry Crain, General Counsel for Tennessee Stands.

Larry L. Crain is a nationally recognized constitutional lawyer and frequent lecturer, and commentator.  He has litigated, debated and practiced widely in the area of constitutional law and human rights. Crain’s concern for First Amendment issues, particularly the rights of individuals to be free of religious discrimination, led him early in his legal career to serve as General Counsel for the Rutherford Institute and later as Senior Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice where he litigated a broad spectrum of constitutional issues on a national level before the United States Supreme Court, the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, the Supreme Court of North Carolina and the Supreme Court of Tennessee. His litigation experience on issues of constitutional law spans 26 states.

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Telegram