Tennessee State Senator Joey Hensley Explains ‘Present’ Vote on School Choice Bill

Joey Hensley

Tennessee State Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) said he voted present on the State Senate’s version of Governor Bill Lee’s universal school choice bill this week in the education committee because he said he believed there needed to be “more discussion” on the bill before it advanced out of committee.

“I was present, not voting, because I felt like we needed more discussion in the education committee,” Hensley said on Thursday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.

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Governor Lee Signs Marriage Bill Protecting Religious Convictions

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed into law a bill that protects the religious convictions of people approached to solemnize or officiate a marriage.

“A person shall not be required to solemnize a marriage if the person has an objection to solemnizing the marriage based on the person’s conscience or religious beliefs,” reads the new law which took effect on Wednesday.

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Tennessee State Rep. Scott Cepicky Says Full Text of Governor Lee’s Universal School Choice Bill Expected to be Unveiled Next Week

Scott Cepicky

Tennessee State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka), who chairs the Education Instruction Subcommittee, said Governor Bill Lee’s universal school choice bill, known as the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, will likely be revealed next week.

Cepicky said there was a meeting on Wednesday for the committee chairs and caucus members to go over the bill’s language, making tweaks to ensure the bill will “function properly” and is “constitutional.”

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Corey DeAngelis Says Tennessee School Choice Bill Would Allow Students to Escape ‘One Size Fits All System’

Classroom Learning

School choice activist Corey A. DeAngelis joined Wednesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss a rally he, Robby Starbuck, and Americans for Prosperity (AFP) held in Nashville supporting Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s universal school choice plan, known as the Education Freedom Scholarship Act.

On Tuesday, DeAngelis, Starbuck, AFP, and other school choice advocates held a Rally for School Choice & Parents’ Rights at the state Capitol in support of the governor’s school choice plan.

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Leahy and Brewer Discuss Gov. Bill Lee’s Absence from GOP Governors Letter Demanding Biden Drop EV Mandates

EVs charging

All-star panelist Clint Brewer joined Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy where he discussed the reasoning behind Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s exclusion from a letter sent by Republican governors to President Joe Biden in regards to his administration’s “mandates” electric vehicle (EVs) mandates.

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Tennessee State Rep. Susan Lynn Awaits Final Version of Universal School Choice Bill, Notes Funding of Budget Is Issue This Year

Tennessee State Representative Susan Lynn (R-Mount Juliet) joined Monday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the General Assembly’s legislative session this year, specifically concerning its approach to Governor Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act.

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Tennessee Congressional Delegation Sends Letter to President Biden Urging Approval of Disaster Declaration Following Deadly Tornadoes

All 11 members of the Tennessee congressional delegation sent a letter to President Joe Biden requesting the “swift approval” of Governor Bill Lee’s request for a major disaster declaration due to severe storms that devastated communities across Middle Tennessee over the weekend.

On December 9, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes ripped through Middle Tennessee. The storms caused six fatalities and dozens of injuries, produced significant damage to nearly 1,900 homes, and destroyed over 500 homes, according to initial reports.

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Tennessee Governor and First Lady Announce Annual Christmas Celebration Events

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and First Lady Maria Lee announced that the state’s annual official Christmas events, including Christmas at the Capitol and “Heaven and Nature Sing” tours of the Tennessee Residence, will begin next week.

As part of the First Lady’s Tennessee Serves initiative, the Lees are inviting guests to bring requested items to the state’s Christmas events in support of five nonprofit organizations including Creative Aging Memphis, Birthright of Memphis, Jonathan’s Path, Dismas House, and Sevier County Food Ministries, according to a press release by Lee’s office.

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Gov. Bill Lee Expected to Back Statewide Education Savings Account Legislation

The move to expand Tennessee’s Education Savings Account (ESA) program statewide is expected to have a very powerful ally in the General Assembly’s next session, sources told The Tennessee Star.

State Representative Bryan Richey (R-Maryville) said Governor Bill Lee is planning a press conference on Tuesday to discuss a bill to expand ESA beyond Metro Nashville, Memphis, and Hamilton County into all of Tennessee’s 95 counties.

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Report: Tennessee’s Lee and Group Spent $117K in Paris, Italy for TNECD Trip

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee spent more than $117,000 of taxpayer funds over a six-day economic development trip earlier this year, The Tennessean reported.

The group went to Paris and Bologna, Italy while promoting the Paris Air Show with a group that included six state employees, two of their wives and two members of the governor’s security detail, the newspaper reported.

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Tennessee’s Lee Sued over Racial-Based Oversight Board Member Requirement

A Virginia-based nonprofit group called Do Not Harm filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, attempting to block a mandate that every government regulatory board has at least one member who is a racial minority.

The Pacific Legal Foundation filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Nashville after a Tennessee resident and Do Not Harm member has not been placed on the Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners because he was not a racial minority.

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Commentary: Tennessee Stands Up for Women and Girls, Honoring Pat Summitt’s Legacy by Passing the Women’s Bill of Rights

Tennessee demonstrated its commitment to championing the rights of women and girls by becoming the second state in the U.S. to pass legislation inspired by the Women’s Bill of Rights (WBOR). The bill, introduced by state representative Gina Bulso and state senator Kerry Roberts , helped close a loophole in the Tennessee Accommodation for All Children Act of 2021, which failed to add “sex” as a defined term for statutory construction purposes.

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Knoxville Mayor Urges General Assembly to Pass Red Flag Laws During Special Session

Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon released a statement on Thursday in support of Governor Bill Lee’s call for a special session in the General Assembly, set to convene on Monday.

“As Mayor of Knoxville, public safety is my top priority. I support the Governor’s call for a Special Session to consider legislative measures to make our communities safer,” Kincannon’s statement said. “While there are many perspectives on how to accomplish these goals, the conversation must continue to include all parts of our state and all communities.”

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Tennessee Gun Rights Leader Blasts GOP Gov. Bill Lee’s Push for ‘Red Flag Laws’

The Tennessee Firearms Association executive director told the Influence Watch podcast he is shocked that Volunteer State’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee called a special election, so he could exploit the Covenant School shooting to pass so-called red flag laws.

“In March of this year, there was a school shooting at a place called Covenant School in Nashville, where three adults and three children were killed by a 28-year-old female who reportedly had been a student at the school in her past,” said John Harris, a Nashville attorney, who founded the TFA in 1995.

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TFA Commentary: Gov. Lee’s Special Session Proclamation ‘Makes It Clear He Is on Board with Calls from Democrats like Justin Jones and Joe Biden to Enact Gun Control in Tennessee’

Months ago, while the Legislature was still in its regular session, Governor Lee asked them to enact his Red Flag law which was his immediate, some might say knee-jerk – response to the Covenant School murders. The Legislature rejected that request, deferred almost all remaining 2nd Amendment legislation to 2024 and instead adjourned. Before most of them could get home, Governor Lee announced that he was going to call them back into a special legislative session to consider and pass his Red Flag proposal.

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Governor Bill Lee Issues Proclamation Calling Special Session of Tennessee Legislature to Take Up Red Flag Bill

Governor Bill Lee has issued a proclamation calling for a special legislative session to take up gun-control measures, including a controversial “red flag” bill that many of his GOP allies in the Republican-controlled Tennessee General Assembly say is a non-starter.

The long-expected proclamation was apparently leaked to the liberal Tennessee Lookout late Thursday afternoon before it’s official release.

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Vivek Ramaswamy Holds Press Conference in Nashville, Calls on Officials to Release Manifesto of Covenant Killer

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy held a press conference at the Davidson County Courthouse on Wednesday to call for releasing the Covenant School shooter’s manifesto.

“I’m here as a father and as an American. We can’t fix the past, but we can prevent tragedies in the future, and the only way to do it is to learn from those mistakes of the past,” Ramaswamy said. “When an airplane crashes, we recover the black box for a reason – we never want to make that same mistake twice. We have a tradition in this country as law enforcement to do the same thing when there’s a mass shooting…We have to learn from tragedy to prevent it in the future.”

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Commentary: Bill Lee Conspiring with Democrats and Conducting ‘Secret’ Meetings to Craft Surprise Gun Control Agenda for Special Session

In a constitutional republic with a so-called conservative Governor in a “red state” like Tennessee, few would expect that the Governor would be conspiring with gun control advocates and conducting “secret” meetings away from the capitol in order to craft a gun control package, including his demand that Tennessee enact a Red Flag law, to be revealed perhaps only once “his” Special Session is called? Well, if you are a Second Amendment advocate who has watched this particular Governor and several in the Republican legislative caucus over the last 13 years, you might be one to expect exactly that kind of shenanigans.

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Commentary: An Open Letter to Governor Bill Lee from Williamson County Elected Officials and Republican Party Leadership

As a coalition of elected officials and community leaders in Williamson County, we are calling on you to  reconsider the Special Session currently scheduled for August 21, 2023, and resume discussions about future legislation to create safer schools and communities during the regularly scheduled General Session in January 2024.  

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