Davis keeps open government bills alive, asks
public to get behind effort to make Legislature
abide by Open Meetings Law

by TIM WHALEY 

KINGSPORT: Although several members of the House
Democratic leadership quickly stifled open
government legislation several weeks ago, state
Rep. David Davis, R-Johnson City, has managed to
salvage two points in his five-point plan.

Surviving legislation includes a bill to post all
roll-call votes on the Internet and another
requiring the legislature to abide by the state's
Open Meetings Law.

Davis said the Internet bill was postponed this
week when a subcommittee decided it needed to wait
on a fiscal note for the bill.

"In my opinion, the fiscal note (detailing
expected costs) should not be very large at all,"
Davis said. "We are already posting the bills we
are going to vote on at the General Assembly's Web
site, so it looks like a simple matter to me. It
shouldn’t be costly at all to tell the public how
we voted."

The second bill requiring all legislative
committees and subcommittees to meet openly if a
quorum is present was dispensed with a few weeks
ago when the State Government Subcommittee
postponed a vote until the state Supreme Court
ruled on a lawsuit claiming the Open Meetings Law
was violated last year by closed-door budget
discussions. 

The legislature has the ability to exempt itself
from the Open Meetings Law. 

"They figured the court wouldn't rule until after
the end of session," Davis said.

"But the court came back with a decision last
week," Davis said. "In effect, the Supreme Court
said it's not up to the court to make the rules of
the General Assembly. We should do that."

"I brought my legislation because taxpayers want
open government, and they want it to be fair, open
and accessible. We don't need courts to tell us to
do the right thing. We need to do the right thing
because it's the right thing to do."

Davis said he has gone back in the legislative
record to the 1974 debate on the Open Records and
Meetings acts, and Davis believes the
legislation's sponsor intended the act to apply to
the General Assembly. 

A third Davis measure would have required a
roll-call vote on all committee and subcommittee
votes to end the practice of quick-gaveling
committee chairmen who can call for a voice vote
then declare a bill defeated or approved without
even hearing a voice. 

Such moves shield legislators from taking
responsibility for their votes, Davis said. 

Two other Davis-sponsored measures would have
required Internet posting of campaign finance
disclosures and a realignment of the county and
state election commissions that could have
resulted in greater Republican representation on
some of those commissions. 

The roll call, Internet disclosure and election
commission bills were amended to be made
unworkable or postponed past the end of session,
thanks to the help of extra votes from Democratic
leaders who can vote in any committee, Davis said. 

"I can't understand why there is any member of the
General Assembly who doesn't want to have
government open and accountable to the people who
pay our bills to be here," Davis said. "I didn't
bring this to be partisan. I brought it because I
believe it to be good legislation."

"But it has become partisan. If people look, they
will see which party is for open government and
which party is not for open government. That's not
my intent, just the way the thing has fallen
since it has gotten into committee."

Davis said he has heard that phones are "ringing
off the hook" as public momentum gets behind the
bills. 

Fifteen co-sponsors have also signed onto the
House version of the bill, including Sullivan
County Reps. Steve Godsey, R-Blountville, and
Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol. 

And Davis does have a hole card. All five bills
are incorporated into a single piece of
legislation that Davis has not moved for a
committee vote on yet. 

"If voters of this state and taxpayers are really
interested, which they seem to be, it's time for
them to help pass this legislation," Davis said.

Asked about any potential repercussions that may
be felt after ruffling the feathers of House
Democratic leaders, Davis said he doesn't believe
he has hurt his district. 

"This is the right thing to do," Davis said. "I
don't think I'm hurting my district at all. I
think it would be a sad day if a member of
leadership would hurt 50,000 people living in a
district of Tennessee because a legislator tries
to do the right thing to do."