Reporter
Sam Stockard is a Nashville-based reporter with more than 30 years of journalism experience as a writer, editor and columnist covering the state Legislature and Tennessee politics for The Daily Memphian.
588 articles by Sam Stockard :
Republican Gov. Bill Lee Thursday announced a package of legislation designed to ban abortion in Tennessee, including provisions to stop the procedure when a fetal heartbeat is detected.
State Rep. G.A. Hardaway of Memphis is renewing a push for legislation creating a felony offense for police officers who misuse body cameras and dash cams and preventing the collection of evidence.
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed legislation Tuesday to put Tennessee's Right to Work law in the state Constitution as state Sen. Brian Kelsey declared a potential conflict of interest because of his legal work against unions in other states.
State Sen. Brian Kelsey and state Rep. Antonio Parkinson began campaigning Tuesday for legislation to compensate college athletes and to prevent the derailing of superstars such as former University of Memphis basketball player James Wiseman.
State Sen. Brian Kelsey is sponsoring a Right to Work constitutional amendment while battling unions in his outside job, raising questions about whether he has a conflict of interest.
Amtrak is hoping to add a Memphis line from Illinois and possibly create a Memphis-to-Nashville line and another from Nashville to Atlanta as it tries to tap into growth in the Southeast.
State Rep. London Lamar is sponsoring legislation to end the annual observance of Nathan Bedford Forrest Day, noting she wants to stop recognizing a "very dark history in Tennessee."
Despite withering opposition from the LGBT community on an adoption bill, state Sen. Paul Rose is pushing ahead with legislation that would prevent local governments from giving preferential treatment to vendors and contractors who have favorable LGBT working conditions.
The State Capitol Commission is scheduled for a Feb. 20 meeting, at which time removal of the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust from the Capitol’s second floor is expected to be debated.
Republican lawmakers are making moves to overturn Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order allowing refugee resettlement to take place in Tennessee.
State Sen. Paul Rose pushed legislation through the Senate Tuesday allowing state-licensed adoption agencies to turn down same-sex couples they consider in conflict with their religious beliefs.
Less than half a year after resigning his House Speaker post amid scandal, state Rep. Glen Casada is considering running for a House Republican Caucus leadership position that lines up votes and helps members run for re-election.
The Tennessee Department of Correction received a four-year extension Monday despite accusations of corruption and a harsh audit showing it misclassified homicides.
House Minority Leader Karen Camper is seeking a different outcome on Medicaid expansion and the Education Savings Account program as the 111th General Assembly reconvenes this week.
House Minority Leader Karen Camper believes a legislative oversight committee needs to be renewed amid another poor audit for Tennessee's prisons.
State Rep. Jesse Chism is calling it a “moral imperative” for the state to pass legislation restricting solitary confinement of juveniles and pregnant women. But his legislation is likely to hit a Republican wall.
State Sen. Brian Kelsey is helping lead a charge to pass legislation adding Tennessee’s Right to Work law to the Tennessee Constitution, a move that union officials believe is designed to clamp down on unions and hurt workers' rights.
A University of Tennessee economist says warlike events between the United States and Iran could “dampen” the state’s economy but won’t cause a recession without a full-scale military conflict or other shock to the economic system.
Feeling opposition over his decision to put Tennessee in the federal refugee resettlement program, Gov. Bill Lee defended his move Tuesday among fellow Republicans at a Nashville social gathering.
Gov. Bill Lee unveiled a new paid family leave policy for state employees Tuesday, a measure permitting up to 12 weeks of annual medical leave time for events such as child births and family illnesses. Lee admitted it will come with a cost.
House Education Committee Chairman Mark White says two "go-to" liaisons to the Legislature who resigned Friday leave a communication void as the 2020 General Assembly session begins Jan. 14.
Former governor Winfield Dunn put a dent in a proposal to rename the Cordell Hull Office Building for him, saying he has “reservations” about the plan. He said he asked state Rep. Ron Gant not to push the idea.
The state will fund a Fayette County landfill incinerator east of Shelby County to dispose of deer carcasses testing positive for chronic wasting disease.
The East Shelby Drive and Summer Avenue driver’s license testing centers were still expecting new examiners by late December to help with processing Real IDs.
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