Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and Speaker Cameron Sexton introduce a bill as amended to attack grassroots advocates
On April 5, 2022, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally’s “caption bill” which he is sponsoring, SB1005,
was amended from a 2 page bill to a 15 page bill that now contains a
direct attack on the 1st Amendment rights of Tennesseans who support
issue advocacy groups such as the Tennessee Firearms Association which
are established as IRS § 501(c)(4) organizations. This dangerous
legislation is specifically intended in Section 13 to force these
nonprofit groups to register as “political action committees” which they
are not and, under the 1st Amendment, should not be.
Generally, a political action committee is an entity which advocates
specifically for or against a candidate. In contrast, IRS regulations
provide that a § 501(c)(4) issue
advocacy group can engage in conduct supporting and promoting an issue
but generally it cannot directly endorse or oppose a candidate’s
election efforts. What Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and Speaker Cameron
Sexton, as well as their co-sponsors, seem to be doing is attacking the
1st Amendment rights of the members of these issue advocacy groups like
Tennessee Firearms Association.
What’s the concern?
Simply put, it is a pattern of the Bill Lee administration and
certain Republican legislators to disregard, oppose and oppress
constitutionally protected rights and those individuals, entities and
organizations which have as their mission the protection and advancement
of constitutional principles – just as we saw this year when the Senate
Judiciary killed the REAL constitutional carry legislation on April 6…
but that is another story.
Let’s look more specifically at the nefarious provisions of Lt. Gov. Randy McNally’s SB1005, the amendment to it that was adopted unanimously on April 5, and Speaker Cameron Sexton’s HB1201 (which at this point has not been amended to match Lt. Gov. McNally’s assaultive amendment).
One of many problems with the amendment is contained in Section 13 which provides:
SECTION 13. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-10.132, is
amended by designating the existing language as subsection (a) and
adding the following as a new
subsection (b):
(b) Notwithstanding another law to the contrary , an organization
that is tax exempt under United States Internal Revenue Service Code§
501(c)(4) (26 U S C. § 501(c)(4)) is deemed to be a political campaign
committee for purposes of reporting expenditures in accordance with §
2-10-105(c)(1) and (h) and for filing an appointment of treasurer form
if:
(1) The organization expends an aggregate total of at least five
thousand dollars ($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
(2) Such expenditures or communications occur within sixty (60)
calendar days immediately preceding a primary or general election in
which the named or visually depicted candidate appears on the ballot.
We have these questions and concerns:
1) Under (b)(1) does the phrase “aggregate total” expenditures
include ongoing and recurring costs such as, but not limited to, website
hosting, website consultants, website management companies, etc?
2) Under (b), there does not appear to be any condition as to whether
the communication advocates for or against a candidate. So, for
example, TFA and many other organizations have a history of doing a
candidate survey where questions are sent to candidates and the results
of those surveys are posted on websites or perhaps even mailed out to
those on existing mailing lists or published in newsletters. If the
organization reports on all candidates, or even all candidates in a
particular race, by, for example, reporting the candidates’ actual or
scored survey responses then it appears that this would trigger (b)(1)
merely because all such candidates who were surveyed, or who responded,
are named in the communication or their photographs may be included.
3) What about announcements, perhaps postcards, to announce a
“candidate forum” where all candidates in a particular district or
region are invited to some and participate but without an endorsement
from or against any candidates at that forum by the host entity? Would
merely listing the names of the invited candidates potentially require
an entity to register as a political action committee?
4) Under (b)(1), if an organization distributed information within
the 60 days window and included, for example, a photo or likeness of all
the candidates in a particular race (e.g., the candidate forum
announcement), would this be covered by (b)(1)?
5) Under (b)(1), if any organization distributed information outside
the 60 day window (e.g., a downloadable survey response or an online
video of a candidate forum) and such online information was active or
accessible by the public during the referenced 60 days window, would
that constitute an “occurrence” within the 60 days under (b)(1)?
6) If an organization published and distributed its information
outside the 60 day window but did not receive or pay the invoice
(printing, mailing, etc.) until within the 60 days window, would that be
a triggering event under (b)?
7) Does (b) or any other provision of this bill relative to 501c4
entities require that the communication be one that advocates or or
against a specific candidate?
At this late point in the legislative cycle TFA is appalled that the
Lt. Governor and the Speaker would even be considering ramming through
such a dangerous piece of legislation by totally rewriting an otherwise
harmless caption bill. It appears that the clear intent and purpose of
this amendment is to force grassroots issue advocacy groups to register
as a political action committees. Doing that has severe chilling
effects on such groups because it could make the organization’s member
lists, donor list, the addresses and employers of members and donors,
the amount of donations, the amount of membership receipts,
expenditures, loans, etc., all reported to the State of Tennessee on
publicly viewable disclosures. That is a clear violation of the First
Amendment according to relevant U.S. Supreme Court analysis.
Tennessee
Firearms Association strongly opposes this aggressive attack on issue
advocacy groups that exist to protect the rights of Tennesseans and we
see this legislation as an attempt by the Lee administration and some
members of General Assembly to oppress and perhaps curtail the ability
of Tennesseans to join together in grassroots movements. It is time that
conservative or concerned Tennesseans be outraged as well and take
action to stop this assault on their fundamental constitutionally
protected rights.
What can you do?
1) Call your House and
Senate members. Ask them to DEFEAT this bill and its dangerous
amendment. In addition, insist that they contact both the sponsors and
the committee members to demand that the bill be stopped. If you don’t
know who your legislators are, you can look it up on the state website.
2)
Contact by phone and email the members of the committee which are to
hear these bills. You don’t have to leave a long message or debate with
them. Simply state that you are a concerned Tennessee citizen and TFA
member. Tell them you OPPOSE SB1005 and HB1201. Keep track of who you
talk to and what their responses were.
3) Go to the TFA Facebook page
and share not only your efforts but also the responses you received.
Let’s support those legislators who do the right things and lets REPLACE
and EXPOSE the ones who do not.
The contact numbers of the legislators who should be contacted include:
Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (615) 741-6806
Speaker Cameron Sexton (615) 741-2343
Members of the House Local Government Committee which is set to hear this bill on April 12:
John Crawford, chair – (615) 741-7623
Dave Wright, vice-chair – (615) 741-6879
Kent Calfee – (615) 741-7658
Dale Carr – (615) 741-5981
Jesse Chism – (615) 741-6954
Ron Gant – (615) 741-6890
Ester Helton – (615) 741-1934
Jason Hodges – (615) 741-2043
John Holsclaw – (615) 741-7450
Tom Leatherwood – (615) 741-7084
Harold Love – (615) 741-3831
Eddie Mannis – (615) 741-2287
Larry Miller – (615) 741-4453
Debra Moody – (615) 741-3774
Jerome Moon – (615) 741-5481
Jay Reedy – (615) 741-7098
Tim Rudd – (615) 741-2804
Johnny Shaw – (615) 741-4538
Ryan Williams – (615) 741-1875
Remember – all of the House members, if they are running again, are up for re-election this year!
TFALAC Annual Event
Finally,
the TFALAC (TFA’s political action committee) has set its annual BBQ
lunch and auction for Saturday, September 3, 2022 at the Farm Bureau
Expo Center in Wilson county, Tennessee. Please sign up as sponsors, vendors or purchase your tables and tickets. |
