Government Advocacy

Bass, Berry & Sims represents clients at the intersection of government and business and is an established leader in public policy issues. With deep knowledge in lobbying Tennessee's legislative and executive branches, our team advocates for clients in dealing with state agencies, the General Assembly, and various executive departments.

Our clients represent a diverse array of sectors including banks and other financial institutions, energy companies, food and beverage manufacturers, hospital and healthcare systems, utilities, local governments, and clients in other highly regulated industries.

Areas of Focus

We regularly support clients' interests in Tennessee, including:

• Changes to statutes and rules to remove onerous burdens on clients’ business practices.
• Formation of political action committees and campaign finance guidance.
• Representation before the Ethics Commission and Registry of Election Finance.
• Regulation enforcement, licensure, and rule-making with Department of Environment and Conservation.
• Hemp, commodities and other regulated matters with the Department of Agriculture.
• Liquor regulation matters with the Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
• Right-of-way and other utility-related matters with the Department of Transportation.
• Business relocation and tax incentives with the Department of Economic and Community Development.
• State and local tax legislation and disputes with the Department of Revenue.
• Banking regulation with the Department of Financial Institutions.
• Insurance licensure, rate-setting and regulation with the Department of Commerce and Insurance.
• Securities regulation with the Department of Commerce and Insurance.
• Licensure and regulatory matters with the Department of Health.
• Labor and employment regulation with Tennessee Occupational and Safety Administration.
• Investigations and inquiries by the Attorney General.
• Telecommunications and other regulated matters with the Public Utility Commission.

What Sets Us Apart

• Decades of Experience in Landmark Matters: With over 30 years of experience, we have a proven track record of successfully representing clients and working on landmark public policy initiatives before the Tennessee General Assembly and executive branch.
• Comprehensive Public Policy Practice: Our full-service government advocacy practice includes lobbying, tracking legislation and regulatory developments, reporting, bill drafting, preparation of advocacy materials, development of grassroots strategy, stakeholder consensus building, ethics and campaign finance guidance, and legislative legal counsel.
• Bipartisan Relationships: We maintain longstanding relationships with bipartisan decision-makers across the state and support campaigns financially when appropriate.
• Strategic Insight and Innovation: Our team’s deep understanding of the legislative process and regulatory environment allows us to develop innovative strategies that align with our clients' goals.

Experience

• Lobbying for America’s Largest Spirits Company
  For more than a decade, we have represented the interests of Brown-Forman. Some examples of our work include: Collaborated with...
• Lobbying for International Financial Institution
  We represent an international financial institution on matters related to state regulation of gift cards, efforts to affect transactional fees...
• Lobbying for Industrial Energy Infrastructure
  On behalf of American Petroleum Institute, we drafted legislation and led the coalitional lobbying effort to ensure industrial energy infrastructure...
• Relationship Building with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environmental Conservation
  In a heavily regulated industry, we represent Helena Agri-Enterprises, LLC in monitoring bills, establishing connections within the Department of Agriculture...
• Licensing Flexibility with the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission
  We successfully obtained a premier resort-type classification for a family farm that needed licensing flexibility with the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage...
• Lobbying for Insurance Legislation
  We successfully passed legislation to eliminate a pre-licensing course of study mandate for Tennesseeans sitting for the insurance producer license...
• Successful Representation on Tennessee Tax Issues
  We have had a history of success representing clients with various tax issues before the General Assembly and Department of...
• Representation of the Association of Vaping/E-cigarette Retail Stores
  We have represented the association of vaping/e-cigarette retail stores with such success that Tennessee has the least restrictive regulations and...
• Successful Opposition for Nuclear Industry Client
  We worked with the U.S. subsidiary of a supplier of nuclear analysis software and specialized services to the nuclear industry...
• Lobbying for New Law to Define Tennessee Whiskey
  We represented a major distiller of Tennessee whiskey to promote and successfully pass legislation that defines "Tennessee Whiskey" to the...
• Lobbying for Charitable Gift Annuity Bill
  We successfully lobbied for passage bills on behalf of the fundraising arm of a national children's research hospital that would...
• Representation Before Tennessee Higher Education Commission
  We represented a post-secondary proprietary university and affiliated entities in connection to its relationships with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission...

Professionals