Tennessee’s legislative session has been overshadowed by scandals. Now leaders are promising a suite of ethics reforms.

A Tennessee ethics reform bill sponsored by the speakers of both the House and Senate is up for a vote in the Senate chamber Wednesday. The legislation comes after an FBI investigation into an alleged kickback scheme.

FBI investigators say the kickback scheme involved a phony vendor called Phoenix Solutions. The political consulting firm allegedly tricked GOP House members into awarding it $200,000, which they then pocketed. 

Now, GOP leaders infuriated over being duped are introducing new rules for members. One would require a government ID to be on file to register a Political Action Committee.

Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, is one of the sponsors.

“What we’re trying to address there is: who owns these committees? Whose directing these PACs?” Haile said.

Federal documents allege Phoenix Solutions was set up by Cade Cothren, a former chief of staff for Rep. Glen Casada, under the fictional name Matthew Phoenix. Cothren funneled state tax dollars to Casada and former Rep. Robin Smith, who’s plead guilty to wire fraud. 

Lawmakers are using the opportunity to make campaign funding more transparent to voters. Other proposals would require full disclosure of campaign contributions, prevent certain family members from lobbying or holding office and increase penalties for filing false or misleading financial information.