NASHVILLE (AP) - David Fowler has become the first former lawmaker to register as a lobbyist under the state's new law that requires a one-year cooling-off period after leaving office.

Fowler, a Republican who represented Signal Mountain in the state Senate, left after the 2006 session to become president of the conservative Family Action Council of Tennessee. He officially signed up as a lobbyist last month.

The Legislature in 2006 passed a new ethics law that included a ban on former lawmakers immediately returning as lobbyists.

Fowler was active at the Legislature last year in support of a proposal to place limits on an abortion drug, but said his presence did not fall under the definition of lobbying.

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