Tennessee Republican Representative Resigns To Become Lobbyist

Image Credit: Talbert Government Relations LLC

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

Less than six months prior to elections, Republican Representative Michael Curcio (Dickson-District 69) has resigned his post in favor of a new position as a lobbyist with Talbert Government Relations.

Tennessee law requires that legislators in the General Assembly wait at least one year before they can start lobbying legislators or the Governor’s administration, but Curcio has fast-tracked his movement to those activities by leaving his legislator position early.

Curcio is already pictured on the Talbert Government Relations LLC website along with founder and managing partner Jill Talbert, who has been lobbying the Tennessee General Assembly since she  graduated from the University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, in 2005. 

Upon graduating law school, Talbert spent three years running the policy department for the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services and another four years lobbying in-house for the Tennessee Hospital Association as their Assistant Vice President of Advocacy and Grassroots/Regulatory Attorney.

In 2012, she launched her own lobbying firm, Talbert Government Relations LLC. Her independently operated firm represents clients from across the nation in the Tennessee state legislative, executive, and regulatory arenas.

Talbert, herself, has drafted and worked to pass or helped defeat hundreds of pieces of legislation.

Now former State Representative Michael Curcio has been added to the firm’s roster as an “Equity Partner.”

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After graduating from the University of Mississippi, Curcio moved to Washington, D.C. where he spent time working for multiple members of the US House of Representatives. Upon leaving the Hill, he began raising money and working on campaigns which eventually led him back to Tennessee to work for Bill Haslam on his first campaign for Governor.

In 2016, he was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly, representing Hickman, and portions of Dickson and Maury Counties. While in the General Assembly, Curcio was appointed by then Speaker Beth Harwell as vice chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee. He eventually became the Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, and the Chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee.

Curcio said this Spring that he wanted to avoid burnout in the General Assembly and stated that he wanted to spend more time with his family.  However, last week, he stated that resigning his position had nothing to do with family. 

During his time in the General Assembly, Curcio typically did not vote Conservatively and often carried bills presented to him by lobbyists, seemingly not having much familiarity with the bills in some cases.

One example was when the BIV-PAC was lobbying a bill for Airbnb. 

When asked to explain the bill by Representative Jason Zachary, Curcio relied on the lobbyist from Airbnb to answer.

On Monday, March 28th, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed a joint resolution that sought to designate the Holy Bible as the official state book of Tennessee.

Curcio was the only Republican to vote against the Resolution.

Curcio was also the only Republican to vote against House Bill 1944, which sought to prohibit educational institutions from making materials that are considered “obscene” or “harmful to minors” available to students.  

However, Curcio did carry a bill that would have expanded the School Choice Program in Tennessee but the bill failed in the House K-12 Subcommittee.

The Tennessee Lookout reported on several of other Curcio hits including:

• Failing to deliver on a promise to investigate allegations that Rep. David Byrd had improper contact with high school girls when he coached basketball at Wayne County High School in the ’80s.

• Standing against a resolution presented by Representative John Ragan involving state’s rights and nullification.

• Voting against the COVID-19 omnibus bill that came about at the end of 2021’s Special Session on matters related to the virus and the government’s response to it.

The Dickson County Commission is slated to appoint an interim Representative for District 69 in their meeting on June 20th.

Curcio joins a long list of lawmakers-turned-lobbyists that includes former Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, who went into the lobbying business soon after leaving the Legislature.

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com