{"id":1450326,"date":"2022-04-22T13:00:40","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T17:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1450326"},"modified":"2022-04-22T13:00:54","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T17:00:54","slug":"tennessee-gop-establishment-pushes-bill-to-hamstring-challengers-and-doxx-conservative-donors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tennessee-gop-establishment-pushes-bill-to-hamstring-challengers-and-doxx-conservative-donors\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee GOP Establishment Pushes Bill To Hamstring Challengers And Doxx Conservative Donors"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftennessee-gop-establishment-pushes-bill-to-hamstring-challengers-and-doxx-conservative-donors%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1450326&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/15784740914_c509935edb_k-e1650577397736.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Republican leadership in the Tennessee legislature are shepherding a bill to protect their grip on power through erasing the possibility of anonymous donor contributions for non-profits. <\/p>\n<p>Last week, the Tennessee Senate passed the upper-chamber version of a <a href=\"https:\/\/wapp.capitol.tn.gov\/apps\/BillInfo\/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB1201\">measure<\/a> supported by party leaders in both chambers that would compel 501(c)(4) groups to register as political action committees (PACs) if such non-profit enterprises even mention candidates or visually depict their \u201clikeness\u201d in any way.<\/p>\n<p>Tax-exempt groups under 501(c)(4) status allow individuals to make donations anonymously to protect their own reputation from the public blowback that comes with contributions to causes found politically polarizing. Anonymity is a key protection for free speech, protecting individuals and their livelihoods from the public harassment that often comes with financial activism on hot-button issues. In February, for example, leftist media launched a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/tennesseestar.com\/2022\/02\/21\/media-wage-harassment-campaign-against-freedom-convoy-donors-doxxed-in-givesendgo-hack\/\">harassment campaign<\/a>\u201d against donors supporting the trucker protest in Canada after their private information was leaked. <\/p>\n<p>Under Tennessee HB1201, groups offering individuals an avenue to private activism would effectively strip their access to anonymity unless 501(c)(4) non-profits remained politically silent four months out of the year \u2014 two months before a primary, and two months before a general election. The bill seems clearly unconstitutional for contradicting the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>The bill, <a href=\"https:\/\/wapp.capitol.tn.gov\/apps\/BillInfo\/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB1201\">sponsored<\/a> by House Speaker Cameron Sexton and championed by Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, began to pick up committee momentum last month after prominent state activist and Executive Director of <a href=\"https:\/\/tennesseestands.org\/\">Tennessee Stands<\/a> Gary Humble launched a <a href=\"https:\/\/tennesseestar.com\/2022\/03\/10\/tennessee-stands-gary-humble-may-be-gearing-up-to-challenge-senate-republican-leader-jack-johnson-in-a-primary\/\">primary bid<\/a> to unseat Johnson.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoters and citizens in general depend upon organizations like Tennessee Stands to teach them about the issues,\u201d Humble told The Federalist. His conservative 501(c)(4) government transparency group educates voters on how state lawmakers debate certain issues. \u201cIf I were to cut a video and clip a committee hearing and just repurpose that and show that in a video with Tennessee Stands, I would be violating this law\u2026 We call this the \u2018Incumbent Protection Act.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sexton sought to throw cold water on the idea that the bill would compell 501(c)(4) groups to disclose the private information of donors in the House Local Government Committee earlier this month by <a href=\"https:\/\/tnga.granicus.com\/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=610&#038;clip_id=26871&#038;meta_id=671998\">soliciting testimony<\/a> last week that the bill only requires <em>expenditures<\/em> be made public, not contributions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe only want them to report expenditures in excess of $5,000 that were made within 60 days of an election,\u201d said Matt Mundy, an attorney for the committee. \u201cOther than that, they can spend as much money as they want during a campaign and they can say what they want during a campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sexton went on to clarify further with a question to State Rep. Ryan Williams, a co-sponsor of the bill. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s also misinformation put out that they would have to be treated like a PAC, but what this bill does is require them through the registry to list their expenditures only, and not their contributions on any of those forms after they spend $5,000 within a 60-day window of a campaign,\u201d Sexton said. \u201cIs that accurate?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d Williams said. <\/p>\n<p>Except an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.capitol.tn.gov\/Bills\/112\/Amend\/HA0947.pdf\">amendment<\/a> passed at the 11th hour requires compliance with the Tennessee code stipulating how contributions must be disclosed. Tax-exempt groups under 501(c)(4) status of the IRS, the amendment reads, are \u201crequired to report expenditures in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tn.gov\/content\/dam\/tn\/tref\/documents\/pacs\/PACCFDBooklet8x11.2021.pdf\">\u00a7 2-10-105(c)(1) and (h)<\/a>\u201d requiring groups submit the personal information of its donors. <\/p>\n<p>Sexton said last week the bill was meant to undermine \u201cdark\u201d money by bringing financial records \u201cinto the light,\u201d four days after <a href=\"https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/wake-up-memphis\/tennessee-speaker-of-the-house-cameron-sexton?eType=EmailBlastContent&#038;eId=30a8ca81-ff4c-4096-8bdf-1c54ac399c91\">comparing<\/a> Humble to the leftist dark money giant George Soros.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI see this for [Humble] merely as a mechanism to continue to try and to get non-disclosed contributions to his 501(c)(4),\u201d Sexton said on a Memphis radio show in response to Humble\u2019s criticism. \u201cWhich, in turn, theoretically, he could turn around and use for himself and his own campaign and not disclose that he got money from other individuals. This is the same thing that George Soros is doing in campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other non-profit groups operating in Tennessee have also condemned the proposal from state GOP leadership, including the National Rifle Association(NRA) and Citizens for Renewing America. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTennessee is on the brink of catastrophically curtailing free speech by intentionally targeting conservatives or anyone who would publicly disagree with any elected official,\u201d Wade Miller, the executive director of Citizens for Renewing America, told The Federalist. \u201cMeanwhile, corporate America and other special interest groups are still free to voice their opinion on public policy issues. We\u2019ve seen this silencing happening with Big Tech, but now it\u2019s come to our backyards in middle America. Statehouse members and Governor Lee must stop this attempt to shut down conservative grassroots entities to prevent them from holding elected officials accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republican leadership in the Tennessee legislature are shepherding a bill to protect their grip on power through erasing the possibility of anonymous donor contributions for non-profits. Last week, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1450326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1450326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1450326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1450326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1450326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1450326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1450326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}