Tennessee Governor Bill Lee held his sixth State of the State Address on Monday, outlining his vision for Tennessee for the next year and the remainder of his administration. After highlighting the shared history and heritage of Tennesseans, and the strong economic position of Tennessee, the governor highlighted school choice, artificial intelligence (AI), and a streamlined regulatory framework among his goals for 2024.
“As we enter our sixth year of working together, the State of our State is strong, and resilient, and ready for the future, and that is thanks to the hard work of the people in this room.” Lee began, “But there is more work to do, the world around us is changing every day, brings new challenges, unique challenges, Tennesseans are counting on us to face those challenges with wisdom and discernment.”
“I’ve got three years left, there’s a lot to do, and we cannot, should not slow down, not for a second,” the governor declared.
Throughout Lee’s address, he was repeatedly interrupted by hecklers, who first became vocal as the governor announced his plans to expand school choice and public education funding in Tennessee.
As he attempted to turn to a different subject, a heckler appeared to successfully speak over him twice. The governor ultimately admonished those heckling, saying, “It’s a very good time to remind everyone that, as it has been, civility is a strength. It is not a weakness.”
Video posted to social media showed a group of protesters gathered in the gallery, and a Nashville journalist reported, “Lots of noise” as Lee spoke about school choice.
Dunno how easy it is to tell, but there are a handful of folks protesting during Gov. Bill Lee’s State of the State address.
Lots of noise as he talks about his voucher scholarship proposal for private schools.@WKRN #TNLeg24 pic.twitter.com/qOfLx44sFY
— Chris O’Brien (@THEChrisOB) February 6, 2024
Public Education and School Choice
Lee promised $261 million in new education funding, $30 million for summer learning programs, $3.2 million for a program to expand Advanced Placement education, $2.5 million to increase “reading and phonics skills,” more than half a million to train Tennessee educators, and $15 million to fund charter school facility improvements.
While discussing his plans to expand school choice in Tennessee, Lee nonetheless stressed his position that Tennessee can balance funding for public schools with school choice for parents.
“We have done a lot of work in Tennessee but we still have a ways to go in providing the best possible education for every student in the state, so 2024 is the year to make school choice a reality for every Tennessee family,” said Lee.
“The premise behind education freedom and the one thing that most of us all do agree on is that parents know what’s best for their child’s education.” The governor explained, “It’s time we let parents decide, and not the government, where their child goes to school and where they learn.”
Lee then addressed concerns “that more choice for families could mean fewer resources for public schools,” and said he continues to believe public education is “invaluable.”
“We have placed an unprecedented focus on public education and I intend to do that every year. We can give parents choice and support public schools at the same time,” said Lee. “When you empower parents, students succeed.”
Economy and Taxes
The governor began by detailing the governor’s strong economic position, declaring it the duty of Tennesseans to “keep it for future generations.”
“It all starts with our foundations, and Tennessee’s firm foundation is possible thanks to a legacy of fiscal responsibility. Now more than ever, people across this nation are turning to Tennessee as a model for economic prosperity,” said Lee, noting that Tennessee was ranked the fastest growing economy in the United States, as well as a top state for fiscal stability, and boasts the second lowest per capita tax rate in the nation. He summarized, “Any state would envy the position that we’ve been in.”
Lee pledged a $20 million investment into Tennessee’s Rainy Day Fund, which he noted will “bolster our decades-long commitment to fiscal responsibility” and bolster the state’s reserves to $20 million.
He also announced plans to simply the Tennessee franchise tax that will involve $410 million in recurring funding and $1.2 billion in non-recurring funding.
“Because we budgeted wisely through years of extraordinary revenue growth, Tennessee is now equipped to resolve this tax issue and make Tennessee an even better place to live and work and raise a family,” explained Lee.
The governor added that six states in the American Southeast, including Tennessee, are now “contributing more to America’s GDP than the entire Northeast.”
Lee also promised plans to eliminate or streamline 4,000 Tennessee regulations, combine two government bodies into the Department of Disability and Aging, and make construction permits easier to obtain.
Rural Tennessee
“I believe that Tennessee’s success can be measured, in part, by the strength of our rural communities,” said Lee, before revealing that his administration decreased the number of distressed rural counties from 15 to eight.
He added, “For the first time in history, Tennessee’s poverty rate is below the national poverty rate,” before highlighting Haywood County in West Tennessee, which Lee reported “had the largest amount of capital investment and the second number of new jobs announced of all 95 counties” in 2023.
Lee also said he would introduce legislation to allow Tennessee farmers to voluntarily place their land into an agricultural easement, ensuring it will be used for agriculture by future generations.
For rural healthcare, Lee pledged a $200 million commitment to rural Tennessee healthcare facilities over the next five years.
Additionally, Lee said his budget will include plans for eight new public parks, and funding to beautify Tennessee along its public highways and roadways.
Artificial Intelligence and Music
Lee revealed that Tennessee’s music industry has seen a 21 percent growth over the last five years, making Tennessee “the number one state in the nation for music industry jobs.”
The governor then suggested AI could pose a threat to this industry, and that Tennessee’s musical heritage could be protected with The ELVIS Act.
“While this new AI technology can be used for good, it can also allow users to impersonate and make fake works in the voice and likeness of others, so this year, together with members of the General Assembly, I’m proposing legislation to protect Tennessee’s rich musical heritage and ensure that no one can steal the voice of Tennessee artists,” Lee explained, adding that Tennessee “has the opportunity to be the first state in the nation to enact this kind of legislation.”
“We hope that The ELVIS Act will serve as a blueprint for states across the country. It’s only right we lead the nation in this effort; Tennessee is the music capital of the world and we intend to keep it that way,” stated Lee.
Law and Order
Lee noted that his fifth State of the State Address was held prior to the shooting at the Covenant school by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, but promised that “tragedy doesn’t have to be end of the story” and “there’s redemption in struggle if we lean into it.
“That’s why over the last year we’ve worked together and made significant progress, building on our strong foundation of school safety, starting with a $140 million grant to place a trained, armed school resource officer in every Tennessee public school,” said Lee.
Lee also noted that he expanded the Tennessee Highway Patrol last year, and said will propose “an additional 60 troopers to continue growing the force” in 2024.
Before the address, Lee released a preview video that called Tennessee “a standard bearer for the rest of the nation, showing what it means to lead from heart and soul,” and said the state continues “to be a beacon of opportunity, and security, and freedom for all people” as well as a “model for economic prosperity” with an “unrivaled” skilled workforce.
The governor also alluded to his school choice expansion in the preview, though not by name, instead stating that Tennessee is “preparing students for success with record investments in public education while empowering parents with more choices.”
“We’re creating a brighter future for every Tennessean. What we’ve built in Tennessee is special and it’s worth protecting,” said Lee.
Watch Lee’s full State of the State Address:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Where is the manifesto of Audrey Hale?? When will it be released Gov? 3 more years of a rino doesn’t get it.