If Ethics Commission Expires, Bill Would Transfer Work to Election Finance

Lawmakers advanced a bill Tuesday that would combine the state ethics commission with the registry of election finance. The measure hinges on whether the commission is allowed to expire this summer.

The ethics commission was created after an FBI sting caught five Tennessee lawmakers taking bribes. The commission is currently set to phase out of existence June 30.

If that happens, Senator Bill Ketron is sponsoring a bill that would transfer the commission’s duties over to the registry of election finance.

Ketron says nothing essential would be lost by consolidating the two.

“By the action taken today we’ve saved the ethics laws – not the commission itself – but the laws that are currently on the books.”

Ketron says the state could save up $800 thousand by combining the two bodies.