There are 424 article(s) tagged Bill Lee:
The budget includes Lee’s Transportation Modernization Act, a $3.3 billion infusion to the Tennessee Department of Transportation and local governments to build roads and expand highways with voluntary toll lanes.
Gov. Bill Lee included the increased funding in his fiscal year 2024 budget proposal, which the Tennessee House of Representatives and Senate passed Wednesday and Thursday, April 19 and 20.
Gov. Lee proposed $100 million for the centers, which provide limited medical care and urge people not to terminate pregnancies. A Daily Memphian analysis found those centers’ revenue was about $20 million in 2020.
Lee said his proposal, which expands a law that applies to cases of domestic violence, balances the need to restrict gun access for people deemed to be dangerous to themselves or others with the need to protect the rights of gun owners.
Two days after Gov. Bill Lee asked lawmakers to pass an “extreme risk protection order” bill, one such bill sponsored by Democrats died without receiving a committee hearing.
It’s the first gun-safety proposal Tennessee Republicans have made in the weeks following the Covenant School shooting, and follows a school-safety plan Lee offered last week.Related story:
A federal judge’s ruling ends the age-discrimination lawsuit against Tennessee’s 2021 permitless carry law, allowing individuals aged 18 to 20 to carry handguns without a permit.
Support for crisis pregnancy centers is part of Lee’s “pro-life” agenda after the Supreme Court ended the right to abortion. Many medical experts say these centers are unethical because they mislead clients and prioritize anti-abortion advocacy.
“Never in my life did I anticipate that there would be this happening in rural West Tennessee,” said Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. “Welcome to one of the most exciting days celebrating one of the most exciting events in this region.” Ford to build next electric truck — Project T3 — at BlueOval CityRelated story:
Bill Lee proposed $100 million for anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers, one of which he co-founded; he is also proposing a $2.2 million uncompetitive grant to a campaign donor’s foundation.
The protests of proposed state laws that would outlaw drag various forms of drag shows came as Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee attended the Wednesday, March 1, opening of the Whitehaven YMCA.Related story:
If the ban becomes law in Tennessee, doctors would be prohibited from providing gender-affirming care to anyone under the age of 18, including prescribing puberty blockers and hormones — and could even be penalized. Health care groups and big political donors silent on trans youth billRelated story:
House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Gov. Bill Lee say they don’t want to deal with the requirements that accompany federal funding for education and HIV prevention and Tennessee is in the financial shape to replace it.
“The state of our beloved state is prosperous, hopeful, and unrivaled,” Lee said. Doctors stood outside the state House chamber protesting a bill that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
Gov. Bill Lee’s decision to reject federal funding for HIV prevention is a “debilitating and destabilizing move for our organization,” said OUTMemphis’ executive director.
“The halfway point of any endeavor is a good time to reflect, but it’s an even better time to plan — to focus on the work still ahead,” the governor said.
Gov. Bill Lee granted Oscar Smith a reprieve after finding TDOC failed to properly test lethal injection chemicals, then retained a former federal prosecutor to investigate why it happened.
The governor also made 30 people eligible for parole who were sentenced before a reformed Drug-Free School Zone law was passed in 2020.
A Tennessee comptroller audit on the Department of Children’s Services concluded that allegations of sexual abuse went uninvestigated, as did accusations of misconduct by contractors.
“It is no secret that DCS has failed to hire and retain staff and, as a result, has seen unusually high caseload averages throughout the state,” DCS Commissioner Margie Quin told Gov. Bill Lee and his budget advisers on Nov. 17.
One baby in Memphis was separated from her mother for much more time than necessary because of dysfunction at the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. After quitting, a former DCS worker says her hair is growing back.
Not long after it was established as its own department in the 1990s, DCS faced a lawsuit filed on behalf of a boy from Memphis. The class-action lawsuit dramatically changed the way the foster care system works.
The TBI — and the political leaders who fund it — became the targets of scrutiny this summer after The Daily Memphian reported on a rape kit that connected Eliza Fletcher’s alleged killer to a 2021 rape.
The ballot features a statewide race for governor and questions about voter interest as well as the county’s balance between Republicans and Democrats.Related stories:
CoreCivic gave $107,490 to Tennessee politicians and PACs from July to September, the majority going to incumbent Republicans. The company has stayed in business despite a high murder rate and accusations of underinvestment in safety.