Tennessee’s Department of Economic & Community Development asked for $78 million for its FastTrack business incentive program next budget year.
The Fasttrack program received $92 million in 2022, $432 million in 2023 and $110 million in 2024.
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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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The Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee published results of its poll this week revealing how registered Tennessee voters would vote in the 2024 presidential and senate races.
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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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Governor Bill Lee recently announced he authorized the deployment of another unit of Tennessee National Guard troops to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
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A solidarity rally held in Nashville to mourn the lives lost in Israel drew a crowd of approximately 700 people, with attendants including Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, Metro Nashville council members, and state lawmakers.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has announced another staff change to his legislative leadership team one month after announcing his appointments of a new policy director, press secretary, and senior advisor.
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The Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition (TNFFC) applauded Governor Bill Lee for signing an anti-human trafficking bill into law on Friday.
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Tennessee’s special session finished Tuesday with an expense of $351,476 to bring lawmakers to the capital for six days of the session on public safety and four bills passed.
Each day, it cost the state $58,576 in stipends and mileage for lawmakers, according to numbers provided by Office of Legislative Administration Director Connie Ridley.
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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 Secretary of State Tre Hargett recently announced a shakeup to his staff, including a new Chief of Staff and Policy Assistant.
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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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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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The Tennessee House Republican Caucus responded to Governor Bill Lee’s official special session proclamation for the Tennessee General Assembly to convene at 4 p.m. on Monday, August 21.
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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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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee recently announced multiple transitions to his leadership team, including his appointments of a new policy director, press secretary, and senior advisor.
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The Tennessee Republican State Executive Committee passed a resolution on Saturday that calls on Governor Bill Lee to forgo calling the Tennessee General Assembly for a special session addressing “public safety,” according to a report by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
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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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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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The Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition (TNFFC) Board of Directors met with Governor Bill Lee on Monday and discussed multiple issues facing the Volunteer State, including the upcoming special legislative session next month.
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The Board of Directors of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp (NCVC) has released a statement in support of Governor Bill Lee’s decision to call a special legislative session next month.
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Governor Lee has criticized the Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD) plan to utilize $3.375 million in state grant funding to support its current pool of 60 armed school resource officers (SRO) in the 45 Nashville public middle and high schools while increasing patrol presence around elementary schools.
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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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Governor Bill Lee recently announced appointments to the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council, which was created in May under Executive Order 101.
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Governor Bill Lee signed an executive order on Monday to reconstitute an existing council in order to “position Tennessee to lead the nation as the best state for service members, veterans and their families to thrive.”
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) Commissioner Stuart McWhorter announced Thursday that approximately $5.9 million in Site Development Grant funds have been awarded to 10 community entities across the state.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) Commissioner Stuart McWhorter recently wrapped up a six-day economic development trip to France and Italy, Lee’s office announced Monday.
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The Cordell Hull Building in Nashville was locked down Thursday following the discovery of a “white powder substance” in mail sent to Republican leaders, in “obvious threats made by a liberal activist,” the House GOP said in a statement. One news outlet is reporting the suspicious mail has the markings of a trans activist.
Officials say everyone is safe and that there have been no injuries reported.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced Wednesday that the state is now accepting applications for grant funding from law enforcement agencies and schools in order to “further strengthen security at Tennessee schools.”
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The Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s (VUMC) pediatric transgender clinic is no longer offering sex change procedures for minors following the passage of a key Tennessee law banning the practice, parents confirmed to the Nashville Post.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed the legislation into law March 3. Parents were sent an email from VUMC confirming the clinic will no longer be serving patients, according to the Nashville Post.
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Members of the Lee administration met with the Tennessee Faith & Freedom Coalition (TNFFC) Board of Directors on Wednesday after the group sent a letter urging Governor Bill Lee to cancel his proposed August 21 special session of the Tennessee General Assembly.
“In response to our letter asking Governor Lee to cancel plans for an August Special Session of the Tennessee General Assembly due to public safety concerns as well as constitutional concerns, Chief of Staff Joseph Williams emailed us and requested a meeting with our Board of Directors. We took him up on that offer and on Wednesday, had a meeting with Chief of Staff Williams and Lee Administration Special Advisor Michael Hendrix,” the TNFFC disclosed in a Friday statement emailed to The Tennessee Star.
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Governor Bill Lee and other federal & state elected officials visited 100 Tennessee National Guard troops in Millington before their deployment to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
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As Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee prepares to call a special session of the Legislature on public safety, the specifics of that special session call have yet to be announced.
One bill that Democratic leadership is intending to propose is a red flag law bill sponsors refer to as the Families Know First Act, an “extreme risk protection order” bill proposed late in the legislative session by Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, and Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Nashville.
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More than two months after 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale shot and killed three children and three staff members at the Covenant Presbyterian School, Nashville’s Metropolitan Council is planning to hold hearings on gun violence as a “public health issue.”
The Public Health and Safety Committee will conduct the first special meeting on gun safety, co-hosted with Education Committee Chair Zulfat Suara, on June 14, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 pm.
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Governor Bill Lee announced Wednesday evening that he authorized the deployment of 100 Tennessee National Guard troops to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Tennessee State Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) is condemning a group of Republican state lawmakers for signing onto an open letter urging Governor Bill Lee to cancel the special legislative session that the governor called earlier this month.
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Governor Bill Lee has signed a bill that amends the Tennessee code to apply biology-based definitions across all state statutes.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has appointed Stacey Edmonson as district attorney general for the 21st Judicial District – which covers Williamson County – effective immediately.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee recently signed a bill to abolish community oversight boards in the state.
SB591/HB764, according to the bill’s official summary, “abolishes community oversight boards and authorizes municipalities to create police advisory and review committees to ensure the timely, fair, and objective review of citizen complaints and to make recommendations concerning such complaints.”
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Tennessee’s corporate aviation fuel tax cap will soon go down to $1 million, which would have an additional $10.6 million impact on the state’s Transportation Equity Fund, after Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill to lower the cap.
The bill is part of a drop in the aviation fuel tax over years. Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, said FedEx paid $45 million in annual aviation fuel tax when the cap was first installed and will be down to $1 million for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
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Governor Bill Lee signed a bill Wednesday that requires the Tennessee Treasurer to make investment decisions based on financial factors – not based on environmental, social, or governance (ESG) factors.
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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill that will raise the minimum wage for K-12 teachers and end the collection of dues for professional employee organizations as an automatic payroll withdrawal.
Senate Bill 281 will go into effect July 1.
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Tennessee Governor Lee signed an executive order on Tuesday to establish the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council.
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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a pair of bills to continue tax captures in order to fund renovations at Memphis’ FedExForum and future marketing for Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
The bills come after the state Legislature approve $350 million from Lee’s budget proposal to send directly to Memphis to fund part of $684 million in sports facility improvements planned for the city that include renovations to the FedExForum, home of the Memphis Grizzlies, along with renovations to Liberty Stadium, AutoZone Park and a new soccer stadium.
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I was surprised by the Williamson County School Board’s recent call for action to Governor Lee, especially in how it seems to differ with a resolution that the Williamson County Republican Party released weeks earlier. What is most apparent in the Covenant School tragedy is that another deranged assassin targeted what is essentially a gun free zone. We will never know what might have happened if willing teachers or administrators received proper training and were allowed to carry firearms to protect the children entrusted to their care. Clearly, the bias against the 2nd Amendment has cost us an incalculable price once again.
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Governor Bill Lee signed the largest tax cut in Tennessee history on Thursday, his office announced. The Tennessee Works Tax Act (TWTA) aims to provide $400 million in savings for families and small businesses.
The sweeping new legislation includes a three-month grocery tax holiday, a tax credit for companies who offer paid family leave to employees, and $150 million in small business tax relief.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced that he intends to call for the Tennessee General Assembly to convene a special legislative session in August to “strengthen public safety and preserve constitutional rights.”
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Governor Bill Lee proclaimed May as “Foster Care Month” in Tennessee.
“This ‘Foster Care Month,’ we recognize the 5,000 Tennessee families who open their hearts and hands to children in need,” Lee said in a statement. “We have an obligation to ensure that every child has a loving, permanent home, and I thank Commissioner Quin and the General Assembly for partnering to deliver important support to children and families.”
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Governor Bill Lee called on the Tennessee Legislature to pass a Red Flag law – one that he proposed – before the 2023 Legislative session ended. The Legislators did not consider his proposal but instead they wrapped up business – they thought – and adjourned until January 2024. Governor Lee, apparently thinking of himself as perhaps the “master” of the Legislature, has now stated that he will call a special session to force the Legislature to take up his call for a Red Flag law.
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Governor Bill Lee announced Friday that he will call for the Tennessee General Assembly to convene a special session in order to “pass legislation that will strengthen public safety and preserve constitutional rights.”
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