Ian Round is The Daily Memphian’s state government reporter. He came to Tennessee from Maryland where he reported on local politics for Baltimore Brew. He earned a Master of Journalism degree from the University of Maryland in December 2019.
There are 185 articles by Ian Round :
Robinson was expelled following her two wire fraud convictions but before her sentencing, which is scheduled for March 3. Robinson said GOP lawmakers discriminated against her on the basis of her race, gender and party.
Republican lawmakers say Sarah Campbell shouldn’t recuse on the voucher case, one of Lee’s signature accomplishments.
A boost to education funding was the most notable item on Lee’s proposed $52.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2023.
Almost 82 years after the last documented lynching in Tennessee, a Republican and a Democrat want to commemorate all 154 victims statewide with Community Remembrance Project.
Republican state senators question whether everything on the list is truly needed.
Several organizations have said the maps are a textbook example of gerrymandering and will lead to diminished voting power for people of color.
The debate over whether to use tax dollars to send children to private schools has reared its head.
Robinson said the process was unfair since the Senate Ethics Committee comprises four white Republican men and one Black woman.
The latest map would split Tipton County along U.S. 51, and about 30,000 Shelby County residents would be drawn out of Republican Rep. David Kustoff’s district.
“This is a racist power grab for Republicans to try to cheat their way to more power,” said Charlane Oliver, cofounder and co-executive director of The Equity Alliance. “We will obstruct, we will disrupt any chance we get.”
Sunny Eaton, who runs Nashville’s Conviction Review Unit, said, “These wins are the kind that are absolutely changing lives for people who never deserved to be in that position.”
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says it’s a lack of manpower and not a lack of money that is hampering traffic enforcement efforts on interstates.
The map will likely allow Republicans to win another seat in Congress.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Colonel Matt Perry: “We’re gonna hire a whole lot of troopers in a short period.”
The Tennessee Department of Education released a draft of its new education funding framework Tuesday, Jan. 11, the same day lawmakers began this year’s regular legislative session.
State lawmakers have descended on Nashville for three months of committee hearings, debates and vote-wrangling over how to spend taxpayer dollars.
Residency requirements, reckless driving and Germantown’s namesake schools are among the issues lawmakers plan to address at the upcoming General Assembly session. School funding reform might have to wait until next year.
With local motorists driving ‘as if they are in video games,’ city and state law enforcement are at odds over who bears more responsibility for enforcing highway speeding laws.
“Overall budget is holding in spite of market conditions but we have a long way to go,” Megasite CEO Clay Bright said.
Before lawmakers approved $138 million in October, costs had already risen from $60 million to $136 million. On Dec. 20, with no discussion, the State Building Commission approved a budget revision to $274 million.
State Sen. Brian Kelsey’s trial for campaign finance charges has been delayed by more than a year, until after the 2022 elections.
Nearly three out of every 1,000 Tennessee residents have died of COVID-19, new data from the state health department shows.
“(The BEP) needs to change,” Gov. Bill Lee said. “We are due for a strategy that is money well-spent, not just more money.”
The proposed political map, which was unveiled Friday, Dec., 17, takes one seat away from Shelby County, while adding three to Middle Tennessee.
“Licensure of liars should not be allowed,” one Nashville physician told the state legislature’s Joint Government Operations Committee.