In 2023, 47 of the nation’s 56 organ procurement organizations, including Tennessee’s, broke records in the recovery of organs for transplant. 

Half of the state’s wetlands — often described as “earth’s kidneys — could be deregulated under a new proposal, but lawmakers are looking at a compromise that would take wetlands’ size and quality into account.

The Tennessee General Assembly passed a law in 2023 taking the power away from local DAs in collateral review of death penalty convictions and instead putting the authority in the hands of the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office. 

The archive of 60 years of Ernest Withers’ photographs joins the national set of historic places as the Beale Street entertainment district marks 10 years of operation and management by the Downtown Memphis Commission.

“The state of our state is strong, resilient and ready for the future,” Gov. Bill Lee told the audience of state lawmakers and other officials within the House chamber at the Tennessee State Capitol in Downtown Nashville.

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Gov. Lee proposes $1.2 billion in business tax refunds, $410 million annual cut

The tax cut is among the biggest expenses in the governor’s budget, and comes as state revenues are stagnating. Lee argues the state can afford it because revenue is stabilizing at a level significantly above where it was a few years ago.

Gov. Bill Lee has now appointed a majority of the Tennessee Supreme Court’s justices.

The proposed amendment, which would be on the 2026 ballot, would limit financial consideration in bail for the mostly violent crimes covered by the 2022 “truth in sentencing” law.

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Slate of bills by state Sen. Brent Taylor target bail, juvenile crime

Some of the more than 20 bills Taylor filed take aim at Shelby County’s current bail practices and a recent Memphis City Council ordinance that banned pretextual traffic stops by Memphis Police Department officers.

Rep. Kevin Vaughan, R-Collierville, has proposed a new wetlands bill that he says is more equitable to landowners. 

“We are a pro-life state,” Martin told the House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee Wednesday, Jan. 31. “We want to be people that care about the unborn — and the born.”

State Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, said the bill targets the pride flag, even though it could prohibit others, such as the Confederate, Thin Blue Line and Black Lives Matter flags.

A lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Tennessee claims the NCAA is “enforcing rules that unfairly restrict how athletes can commercially use their name, image and likeness at a critical juncture in the recruiting calendar.”

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton said the amendment would increase judicial discretion regarding bail and would require judges to say why or why not they granted bail. 

The House members of the committee examining federal education funds released their report Thursday, Jan. 25, and recommended greater legislative oversight of federal rules. But they are not, at least yet, proposing any cuts.

Free courses in nine career fields will begin this winter on all Southwest Tennessee campuses for residents of Shelby and Fayette counties. 

Officials responsible for administering the food-assistance program for low-income Tennesseans appeared before a state Senate committee Wednesday to explain the problems and how they plan to solve them.

If the state attorney general says Gov. Bill Lee has the power to temporarily assign judges from around Tennessee to handle criminal cases in Shelby County, Taylor will request he do so “immediately.”

Lizzette Reynolds has no teacher’s license or experience leading a classroom, in apparent violation of a century-old state law outlining the job’s requirements, Democrats say.

Catholic education leaders believe the Jubilee Schools wouldn’t have closed if the state government had paid a portion of the families’ tuition. That’s why they support Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed Education Freedom Scholarship Act, which would make private school vouchers much more widely available.

Dubbed the Ensuring Likeness, Voice and Image Security — or ELVIS — Act, the bill represents one of the first attempts by a government to regulate artificial intelligence.

“There are more questions than definitive answers about what rejecting federal K-12 dollars could mean for Tennessee’s obligations because no state has ever done so,” the report states.

The worried message from a slew of executives to the state’s Republican leadership follows months of public statements from some who signed the letter that the city’s future hangs in the balance.

Members of the public were only given a fraction of the seats in the two galleries overlooking the House floor.

Other than Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal to expand private school vouchers, legislation intended to fight crime is likely to be the General Assembly’s biggest focus in its 2023 legislative session, which begins Tuesday.