October 6, 2024

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TN Gov. Bill Lee seeks ethics panel advice on travel payments

TN Gov. Bill Lee seeks ethics panel advice on travel payments

Following threats from Democrats of an ethics complaint over his travel to Florida paid by an outside group, Gov. Bill Lee is asking the Tennessee Ethics Commission to clarify whether accepting such payments is allowed under state law.

If the panel finds Lee’s travel payments were illegal or unethical, he is pledging to repay the funds, according to a letter sent by Chief Ethics Counsel Erin Merrick to ethics commissioners on Friday.

In July, Lee traveled to Marco Island, Florida, to be the keynote speaker at a conference of Alliance Defending Freedom, a group behind a handful of controversial new state laws. ADF, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and its partner 501(c)4 organization both employ Matthew Lorimer, a registered lobbyist in Tennessee.

State ethics laws prohibit members of the executive branch from accepting gifts, including travel reimbursements, from lobbyists and their employers.

Gov. Bill Lee greets the public on signing day for the ELVIS Act to prevent unauthorized uses of artists’ voices and likenesses from AI technology at Robert's Western World in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Expenses for the trip paid by Alliance Defending Freedom totaled about $1,900, according to the governor’s office. 

Lee told reporters this week that he does not intend to repay the travel expenses paid by the outside group. 

In response, the House Democratic Caucus has threatened to file an ethics complaint against Lee to force the governor to repay the funds. 

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