A bill headed to the governor's desk will sentence teens as young as 14 who commit serious crimes in Tennessee to up to five years in adult prison. (Photo: Morry Gash/The Associated Press) Teens as young as 14 years old who commit serious crimes in Tennessee will face up to five years of adult incarceration or probation once their juvenile sentence ends under a bill now awaiting Gov. Bill Lee’s likely signature. The measure also requires juvenile court judges to automatically transfer 16- and 17- year olds facing first and second degree murder, or attempted murder, to adult court.  The s ..read more

Gov. Bill Lee is pictured here with Republican legislative leaders but continues to strike out on big legislative initiatives. (Photo: John Partipilo) Gov. Bill Lee entered the fray as a “political outsider” six years ago. Based on his performance toward the end of the 113th General Assembly, he’s still standing on the other side of the fence — almost invisible. The Legislature ignored his pleas to pass a private-school voucher bill for every student in the state, and Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga balked at his opposition to the United Auto Workers vote by opting to unionize by 3-to-1. Th ..read more

Members of Tennessee House listening to a bill presentation during the 2024 legislative session. (Photo: John Partipilo) Tennessee lawmakers have officially agreed to eliminate a portion of the state’s business tax one year after making several costly changes to the same tax. Estimates from the general assembly’s fiscal review committee show that the two cuts and an additional refund approved this year will cost the state at least $7.4 billion in the future.  Tennessee traditionally has had one of the most regressive tax systems because it generates more than 60% of i ..read more

The Tennessee House of Representatives on the first day of the 2024 legislative session. (Photo: John Partipilo) Tennessee lawmakers passed legislation to reform the state’s hospital certificate of need law, which should facilitate some of HCA Healthcare’s planned expansion across Middle Tennessee.  Among the several reforms is the removal of restrictions on opening satellite emergency rooms in counties with an existing hospital. The new law states that if the emergency room is located within 10 miles of the hospital’s main campus and not within 10 miles of another hospital, the new faci ..read more

Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, addressing his bill to prohibit local governments from spending funds to study reparations. (Photo: John Partipilo) UPDATED: This story has been updated to reflect a House vote to table the anti-reparations bill. The Tennessee House voted 52-43 Wednesday to defeat an anti-reparations bill despite the efforts by an East Tennessee House Republican to resurrect the measure. Before introducing the bill, Republican Rep. John Ragan of Oak Ridge circulated a letter to colleagues seeking their support in passing House Bill 474 to stop counties from looking into reparatio ..read more

(Art: Getty Images) A Nashville judge has ruled that ex-officio members of the Tennessee Democratic Party Executive Committee can continue to vote on party business. The ruling by Davidson County Chancery Court Judge David Briley came in response to a lawsuit filed by four TNDP executive committee members. Democratic Party members file suit against Executive Committee over ex-officio voting rights The plaintiffs sought to strip non-elected committee members of their right to vote on party business — and in particular on the state primary board — following a rancorous debate at the Jan. 27 ..read more

Tennessee Senate leaders, including Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (top) and House Majority Leader Jack Johnson (second from right), put their heads together in the Senate chambers. (Photo: John Partipilo) House and Senate lawmakers still don’t have an agreement on Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s $1.9 billion business tax cut proposal.  The sticking points are how many years of refunds to give and a part of the House version of the bill that requires the revenue department to disclose the names and amount of refunds companies receive.  “The transparency piece is a really important component of th ..read more

Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears in court for his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments on April 23, 2024, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first of his criminal cases to go to trial. (Photo by Brendan McDermid-Pool/Getty Images) The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal case in New York appeared to strongly disagree Tuesday with the former president’s lawyers’ explanation for why he should be considered in compliance with a gag order in the case. In a Tuesday morning hearing to determin ..read more

Parents of school children and other protesters of a bill passed by the Tennessee House of Representatives to arm teachers hold signs during Tuesday's vote. (Photo: John Partipilo) Balcony crowds chanted, “Blood on your hands” and “Vote them out,” after the House voted Tuesday to allow teachers to carry concealed weapons on school campuses. House Republicans passed the legislation 68-28 enabling school districts and local law enforcement to opt in on the law and let teachers who go through 40 hours of training bring weapons to school to ward off attackers. The Senate measure moves next to the ..read more

CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE - APRIL 19: United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain, right, speaks as local organizers raise their fists at a UAW vote watch party on April 19, 2024 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. With over 51% of workers voting yes the UAW won the right to form a union at the plant. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images) Tennessee’s Republican leaders are putting a happy face on defeat after Volkswagen workers voted overwhelmingly to unionize at the Chattanooga plant. With more than 4,325 VW employees casting ballots, workers voted 2,628-985 for representation by the United Auto W ..read more