Senate committees are set to consider competing legislation Tuesday dealing with COVID-19 liability immunity and the punishment of protesters in the Legislature’s special session.

The state attorney general would have authority to file criminal charges against protesters under legislation introduced for a special session of the General Assembly, overstepping local district attorneys general.

Indicted for allegedly taking more than $600,000 from her federally-funded business for personal expenses, state Sen. Katrina Robinson traveled extensively with taxpayer money to legislative conferences in her first year as a state lawmaker.

The ACLU is claiming victory in a Supreme Court decision, but Gov. Bill Lee thinks the state took the right step in fighting universal absentee balloting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the eve of election day, the state's highest court rules the expanded access to absentee ballots for the August elections means all of those votes will be counted. But for November, absentee ballots will not be open to all who have general concerns for their health if they vote in person instead of by mail. There was a dissenting opinion on the court.

Robert Cooper used a line from the Eagles song “Hotel California” to argue that Metro Nashville and Shelby County will be hurt financially by the state’s Education Savings Account program.

Gov. Bill Lee, faced with opening schools in the midst of a pandemic, promised more “transparency” Tuesday, Aug. 4, on reporting COVID-19 cases in schools but declined to say the public will be given case numbers for every school statewide.

Gov. Bill Lee is scheduled to speak today at a 3 p.m. press briefing. 

Gov. Bill Lee's decision to allow high school contact sports such as football and girls' soccer is drawing incredulity and support as the season nears.

Gov. Bill Lee Monday, Aug. 3, called a special legislative session for Aug. 10 at which legislators will focus on adopting COVID-19 liability immunity legislation designed to protect small businesses and schools from an outbreak of coronavirus lawsuits.

The recent indictment of state Sen. Katrina Robinson isn't a first for local members of the state legislative delegation, though it is different in that the charges are not connected to her duties as a state senator.

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment against state Sen. Katrina Robinson on charges of theft and embezzlement involving government programs and wire fraud.

The FBI searched state Sen. Katrina Robinson's home Tuesday for a second time. Authorities provided no details about why they were searching the home. 

Gov. Bill Lee outlined the contingency plan the day after Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joris Ray said a safe reopening of in-person classes was "largely a myth" with the number of COVID-19 virus cases growing. The Memphis and Nashville school systems are the only two in the state starting the school year with online classes only.

Despite calls from a White House task force leader for Tennessee to take stronger steps to curb the coronavirus spread, Gov. Bill Lee reiterated he doesn't plan to close down the state economy again and resisted the call for a statewide mask mandate. 

State Rep. London Lamar is hoping a new emergency powers committee she is joining will look at the governor’s executive authority and decisions affecting everything from business closings to education amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even though Republican governors are mandating masks and President Donald Trump has begun calling them "patriotic," Gov. Bill Lee continues to decline requiring face coverings statewide.

Hargett called for more federal funding for election procedures in the pandemic without Washington putting any conditions on state election officials in the process. Lawmakers questioned him closely on the state's opposition to expanded absentee balloting even after it was ordered by a state court. 

State Sen. Brian Kelsey’s law firm is inserting himself into the state's legal affairs again, getting involved in an absentee ballot battle with a legal brief arguing the Legislature, not the court, should determine the state’s voting laws.

The Lee Administration is making $115 million in federal funds available to local governments to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gov. Bill Lee is willing to pay the cost, no matter how high, in the legal battle over Tennessee’s new law to block abortions after a Republican-appointed judge stopped the measure from taking effect.

Tennessee leaders are weighing the prospects for a special session to consider a COVID-19 liability immunity bill and several other issues in early August.

Tennessee parents who stay home with children for virtual education are eligible for unemployment and cash assistance, Gov. Bill Lee said this week. But the Department of Labor was unclear on the question.

Gov. Bill Lee is not considering making a statewide mask mandate or shutting down parts of the economy again to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, even as cases surge.

Three people working in the Legislature have tested positive for COVID-19, possibly including one lawmaker who has tested positive. Plus, a former lawmaker who gave the House prayer June 18 was released from the hospital after testing positive.