First-term Tennessee legislators Heidi Campbell, John Gillespie, Torrey Harris and Eddie Mannis say they’ve learned to be tough but find friends across the aisle as well.

Republican state lawmakers floated the idea of “dissolving and reconstituting” the Tennessee Department of Health Wednesday, June 16, because of vaccine messaging they said amounted to “coercion.”

Since Bill Haslam was elected governor in 2010, Republicans have held control of Tennessee’s state government, with the party controlling the trifecta of the House, Senate and governor’s office. No Black politician has chaired a full, standing committee since then.

The closure of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge has re-energized supporters of a plan to add a new bridge across the Mississippi River in the Memphis area for cars and trucks.

U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty is one of the co-sponsors of legislation that could provide funding to repair the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, build a new bridge across the Mississippi River, or both.

Two state legislators from Tennessee say planning needs to begin immediately for a third bridge in Shelby County crossing the Mississippi River.

Former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam kicks off the publication of his new book on faith in the public square by saying religious faith has been overtaken by a partisan political divide.

The state decision Monday clears the way for site preparation to begin immediately at the Fairgrounds, starting with the 227,000-square-foot Memphis Sports and Events Center that is the centerpiece of the $126 million undertaking.

Shelby County commissioners voted 11-0 with two commissioners not voting in approving a resolution similar to one approved by the Memphis City Council last week.

Tennessee jails people at a higher rate than average, but hasn’t seen results in reducing crime or recidivism. Republicans have responded with reforms they argue will lead states to save money and keep people out of jail who don’t need to be there.

Michael Dunavant, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, has a new job with the state Comptroller’s Office.

Officials from Tennessee and Arkansas said they are working “around the clock” to repair the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, but it could take “several months easily.” 

Tennesseans on unemployment insurance won’t get the extra $300 per week provided by the federal government as of July 3, Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday, May 11.

Lawmakers wrap up legislative session viewed differently by Democrats and Republicans. 

Tennessee legislators moved in the final days of their just-completed session to ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants, both changes sought by activists in the wake of the police-involved deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

Tennessee governors have been remaking school reading policies for 40 years, and yet reading achievement scores have barely budged.

Tennessee’s new elementary school reading policies are the product of a tangled web of government, business and academics that has reshaped national and state reading policies time and again.

The two urban areas of Memphis and Nashville control the minority Democratic leadership in state politics, but Memphis and West Tennessee are underrepresented among the Republican majority.

Council unanimously approves a resolution opposing the proposed configuration that would eliminate Scott Street’s southern connection to Poplar Avenue.

A bill that would give drivers immunity for hitting protesters in some instances is not moving forward this year.

The bill would require public facilities to post a sign if they let transgender people use multi-person restrooms, locker rooms or changing rooms. The Human Rights Campaign says it would be the first of its kind.

While neither side is completely happy, the law allowing Tennessee gun owners to carry openly with or without a permit sailed through the legislature — and with relatively little pushing from gun advocacy groups. 

In the war against opioid overdose deaths, Tennessee is winning one battle — doctors are prescribing pain pills at much lower rates — but still losing other battles.

The measure will allow veterans to be buried on Saturday. Previously burials were held only between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.

A bill allowing student athletes in Tennessee to make money from their brand has passed both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly with little opposition, and it is now headed to Gov. Bill Lee.