AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, Chapter 10, relative to certain political campaign committees.
SB1060 amends Tennessee election law to create a new set of restrictions and disclosure requirements for political campaign committees formed to support or oppose ballot measures. The bill defines key terms such as “foreign national,” “independent expenditure,” “preliminary activity,” “prohibited sources,” and “tax-exempt organization,” and then bars committees from knowingly or willfully receiving contributions or expenditures from prohibited sources. It also requires committees to certify that no preliminary activity was funded by prohibited sources and requires donors and independent spenders to affirm that they are not foreign nationals and have not recently accepted large amounts of prohibited-source funds.
The bill further prohibits foreign nationals from directing, controlling, or participating in decisions about efforts to influence measures, and from soliciting donations or expenditures for that purpose. It gives the Registry of Election Finance authority to bring civil enforcement actions, sets an expedited probable-cause process, and authorizes remedies including injunctions, refunds, disgorgement, statutory damages, and enhanced penalties for knowing or willful violations. It also includes donor-privacy protections for lawful donors to tax-exempt organizations, limiting disclosure of donor identities during investigations and court proceedings except where a final violation has been found.
The bill adds a new part to Tennessee Code Annotated Title 2, Chapter 10, expanding state campaign finance law as it applies to ballot-measure committees and independent expenditures. It imposes new certification, recordkeeping, and disclosure obligations, restricts foreign-national involvement in measure-related political activity, and creates civil penalties and enforcement procedures administered by the Registry of Election Finance. It also creates a misdemeanor penalty for certain unauthorized disclosures of donor identities.
The available voting history suggests the bill was generally supported in committee, passing the Senate State & Local Government Committee by a 7-1 vote and being recommended for passage. No committee transcript is available, so there is no recorded debate to indicate broader public or legislative sentiment beyond the favorable committee action. The final enactment indicates the measure ultimately advanced through both chambers and was signed into law.
The main points of potential contention are the bill’s restrictions on foreign-national participation in ballot-measure advocacy, the certification and recordkeeping burdens placed on committees and independent spenders, and the enforcement tools allowing expedited civil actions, disgorgement, and personal liability for officers or directors. Another likely area of concern is the donor-privacy provision: while it protects lawful donors to tax-exempt organizations, it also limits disclosure during investigations, which could be viewed as either a privacy safeguard or a barrier to enforcement depending on perspective. The lone committee dissent suggests at least some opposition, but the record provided does not identify the specific objection or the member who opposed it.