As Tennessee lawmakers continue the 114th General Assembly in Nashville this week, immigration and the governor’s school voucher program will still be priorities after dominating last year’s regular and special sessions.
This time last year, Gov. Bill Lee called a special session to pass a sweeping immigration bill and establish a statewide school voucher program. While those measures have drawn criticism and legal challenges, lawmakers are looking to build on both and revisit one controversial bill that drew widespread protests last year.
School vouchers
Amid a difficult budget year, Republican leadership hopes to expand the number of vouchers offered to families — on top of a yearly expansion built into the original bill.
Under the Education Freedom Act, eligible families can use taxpayer dollars to cover the cost of K-12 private school. The EFA’s first year cost the state nearly $146 million for a total of 20,000 scholarships, half of which came with an income cap. This year, the program will add 5,000 scholarships for a total of 25,000, per the original bill.
But Lee is hoping to add more scholarships despite budget constraints. His administration has pointed to the popularity of the program, with applications outnumbering available scholarships 2:1.
Students who take advantage of the EFA program underperformed compared to their public school peers, according to a recent state comptroller report.
Immigration
Lawmakers are also bringing back a measure to deny the right to an education for students without legal status this year. The bill, which aims to challenge U.S. Supreme Court precedent, passed the Senate last year but stalled in the House over concerns it could jeopardize the state’s federal education funding.
ICE raids in South Nashville over the summer also inspired a flurry of new immigration bills. After ICE agents arrested roughly 200 people in the city’s immigrant corridor, Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, filed legislation that would bar agents from covering their faces while conducting official business.
At the same time, Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, filed a measure that would make it a Class E felony to release the information of ICE agents.
Part of last year’s omnibus immigration package already shielded ICE operations from public record requests.
After ICE agents fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, Gabby Salinas, D-Memphis, filed legislation that would exempt churches, schools and other public institutions from immigration enforcement.
Charlie Kirk
Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Franklin, has also proposed the Charlie Kirk Act, an omnibus education bill that would require colleges and universities to adopt the same freedom of speech policy as the University of Chicago, ban student walkouts and allow schools to deny leadership positions to LGBTQ+ students.
Bulso has also filed legislation making Sept. 10 “Charlie Kirk Day.”
The legislative session kicks off Tuesday.
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