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Lee cabinet to get ethics training; governor has no plans to repay travel expenses

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Lee cabinet to get ethics training; governor has no plans to repay travel expenses

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Gov. Bill Lee said Tuesday his team is working to expand the ethics training required for all members of his cabinet after the Tennessee Ethics Commission recommended doing so following a complaint filed against the state education commissioner.

Last week, the Ethics Commission dismissed a complaint against Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds that alleged she had illegally accepted travel payments from a group that lobbies the legislature, finding that because she repaid the funds, there was no reason to take the case further. In dismissing the case, the panel recommended all members of the governor’s cabinet undergo ethics training to avoid a similar situation in the future. 

Lee also accepted paid travel from an outside group that lobbies the legislature, but said the payment was legal and has no plans to repay the expenses.

Reynolds last year traveled to two out-of-state conferences hosted by ExcelinEd — her former employer and a national school choice advocacy group — with expenses paid by the organization. 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.

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

After The Tennessean first reported the travel, Rep. Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville, filed an ethics complaint against Reynolds, alleging that in accepting the payments, she skirted ethics rules. Reynolds then paid back about $2,000 in travel expenses and was reimbursed by the state. 

Ethics commissioners considered the complaint behind closed doors and ultimately voted to dismiss it, citing Reynolds’ repayment of the money. 

Lee said Tuesday that he wants to see the ethics training happen. 

“I think it’s a great idea,” Lee said. “I think the more people understand exactly what the rules are and how to follow them, the more transparency there is to that, the better it is.” 

While their situations are similar, Lee said he has no plans to repay travel expenses paid for by the outside group, as Reynolds did.

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

The trip was not announced publicly, nor was it documented on any of the governor’s social media accounts. The only mention of Lee’s travel to the ADF conference outside his internal office schedules is an expense noted on campaign finance disclosures, which his office said was for a staffer’s travel expenses.

More: TN Gov. Bill Lee spoke at Florida retreat paid by Christian law firm behind new state laws

Lee said Tuesday that he does not plan to repay travel expenses reimbursed by Alliance Defending Freedom. 

“The two cases are different,” Lee said Tuesday. “That 501(c)3 organization offered to reimburse hotel and travel expenses, which is customary and allowable under the law, and so it’s an acceptable expense. I don’t have a plan to repay because it’s a legal expense.” 

Both Lee and Reynolds had travel expenses paid by 501(c)3 organizations that employ lobbyists registered in Tennessee. Each also has an affiliated 501(c)4, organizations that can employ lobbyists but are allowed to engage in more overt political activity.

Lee said group paying for his travel wasn’t trying to skirt the spirit of the ethics rules. 

“I think the law is pretty clear, 501(c)3s customarily provide for travel expenses for speakers,” Lee said Tuesday. 

Members of the Tennessee House Democratic Caucus say Lee should pay the money back — as Reynolds did — because failing to do so gives an appearance of favoritism and impropriety that the law is designed to avoid.

“Rules for thee, but not for Gov. Bill Lee!” Hemmer wrote on social media Tuesday. “While I am glad the Cabinet will have to take required ethics training based on my complaint, I am befuddled on why the Governor thinks taking a lobbyist-funded junket to Florida isn’t illegal or at least against the spirit of the law.”

If Lee doesn’t pay back the money, House Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, said Democrats will file an ethics complaint against the governor.

“If Bill fails to reimburse the money like his unqualified Education Commissioner recently did, then we will necessarily file yet another ethics complaint against this administration,” Clemmons said. 

Clemmons called the governor’s acceptance of the travel reimbursement a “a prima facie violation of state ethics policy intended to prevent or create the appearance of one using public office for private gain.

“Though his personal opinion and actions have always indicated otherwise, Gov. Bill Lee is not above the law,” Clemmons said. “He knowingly accepted gifts in the form of travel and lodging from an organization that openly and consistently advocates for the enactment of policies in Tennessee.”

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