TN Gov. Bill Lee remains optimistic as voucher bill advance slows: The week in politics

Lawmakers delayed consideration of Gov. Bill Lee’s school choice proposal again in recent days, as they continue negotiations to close a wide chasm between House and Senate versions of the bill.

"This voucher legislation is really going to cost more than the governor anticipated: it's not moving for a reason," House Minority Leader Karen Camper, D-Memphis, told reporters on Thursday. "I don't think they have the numbers. We've seen across the state that more than 40 counties' elected bodies voted against this and don't want this... I don't think the votes are there."

House and Senate leadership continue to negotiate on reforms to public schools and how to fund them. Finance committee and subcommittees will hear the bill in both the House and Senate in the coming days.

House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, told reporters Thursday that the House and Senate "in my opinion, have never been closer together on this."

"I feel like we're heading in a good direction when the House and the Senate working well together with the administration," Lamberth said, brushing off observations that there are significant differences in both chamber's versions on policy and funding. "I actually think we're pretty close at this point."

House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, said conversations remain ongoing with Senate colleagues about crucial pieces of each version of the bill — like the House proposal to overhaul K-12 testing requirements, and the Senate's proposal to allow open enrollment.

"We'll see what they're comfortable with," Sexton said.

Lee remains optimistic that the legislation will be successful this year.

“I’m confident they’ll find a way forward,” Lee said during a recent talk radio appearance on "The Matt Murphy Show." “We have multiple meetings every week around a lot of issues – this one in particular right now.”

Lee called school choice “the conservative issue of our time,” and decried plummeting outcomes at “government-run” schools, arguing that his proposal is a “challenge to the status quo.”

“When our children are all going to government-run schools, the power is in the government's hands with regard to where our children are educated, what they learn, and how they learn it," Lee said. "This is not about getting government into private education. This is about getting the power out of the hands of the government and getting into the hands of parents.”

At the same time, Lee touted “hundreds of millions of dollars” in his budget proposal for the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement K-12 funding structure – hundreds of millions of dollars that the House version of the bill would use for other public school funding pursuits.

Senate calls on MNPD to release Covenant investigation records

Tennessee Senators passed a resolution expressing support for more public release of information related to the shooting at The Covenant School on March 27, 2023, including copies of search warrants, items seized, a list of persons of interest identified during the investigation, and reports and analysis from the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit of the shooter’s writings.

“The public’s right to know is protected by the freedom of the press as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and it is imperative that the aforementioned information relative to the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville on March 27, 2023 should be released to the public as soon as possible,” the resolution reads.

The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, passed the Senate on Monday in a party line vote of 26 to 5. It awaits a floor vote in the House.

Gardenhire has also joined a lawsuit to which The Tennessean is also a party, seeking public release of the shooter’s writings. The Tennessean has no plans to publish the writings verbatim and has sought to center coverage on public policy, the victims and the community.

“We express our extreme disappointment in the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s failure to release such information in a timely manner,” the resolution reads.

Lee stopped short of specifically calling for the release of the Covenant shooter’s writings and related records – just over one year after the attack.

“I believe there should be greater clarity around what happened,” Lee said during the radio interview. “What that looks like, I don’t know.”

Executive Committee members sue Tennessee Democratic Party over ex-officio voting

Four executive committee members of the Tennessee Democratic Party filed a lawsuit against the party’s executive committee, asking the court to bar “ex officio” committee members – who have not been elected – from voting on Democratic candidates to be placed on ballots.

The complaint, filed by committee members Randall and Meryl Rice, John Summers, and Dr. Erick Huth, alleges that the party has allowed ex-officio members – including those appointed by Tennessee Young Democrats and Democratic Federation of College Democrats – to vote on decisions regarding candidates who are qualified to be placed on the ballot as a Democrat.

“Unless declared unlawful by this Court and enjoined, decisions regarding who is qualified to be placed on the ballot as a Democrat will be made by votes which will include seven ‘members’ who have never been elected to the office … this will include a high school student appointed by an organization which by its nature includes children not eligible to vote,” the complaint states.

Plaintiffs have requested an expedited hearing in the case: the next meeting of the Democratic Primary Board is April 7. They are represented by Nashville attorney Gary Blackburn.

Israel ambassador visits Nashville

Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, quietly visited Nashville for a breakfast with Lee, Sexton, U.S. Rep. David Kustoff, R-Germantown, and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, at the governor's residence, according to social media posts documenting the occasion. The visit was not announced to the media.

"Honored to meet with @AmbHerzog, Israeli Ambassador to the United States, to share TN's unwavering support for the Nation of Israel amid unspeakable persecution," Lee wrote in a social media post.

While in town, Herzog also met with Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti.

Call for audit of Faith-Based office renewed

House Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons is again asking Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower to audit the governor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives after an investigation by The Tennessean found that the office's executive director remained involved in a now-defunct tech startup even after beginning full-time work with the state.

The governor's faith-based office is run by Lance Villio, appointed by Lee in 2022, along with a nonprofit board appointed by the governor. The office receives $1.2 million in direct taxpayer support. One board member owns a right-of-way mowing business created within days of Lee’s inauguration that has since scored $4.7 million in contracts with TDOT.

Villio joined state government from a tech startup that he founded after abruptly leaving a job at a national Christian multimedia ministry. A Nashville bankruptcy attorney filed dissolution paperwork for the startup in January.

“In light of The Tennessean’s article regarding Lance Villio, the director of the Office, and his involvement with a now-defunct tech startup, the taxpayers of Tennessee deserve to know whether state resources were improperly used on Villio’s private business endeavor and how much of his time and energy was committed to that private endeavor while he was being paid $165,000 per year by Tennessee taxpayers,” Clemmons wrote.

Clemmons previously requested an audit of the office last August, after earlier stories from The Tennessean. Mumpower has so far declined to conduct an audit.

Republicans advance public carry bill despite law enforcement warning

Legislative Republicans advanced legislation that would expand constitutional carry from handguns to all firearms, a proposal law enforcement officials warned could cause panic as people could carry semi-automatic assault-style rifles or other long guns outside school buildings or strolling down Lower Broadway.

Similar legislation died last year after The Covenant School shooting, which cooled leadership's appetite for the bill in the latter half of the 2023 session, before it reappeared on a caption bill in Senate and House committees in recent days.

The Tennessee Department of Safety and Tennessee Highway Patrol testified against the bill, as they did last year, due to concerns about the "panic it would create in public."

"When you start talking about long guns in places such as outside of banks, around school buildings, outside the Capitol and this complex, with long guns, it does make law enforcement very uncomfortable for the sheer fact that it is going to cause people to be concerned," Elizabeth Stroecker, legislative director for the Department of Safety, said in committee. "It will cause more people to reach out to law enforcement."

THP Col. Matt Perry said the situations often stoke fears of a mass shooter event, and law enforcement must respond to those perceived threats.

Supporters of the legislation argue it is a constitutional right to bear any arms, and language in the current Tennessee code limiting constitutional carry to "handguns" is too limited.

"Govenment does not have the authority to dictate by what means someone can protect themselves," House sponsor Rep. Monty Fritts, R-Kingston, said.

Fritts dismissed concerns about public safety or public concern about increased open carrying of rifles in public spaces, suggesting gun reform advocates have used "hyperbole" to stoke fear about firearms. Fritts also pushed back on opponents who say long guns are inherently more dangerous than hand guns.

"We have hit a point in our society where it is often that we use hyperbole to create a sense of anxiety or fear to prevent us from doing the right thing. We've lived through that over the last few years and I'd offer to you that we're doing the same kind of thing today," Fritts said.

Three children and three staff were killed by a mass shooter at The Covenant School last year, and multiple studies have found guns are now the leading cause of death of Tennessee children.

Catch up on the week

Tennessee lawmakers give final approval to 'chemtrails' bill

TN House GOP passes protections for anti-LGBTQ foster parents as parental leave bill fails

Lee faith-based office director recently led tech startup that once flirted with bankruptcy

New political group with top consultants forms to tackle ‘bubble of ideological extremism’

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee politics: Lee still hopeful as school voucher bill slows