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Gov. Bill Lee repays travel expenses following new Tennessee Ethics Commission opinion

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Gov. Bill Lee repays travel expenses following new Tennessee Ethics Commission opinion

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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday repaid travel expenses paid by Alliance Defending Freedom, a group whose political arm employs a lobbyist in the state, following a request from the Tennessee Ethics Commission, which found his acceptance of travel payments to a Florida resort last summer was an indirect illegal gift.

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. Both entities share staff, address and other resources, business filings and tax records show.

State ethics law prohibits employers of lobbyists from giving gifts directly or indirectly to lawmakers and executive branch officials – including payment of travel expenses. Expenses for the trip paid by the nonprofit totaled about $1,900, according to the governor’s office. 

Ethics commissioners determined Tuesday the expenses paid by the nonprofit that shares resources with an employer of a lobbyist constituted an indirect gift to the governor, which is prohibited under Tennessee ethics law. 

“To find otherwise is contrary to both the statute’s language and intent and would indeed provide a gaping hole in the gift prohibition statute allowing an employer of a lobbyist to use an affiliated or related company (whether intentional or not) to lavish gifts upon Tennessee officials and rendering the prohibition on indirect gifts meaningless, thereby undermining the public’s confidence in those officials and Tennessee’s government,” the advisory opinion states.

Lee repaid the expenses on Tuesday, according to his spokesperson Elizabeth Johnson.

“We asked the Bureau for clarity around their interpretation of this vague law and appreciate their response,” Johnson told The Tennessean. “The expenses have been repaid per this new guidance.”

Opinion focuses on appearance of impropriety

The commission’s opinion focuses on the appearance of impropriety in accepting gifts from entities closely related to employers of lobbyists.

“If you allow a related company to pay these sorts of expenses, it creates a rather large loophole in the statute,” said Ethics Director Bill Young, citing the commission’s previous informal stances on the matter. “To me, the word indirect are designed to prohibit that sort of circumventing of the statute.”

Lee’s chief attorney requested an advisory opinion from the Ethics Commission after The Tennessean reported the governor had accepted the paid travel, and Democrats threatened to file an ethics complaint against him. Lee’s office argued that the two entities are separate and no violation occurred.

Lee’s trip was not announced publicly, nor was it documented on any of his social media accounts. The only mention of Lee’s travel to the ADF conference outside his office schedules obtained by The Tennessean through a records request is an expense noted on campaign finance disclosures.

After originally telling reporters he had no plans to repay the funds, Lee later through an attorney pledged to repay the money if the Ethics Commission finds the travel expenses inappropriate.

The Ethics Commission was quick to point out that it does not attribute nefarious behavior to the governor, and commended Lee for seeking the advisory opinion in a commitment to acting “beyond reproach.” Members voted to add a paragraph to the opinion affirming Lee’s commitment to ethics and transparency.

During its inquiry, Ethics Commission staff obtained documentation from ADF and ADF Action, the 501(c4) organization, to confirm significant overlaps in resources for the two entities. ADF declined to provide its shared services agreement between the two entities to the commission.

“The prohibition itself prohibits gifts both direct and indirect. I think if we were to look at this situation and say that the left hand can be divorced of the right hand, and we’re not going to assume that one knows what the other is doing, that would basically negate the possibility of indirect gifts,” Ethics Commission counsel Lauren Topping said.

“I’m not sure you can separate them,” Ethics Commission Chair Charles Traughber agreed. “They do intermingle in some ways, as shown in the materials.”

The law does not bar all entities from paying for officials’ travel – only entities that employ lobbyists registered in Tennessee, and entities that are directly related. Topping said ethics law is designed to apply to groups “looking for legislative advantages.” 

“The gift prohibition only applies to lobbyists and employers of lobbyists ― people who are coming before the legislature to encourage policy changes,” Topping said. “It creates a surety for citizens that employers of lobbyists cannot pay for lavish trips – or even simple trips for that matter – because it creates an appearance of impropriety, even if there are only the best of intentions at heart.”

Second case of executive branch travel, reimbursement

This is the second time this year that a member of the executive branch has repaid funds for travel paid by lobbying groups.

Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds repaid about $2,000 in travel expenses paid by ExcelinEd — her former employer and a national school choice advocacy group — for her attendance at two out-of-state conferences last year.

ExcelinEd, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and its partner 501(c)4 organization, ExcelinEd Action, both employ Miranda Williams, who is registered as a lobbyist in Tennessee.

After The Tennessean first reported the travel, Rep. Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville, filed an ethics complaint against Reynolds, alleging that Reynolds skirted ethics rules by accepting the payments. She later paid back the funds, and was reimbursed by the state. 

It was the second time this year that Reynolds repaid state funds following scrutiny. Reynolds twice signed state tuition waiver forms last year that she had been a state employee for more than six months ― before six months of employment with the state. She later paid tuition funds back to the state, the agency calling the mishap “an administrative error.”

In response to the commission’s finding Tuesday, Hemmer said he was proud to see the Ethics Commission’s action on Lee.

“It addressed his misuse of power to take luxury trips paid for by interest groups, breaking Tennessee law,” Hemmer said. “The Ethics Commission has stood firmly on the side of the people, making it clear that the Governor isn’t above the law. They have ordered him to pay back the trip to Florida, funded by an organization employing a lobbyist in Tennessee.”

Hemmer also said he plans to look for ways to strengthen ethics laws during the upcoming session.”When I first filed an ethics complaint against Commissioner Reynolds for doing something similar, it was obvious that this behavior was wrong and broke our ethics rules,” Hemmer said. “It’s disappointing that these actions happened at all. I hope this advisory opinion will stop lobbyist groups from offering these illegal and unethical trips to influence the Lee Administration.”

Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean.com or on X @Vivian_E_Jones. 

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