Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee House Bill HB0887 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1
2		-	SENATE BILL 1397
3		-	By Roberts
	2	+	<BillNo> <Sponsor>
4	3
5	4		HOUSE BILL 887
6	5		By Todd
7	6
8	7
9	8		HB0887
10	9		002249
11	10		- 1 -
12	11
13	12		AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 3,
14	13		Chapter 6; Title 4; Title 39, Chapter 16, Part 5 and
15	14		Title 58, Chapter 2, relative to lobbying regulation.
16	15
17	16		BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
18	17		SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, is amended by adding the following
19	18		as a new chapter:
20	19		4-40-101.
21	20		This part is known and may be cited as the "Tennessee Foreign Adversary and
22	21		Chinese Military Company Disclosure and Accountability Act."
23	22		4-40-102.
24	23		The purpose of this act is to provide transparency to the public in this state
25	24		regarding the political, propaganda, and influence operations activities conducted by
26	25		agents of adversarial nations and blacklisted Chinese military companies within this
27	26		state.
28	27		4-40-103.
29	28		As used in this part, unless context otherwise requires:
30	29		(1) "Chinese military company" means a company blacklisted by the
31	30		department of defense by its inclusion on the most recent version of the
32	31		department of defense's list of Chinese military companies operating in the
33	32		United States under Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act;
34	33		(2) "Foreign adversary" means a country or territory on the list
35	34		maintained by the department of commerce and compiled in 15 CFR 791.4(a), as
36	35		of January 1, 2025;
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41	40		(3) "Foreign adversary principal" means:
42	41		(A) A government of a foreign adversary country and a foreign
43	42		political party;
44	43		(B) A person residing in a foreign adversary country; provided,
45	44		however, the person is not:
46	45		(i) A citizen of and domiciled within the United States or of
47	46		any state or territory of the United States under the jurisdiction of
48	47		the United States; or
49	48		(ii) A business entity that is organized or was created
50	49		under the laws of the United States, or of any state or territory of
51	50		the United States under the jurisdiction of the United States, and
52	51		has its principal place of business within the United States; or
53	52		(C) A legal entity that is twenty percent (20%) or more beneficially
54	53		owned by a person and is organized as a legal entity under the laws of an
55	54		adversary country or that has its principal place of business in an
56	55		adversary country;
57	56		(4) "Lobby" has the same meaning as defined in § 3-6-301;
58	57		(5) "Lobbyist" means any person who engages in lobbying for
59	58		compensation; and
60	59		(6) "Person" means an individual, group of individuals, partnership,
61	60		association, corporation, or any other business unit or legal entity.
62	61		4-40-104.
63	62		(a) In addition to any other disclosures required by law, a lobbyist who engages
64	63		in lobbying on behalf of a foreign adversary principal must complete an affidavit
65	64		certifying that the person is lobbying voluntarily on behalf of the foreign adversary
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70	69		principal, under the lobbyist's free will, on behalf of a foreign adversary of the United
71	70		States.
72	71		(b) In addition to any other disclosures required by law, a lobbyist who engages
73	72		in lobbying on behalf of a Chinese military company must complete an affidavit certifying
74	73		the lobbyist:
75	74		(1) Voluntarily and under the lobbyist's free will is engaging in lobbying
76	75		on behalf of a Chinese military company operating within the United States;
77	76		(2) Understands that the People's Republic of China, under the rule of
78	77		the Chinese communist party, has a stated goal of displacing the United States
79	78		as the world's leading power in order to create a world order that is more friendly
80	79		to communist values and more hostile towards free and democratic values;
81	80		(3) Understands that Chinese military companies play a key role in the
82	81		Chinese communist party's ultimate goal of dominating the industrial sectors
83	82		necessary to defeat the United States and its allies in a war; and
84	83		(4) Understands that assisting a Chinese military company advances the
85	84		Chinese communist party's goals of displacing the United States as the world's
86	85		leading power and defeating the United States in a war.
87	86		(c) A certification made by a lobbyist under subsection (b) is sufficient to satisfy
88	87		the certification requirement under subsection (a).
89	88		4-40-105.
90	89		(a) It is unlawful for a person to engage in lobbying for a foreign adversary or
91	90		Chinese military company covered under this part without having first made the lobbying
92	91		disclosures, as required under § 4-40-104. This section does not limit or repeal any
93	92		other lobbying disclosure requirements required under state or federal law.
94	93		(b)
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96	95
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99	98		(1) A person who engages in lobbying for a foreign adversary or Chinese military
100	99		company covered under this part without having first made the lobbying disclosures
101	100		required by § 4-40-104 shall be fined a civil penalty of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)
102	101		per violation, up to a maximum of twenty (20) violations per year.
103	102		(2) Each day a lobbyist engages in lobbying for a foreign adversary or Chinese
104	103		military company covered under this part without having made the lobbying disclosures
105	104		required by § 4-40-104 is a separate violation.
106	105		SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.