Tennessee committee advances bill requiring registration for organizations with recent foreign support

A State and Local Government Committee on March 24 approved an amended bill that would create a public registration and disclosure requirement for political organizations that have received recent support from a foreign adversary.

The sponsor, Chairman Jeremy Cochran, said the amendment defines “foreign supported political organization” and requires covered organizations to register with the Tennessee Ethics Commission by July 1, 2026. “It requires covered organizations to register with the Tennessee Ethics Commission by 07/01/2026,” Cochran said.

The bill was amended to include a fee provision after the Bureau of Ethics requested statutory fee language rather than rulemaking. David Solon, representing Governor Lee’s office, told the committee that the Bureau asked for the change to avoid future rulemaking on registrant fees: “They asked to remove the rule making authority to promulgate the fees that a registrant would have and just put that into statute. So it's a $150 fee in statute as opposed to them needing to go through the rule making process,” Solon said.

Supporters said the amendment clarifies compliance and enforcement. Representative Salinas asked for the difference from the subcommittee version; staff and the governor’s office described the change as a technical clarification driven by the Bureau of Ethics.

Opponents recorded two no votes on the committee floor, but the bill passed out to Calendar and Rules (16 ayes, 2 nos). The committee did not adopt changes to the list of foreign adversary nations beyond aligning state practice with the U.S. State Department’s determinations.

The bill now goes to Calendar and Rules for further consideration.