Tennessee House committee chairmen are banning livestreaming during public meetings

Members of the public — and lawmakers — are being forbidden from taking live video during some House legislative committee meetings, a decision a spokesman for House Speaker Glen Casada says is up to individual chairmen.

And the ban on livestreaming will be extended to the House chamber as well.

Versions of the new rule, announced in multiple committee meetings that assembled Tuesday for the first time in the 111th Tennessee General Assembly, vary.

It was being rolled out haphazardly this week, with some committee chairmen reporting they still were unsure whether or how they would implement the ban on livestreaming.

For example, in the House Insurance Committee, chaired by Rep. Ron Travis, R-Dayton, neither lawmakers serving on the panel nor members of the public in the audience will be permitted to livestream the meetings, said Doug Kufner, communications director for the House GOP caucus.

In the House Commerce Committee, Rep. Timothy Hill, R-Blountville, said only lawmakers would be prohibited from livestreaming.

“Committee chairs have leeway as far as what type of policies they want to set up,” he said, minutes after telling the committee of the new video policy.

Live and archived video of both committee and subcommittee meetings is available on the Tennessee General Assembly website, though it is not easily accessible through social media platforms.

Ken Jobe, press secretary for the House Democratic caucus, said that livestreaming by anyone would be permitted in both the committees chaired by Democrats, which includes the Naming, Designating and Private Acts Committee, and Property and Casualty Insurance Subcommittee.

"Chairmen have the ability to establish protocols within their respective committees related to livestreaming," Kufner said in a statement. "Each chairman has the ability to make a decision on a case-by-case basis. There is no blanket rule to allow or disallow Facebook Live."

Differing explanations for the ban

All throughout Tuesday, committee chairmen offered different explanations on the ban on livestreaming using personal devices.

Presiding over the House Curriculum Testing and Innovation Education Subcommittee, Rep. Debra Moody, R-Covington, said that permission must be obtained from her to record during meetings.

"I will be approving any livestreaming, recording or any presentations before," the meetings, Moody said, though it was unclear to whom the rule applied.

Rep. Jim Coley, R-Barlett, chairman of the House Higher Education Subcommittee, announced a nearly identical requirement that members obtain prior authorization to record.

Hill said he was implementing the policy in order to encourage his colleagues to engage in debate and not be distracted by someone using social media to “prove a point.”

Last year, Hill said, he saw some members use social media to intimidate others and as chairman, he wanted to ensure his colleagues were comfortable.

Hill reiterated that he did not plan on extending the video prohibition to members of the public or the media. “I’m quite content with the way we set it,” he said.

At least one lawmaker, Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, has been known to occasionally livestream committee meetings in recent years.

Parkinson didn't offer a response to the apparent shift in policy among committees but defended his previous efforts.

"I think it's very important for the people that ... can't get here physically to be able to see and engage in the conversation," he said.

Parkinson said he often livestreamed meetings that members of the public were especially interested in, pointing to criminal justice reform and marijuana measures.

"Sometimes you have to translate all the legal jargon for regular folks like myself, so we can understand what's going on," he said.

Media not affected by livestreaming ban

As the new policy was announced one committee at a time, it was unclear whether it applied to the media.

Early in the day, Kufner said members of the media would likely still be allowed to take video of the committee's meetings with prior permission.

In the afternoon, Casada's chief of staff Cade Cothren clarified that the prohibition would not apply to the media.

“There would be absolutely no ban on the media doing their job,” he said.

Earlier this year, House Republicans decided they would have their caucus meetings operate under the presumption that all caucus meetings were closed — an apparent break from previous years.

Lawmaker suggested new focus on rules part of Casada's directive

It is not exactly clear how the idea to ban livestreaming came to fruition.

While she didn’t mention such a ban, Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, R-Lancaster, chair of the House Safety and Funding Subcommittee, told members that Casada was asking for a renewed focus on rules in committees and subcommittees, including on addressing and thanking chairmen when members are called upon.

Weaver began to read from a document that she called a “snippet” of what committee chairmen “were asked to read” to members in their committee.

Cothren said Casada did not instruct the committee chairman to ban livestreaming but he did support such moves.

"It sounds like this is getting some traction with some of our members,” Cothren said. "The chairmen that are choosing to do this are choosing to do so in order to make the legislative process run more smoothly both for themselves and for the public."

The live video prohibition comes a little more than a year after lawmakers introduced a new policy that would have allowed guns but prohibited “hand-carried signs and signs on hand sticks” in their new office building. Legislative leaders ended up reversing course on the sign ban.

Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, said she had not yet learned of the new livestream ban, but questioned whether it was necessary if the meeting is not being disturbed.

"The normal practice I have seen in Tennessee is that governing bodies would not ban, say, a member of the public from taking video unless that person was disruptive in the way they did it, and disruptive to the proceeding of the meeting.

"If the video is causing a disruption, that's one thing," Fisher said. "But if it's not causing a disruption, I would question the need for a complete ban."

Cothren said a similar ban on livestreaming would be implemented inside the House chamber.

"If it is a disruptive process taking place, whether that means Facebook Live or any other disruptive process going on, then yes, it would be enforced,” he said, clarifying could include members of the public in the chamber’s gallery or lawmakers.

Adam Kleinheider, a spokesman for Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, said Tuesday the Senate would not be implementing a similar ban on livestreaming in committee meetings or the chamber, clarifying that there is no Senate rule precluding committee members, the media or the public from taking video.

What lawmakers said

The following are explanations several House lawmakers offered Tuesday about the livestream policy during committee meetings:

Rep. Curtis Halford, R-Dyer, House Agriculture Subcommittee chairman: "Videos, props, livestreaming is not permitted in the committee. I'm sure all the members already know that, but many people that are going to visit may not know that, so we'll try to make that information available to the committee as we move along."

"Videos, props, livestreaming is not permitted in the committee. I'm sure all the members already know that, but many people that are going to visit may not know that, so we'll try to make that information available to the committee as we move along." Rep. Jim Coley, R-Bartlett, House Higher Education Subcommittee : “No livestreaming or recording will be allowed without prior approval from the chairman."

: “No livestreaming or recording will be allowed without prior approval from the chairman." Rep. Dennis Powers, R-Jacksboro, House Banking and Investments Subcommittee : “We were all instructed to come up with some rules just for our committee." He did not say whether video livestreaming would be prohibited.

: “We were all instructed to come up with some rules just for our committee." He did not say whether video livestreaming would be prohibited. Rep. Mary Littleton, R-Dickson, House Children and Families Subcommittee : “The use of personal livestreaming technology, including but not limited to Facebook Live, Instagram video and Periscope, shall not be permitted."

: “The use of personal livestreaming technology, including but not limited to Facebook Live, Instagram video and Periscope, shall not be permitted." Rep. Debra Moody, R-Covington, House Curriculum Testing and Innovation Education Subcommittee : "I will be approving any livestreaming, recording or any presentations before," the meetings, Moody said, though it was unclear to whom the rule applied.

: "I will be approving any livestreaming, recording or any presentations before," the meetings, Moody said, though it was unclear to whom the rule applied. Rep. Kelly Keisling, R-Byrdstown, State Government Committee : "Facebooking," Keisling said, pausing as he spoke. "No Facebook livestreaming."

: "Facebooking," Keisling said, pausing as he spoke. "No Facebook livestreaming." Rep. Kevin Vaughan, R-Collierville, House Facilities, Licensure and Regulations Subcommittee: "We also are going to hold to the rule with regards to our committee members and other members of the body that are appearing and presenting bills to us, we’re not going to allow Facetime, we’re not going to allow any type of social media interaction while there’s any type of the people’s business being done. We find that to be a distraction, this is an extraordinarily open meeting. Again the World Wide Web is broadcasting us every day anytime we’re here. So we have an extraordinary — the public has a great opportunity to see what we do and we’re a transparent body but we don’t need everybody trying to figure out whether they’re on network or they’ve got enough data or whatever it takes for people who are trying to present here in front of our committee."

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Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter @natalie_allison. Reach Joel Ebert at jebert@tennessean.com or 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.