Republican Gov. Bill Lee says an independent Public Charter Schools Commission won’t be lenient but will give the state greater latitude for overseeing charter operators across the state.

Gov. Bill Lee confirmed Tuesday he is planning Memphis and Chattanooga public hearing dates on the state’s Medicaid block grant proposal. And he is not "not concerned about the legality" of the proposal.

Middle Tennesseans challenged the state’s $7.85 billion Medicaid block grant proposal Tuesday, with U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper delivering the harshest rebuke, calling it a “radical” plan brought on by President Donald Trump.

State Rep. Mark White is working on legislation language to calm Republicans’ nerves over his bill requiring weapons to be secured when kept in vehicles and boats.

Gov. Bill Lee has selected three Shelby County representatives for his nine-member Public Charter School Commission charged with approving and overseeing charters across the state.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery, in seeking execution dates for nine men including two from Memphis, apparently made a unilateral move in what one federal public defender is calling “mass execution.” Gov. Bill Lee is steering clear of the matter - at least until he is asked to grant clemency.

State Rep. G.A. Hardaway is preparing to revive legislation requiring guns kept in cars and boats to be secured, saying he has the support of Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings, who is seeing a yearly increase in gun thefts from vehicles.

Poverty rates for Memphis and Shelby County rose in the past year despite a strong statewide economy and even as Hispanic residents made significant progress, according to a report based on the latest Census figures.

Gov. Bill Lee is considering scheduling a Memphis public hearing on his Medicaid block grant proposal at the urging of House Minority Leader Karen Camper.

State Rep. Jim Coley will be honored by the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence at an October event in Nashville as a champion for fighting human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

The Tennessee Attorney General is asking the Supreme Court to set executions for nine people, including two Memphis men convicted of multiple murders. But the move will run into opposition from a federal public defender who called the situation a “request for mass executions.”

Secretary of State Tre Hargett hasn’t decided whether to appeal a judge’s order blocking a new voter registration law. But he is conducting a statewide voter registration drive.

Citing the large number of people likely impacted in Memphis, House Minority Leader Karen Camper is urging Gov. Bill Lee to schedule a Shelby County public hearing on the state’s Medicaid block grant proposal.

House Education Committee Chairman Mark White says the Tennessee Department of Education faces a difficult task in setting up an education savings account program in time for the 2020-21 school year.

Advocates for low-income health-care patients statewide are calling the state’s block grant proposal a “dangerous” plan that could cut levels of service and affect the state’s most “vulnerable” people.

Congressman Steve Cohen is urging a federal official to reject Tennessee’s block grant proposal for Medicaid funds, saying it would violate federal law and “inflict serious harm to recipients in Memphis and Shelby County.”

State Rep. John DeBerry is preparing to renew legislation in 2020 for a red flag law, but it could run into trouble since the General Assembly enacted a “compromise” bill this year.

The chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce is questioning the legality of Medicaid block grants for states such as Tennessee, saying Congress would have to change federal law to allow this type of healthcare funding.

Gov. Bill Lee’s $7.85 billion “modified” block grant proposal is drawing support from conservative backers and criticism from patient advocates who believe it will take people off the TennCare rolls.

Tennessee could draw up to $1 billion more in Medicaid funds annually to increase services and possibly add people to TennCare if the federal government agrees to a “modified” block grant proposal, according to Gov. Bill Lee. But no public hearing is scheduled for Memphis.

Earle Fisher of Memphis disagrees with the notion the Black Voter Project or #UPTheVote901 committed voter fraud when they turned in thousands of voter registration applications, including many incomplete forms, to the Shelby County Election Commission in 2018. But the state representative who sponsored the legislation claims they were "fraudulent."

State Sen. Raumesh Akbari backs legislation that would stop homeowners associations from restricting the lease of neighborhood homes.

State Rep. Bill Dunn, the Knoxville Republican who sponsored Tennessee’s voucher legislation affecting Shelby County and Metro Nashville school systems, will not run for re-election in 2020.

A federal judge Thursday blocked the state’s new voter registration law, a reaction to a large number of applications filed in Shelby County in 2018. 

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance dismissed a penalty against 2018 House candidate Torrey Harris and gave Democratic Senate candidate Gabby Salinas a clean bill of health after a campaign account audit.