Voucher advocate hosted Tennessee lawmakers at seaside condo
On a sticky Friday night in late summer 2014, four Tennessee Republican lawmakers hunkered down inside an Alabama condominium with an ocean view owned by a well-known school vouchers advocate to watch the 1966 Academy Award winner for best picture.
The film, "A Man for All Seasons," chronicles the final years of Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century Lord Chancellor of England who refused to sign a letter asking the pope to annul King Henry VIII’s marriage.
The Oscar winner inspired a spirited discussion among the men on the trip, who were hosted by voucher advocate Mark Gill, about leadership and integrity. Reps. Andy Holt, Mike Carter, Billy Spivey and recently ousted lawmakerJeremy Durham stayed at Gill's condo and left one morning for a half-day deep sea fishing trip paid for by Gill. They didn't catch many fish, but the captain showed them how to filet the ones they did. Rep. Jimmy Matlock also made the trip but went to the beach instead of fishing because he gets seasick.
The group traveled to Gill's Gulf Shores condo and ate seafood at local restaurants on their own dime. They discussed policy, but some say there was a rule not to do so when Gill was around.
Carter, who bunked on a couch in the condo for the three-day trip, thought he might have to take a quiz after watching the movie. He described the weekend as “intense training in integrity” involving “an odd duck.”
“It was as different as anything I’ve ever been to in my life,” said Carter, stressing he found the trip very rewarding.
The “odd duck” Carter referenced is Gill, a member of the board of directors with the Tennessee Federation for Children, an arm of the American Federation for Children that spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on contract lobbyists to push lawmakers to legalize school vouchers in Tennessee.
In 2016, all five lawmakers who went to Gill's condo co-sponsored legislation to allow vouchers in the state.
Since 2013, four of the five lawmakers have received a combined $19,850 from the Tennessee Federation for Children, according to the group's campaign finance records. Carter received $1,500 from the organization in 2014, but an amended statement from the group indicates he returned the money a month later. In 2016, the organization paid a consulting firm $6,000 to create a campaign mailer in support of Carter.
Gill, meanwhile, since 2013 has given $45,000 to the Tennessee Federation for Children.
Not paid to lobby
The Alabama trip is another example of loopholes in Tennessee campaign finance and ethics laws. Similar legal latitude allowed prominent GOP donor Andy Miller to pay for six lawmakers to travel in 2011 to Europe for an “educational” trip about radical Islam, a trip no lawmaker was required to report on any campaign finance statement.
Gill is not a registered lobbyist for any organization, so he says he was able to host the group of lawmakers legally.
State law defines a lobbyist as someone paid to lobby, and bans gifts to lawmakers from lobbyists or their employers. Although Gill is on the board of directors of the Tennessee Federation for Children, and the organization employs lobbyists to advocate for school vouchers, Gill said he’s not paid by the voucher group and therefore doesn’t meet the legal definition of a lobbyist.
Currently the law also allows lawmakers to shield trips like the Alabama movie and fishing weekend from the public.
But House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, R-Franklin, and open government advocate Deborah Fisher say lawmakers should be required to disclose such trips.
Harwell said she would prefer that lawmakers not take trips like the ones with Gill and Miller, but she said, "If they're going to, it needs to be disclosed."
Casada said, “The voters at home need to know everything we do."
“I think if it’s paid for by someone that has an interest in the legislature, they contribute or they’re a political action committee, it should be reported on my report.”
The lawmakers on the Gulf Shores trip and Gill said the weekend was a retreat among friends to discuss the movie and its meaning. They denied it was a chance for Gill to have access to the five lawmakers to discuss specific Tennessee school voucher policy.
“I am not a lobbyist,” Gill said. “I don’t meet the definition of a lobbyist by the state of Tennessee rules, and I don’t think I meet it from the standpoint that I am trying to push something from which I will benefit.”
Matlock, who is running for House speaker, and Carter, who is considering running for House majority leader, said that Gill was not a lobbyist. They likened the trip to a family friend offering a weekend at a vacation home.
Lawmakers now say at the time of the trip they didn’t really know Gill, who repeatedly downplayed that he was the host for the weekend. Gill told The Tennessean the trip came together through “osmosis.”
Carter said this week: “I don’t fully understand what Mark does.”
Jim Wrye, a voucher critic and lobbyist for the Tennessee Education Association, said Gill is one of his main opponents.
"Mark Gill does lobby for vouchers. He’s one of the strongest lobbyists for vouchers, and he’s been quite an adversary in those fights. I consider him one of the most tenacious lobbyists on the privatization side,” Wrye said.
One of the “rules” Gill said he had on the trip was that the group couldn’t talk about any legislation that he “had anything to do with.” But that doesn’t mean legislation didn’t come up at all.
“I was just under the instruction that Mr. Gill had a place. He knew some of the boys wanted to go fishing and talk about legislation, that was all beyond me. I was just invited to join the group,” Matlock said.
When asked if the subject of voucher schools came up during the trip, Holt said, “I think generally speaking education choice would’ve been discussed, just like any other number of issues, whether de-annexation or red-light cameras.”
Trips and transparency
The robust discussion about “A Man for All Seasons” and the filleted mackerel taken back to Tennessee weren't the only memorable portions of the trip. At least two of the attendees said Durham stood out from the other four lawmakers, who said they do not drink alcohol.
“That’s a pretty calm crowd to hang out in with the exception of one,” said Spivey, who said Durham “differentiated himself” from everyone else without providing specific details.
Holt described Durham’s behavior as “disrespectful of the host,” he said, referring to Gill while remaining vague on what happened. Gill said nothing Durham did or said offended him.
Durham declined to comment.
"I will never comment to you. Ever. Again, I urge your newspaper to stop contacting me in any capacity," Durham said in a text message to The Tennessean.
The other lawmakers described the weekend in various ways.
Carter said Gill ran the weekend like he was “being paid to run it” and “it was like we’d gone to boot camp.”
Matlock, a seafood lover, remembers a trip with a looser structure.
Holt said the weekend was an opportunity to “talk about the conservative movement moving forward.”
Spivey said the trip was an opportunity to get more acquainted with the other lawmakers.
They were all adamant they did nothing wrong. But Matlock said: “If I’m guilty of anything, I want to acknowledge, apologize and make restitution.”
Patricia Heim, a member of the board of registry of election finance, isn’t sure the trip would be prohibited by state law.
“It’s not transparent, and I can see the perceived conflict of interest for the legislature. And if the public wants to know where influence is coming from, and if this is a loophole, I would hope lawmakers would look at it and evaluate the need for further transparency,” Heim said.
Harwell and several other lawmakers are crafting legislation to close legal loopholes that allow gifts to lawmakers and campaign fund investments in private companies.
Speaker Harwell: Need to change campaign investment loophole
Holt says requiring the reporting of trips is going overboard.
“There’s a time and a place for transparency, but my rights as a U.S. citizen didn’t end when I became a lawmaker,” Holt said.
The benefits of giving voters information should be paramount, said Fisher, head of the Tennessee Open Government Coalition.
The appearance of frequent trips and more access for those who pay for them is troubling, Fisher said.
“How much of this is going on — lawmakers accepting expensive gifts and trips from people who have direct interest in some specific public policy or legislation? I don’t think we really know because there are no disclosure rules, and apparently no ethics standards covering this," said Fisher, suggesting lawmakers disclose gifts that cost more than $1,000.
“I think ordinary citizens feel powerless on this issue. And the drumbeat from government officials who benefit from that culture is that accepting free gifts is just part of the job and there’s nothing wrong with it.”
An earlier version of this story misstated the capacity of state board of registry of election finance member Patricia Heim’s involvement with the Davidson County Republican Party.
Reach Joel Ebert at 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29. Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892 and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.
Voucher bills in the statehouse
Advocates came closer than ever to passing a law legalizing school vouchers in 2016. The controversial measure would allow public funds to go toward scholarships for students to attend private schools, a proposal opposed by the teachers union, most Democrats and some Republicans.
In 2015 and 2016 the state Senate passed a voucher bill, but the legislation died in the House. This year the measure made it to the House floor before lead sponsor Rep. Bill Dunn pulled the measure before a vote, suspecting the proposal may not pass.
All five of the lawmakers who stayed at the Alabama condo of Mark Gill, a school vouchers advocate, served as co-sponsors for the 2016 voucher legislation. Reps. Andy Holt and Mike Carter, along with expelled lawmaker Jeremy Durham, co-sponsored the 2015 legislation as well.
Rep. Jimmy Matlock said he's supported voucher legislation his entire career.
The five who went on fishing trip
Andy Holt, R-Dresden
Age: 34
Occupation: Farmer
Lawmaker since: 2011
Donations from Tennessee Federation for Children since 2013: $9,100
Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah
Age: 63
Occupation: Retired judge
Lawmaker since: 2013
Donations from Tennessee Federation for Children since 2013: $0; group paid $6,000 for mailer in support of Carter
Billy Spivey, R-Lewisburg
Age: 47
Occupation: Maintenance manager
Lawmaker since: 2013
Donations from Tennessee Federation for Children since 2013: $3,000
Jimmy Matlock, R-Lenoir City
Age: 57
Occupation: Tire shop owner
Lawmaker since: 2006
Donations from Tennessee Federation for Children since 2013: $3,000
Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin
Age: 32
Occupation: Attorney
Lawmaker since: 2013. He was expelled Sept. 13.
Donations from Tennessee Federation for Children since 2013: $4,750