Tennessee GOP

With one day left until Tennessee’s Republican primary, groups pushing for the adoption of a universal private school voucher program have poured record money into the state’s election.

Ahead of Tennessee's primary election, pro-voucher groups are spending over $1 million on television advertisement campaigns in an effort to defeat Republican lawmakers who opposed Gov. Bill Lee's universal school voucher proposal.

After more than 100 bills were filed for Tennessee’s special session on public safety in both the House and Senate, it seems that only three will end up making it to the governor’s desk.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican lawmakers and Gov. Bill Lee have approved hundreds of laws in Tennessee this year. Many of the statutes take effect Saturday, including measures on health care for transgender children, police accountability and school safety. Notably, the first proposal introduced by lawmakers is a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. A federal judge has blocked part of it, preventing the state from enforcing a ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors. The judge has allowed the ban on gender-affirming surgeries for youth to take effect. Separately, Republicans have passed legislation to stop public schools and universities from requiring employees to take implicit bias training.

With the Legislature set to adjourn for the year, Gov. Bill Lee is making a last-minute pitch for a temporary “order of protection” designed to avert mass shootings such as the one that killed six people at The Covenant School.

The world now knows them as the Tennessee Three. But just a few weeks ago, not many people outside of the state knew of Democratic Reps. Justin Jones, Justin J. Pearson and Gloria Johnson. The Republican supermajority’s decision to expel the group over a gun control protest they held that broke House rules elevated them to political superstardom.

Three Democratic lawmakers who took part in protests on the House floor of the Tennessee statehouse will face expulsion later this week.

Tennessee’s newest lawmaker was sworn in Thursday. Democratic Rep. Justin J. Pearson is filling a vacancy left in House District 86 in Memphis. But people were more focused on what Pearson was wearing.

For the second year in a row, Tennessee has passed a host of bills limiting what transgender youth can do. Some schools have refused to enforce them, but their refusal

Tennessee speaker candidates are meeting with freshman House lawmakers in order to drum up support as the caucus prepares to nominate a new leader later…