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.
There are 1058 articles by Sam Stockard :
Gov. Bill Lee announced Wednesday he will agree to a refugee resettlement plan in Tennessee, responding to the executive order by President Donald Trump allowing states to make the decision on how to handle refugees.
State Sen. Raumesh Akbari is encouraging money to be spent for programs such as Agape in Memphis, which are cutting into poverty, as the state studies how to spend $732 million in TANF "reserves."
The Tennessee Capitol Commission chairman is guaranteeing a meeting by the end of February to discuss the process for a vote on removing the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust from the State Capitol.
House Minority Leader Karen Camper drew the ire of the House Finance chairwoman and got gaveled down Thursday for making a political point as frustration appeared to boil over among Republicans after the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
Tennessee could see sweeping changes through recommendations from the governor’s Criminal Justice Investment Task Force to deal with a billion-dollar budget and increased incarcerations.
Republican leaders are determined to push a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal Refugee Resettlement Program despite losses in court and opposition to the lawsuit by Memphis Democrats and an organization that settles refugees in Shelby County.
State Sen. Raumesh Akbari is working on legislation designed to give prisoners who commit murder as juveniles a chance for earlier release if they can prove they’ve changed their lives.
The new law requires health insurance providers to disclose the price of treatment options to people enrolled in their plans.
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.
The state will fund a Fayette County landfill incinerator east of Shelby County to dispose of deer carcasses testing positive for chronic wasting disease.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
House Minority Leader Karen Camper believes a legislative oversight committee needs to be renewed amid another poor audit for Tennessee's prisons.
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.
The Tennessee Department of Correction received a four-year extension Monday despite accusations of corruption and a harsh audit showing it misclassified homicides.
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.
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.
Republican lawmakers are making moves to overturn Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order allowing refugee resettlement to take place in Tennessee.
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.