Gov.-Elect Blackburn Outlines First Legislative Priorities for 2027

With rain pouring outside the Old Supreme Court Chamber in Nashville Wednesday morning, Gov. Bill Lee stood aside to let the first female governor-elect of Tennessee address legislative supporters.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the governor-elect, took the podium to lay out her transition to power. The Williamson County Republican won in a much tighter race than anticipated Tuesday night and heads into the 2027 legislative session with a less powerful supermajority. Deputy Gov. Stuart McWhorter will head the transition team between Lee and Blackburn. 

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Reporters asked Blackburn what she would like to accomplish during her first year. She said she wanted her fellow lawmakers to work on affordable and workforce housing, floating the idea of public-private partnerships with government land not currently in use. She also touted the passage of Amendment 2, which will prohibit the state government from collecting a property tax — Tennessee residents have not paid a state property tax since 1949. 

“Tennesseans have been very specific that the cost of living is going to be a top issue for them, and yet we need the cost of living to go down,” Blackburn said Wednesday. “So as we begin our transition, we’re going to already be focusing on some things that we can do there, and working on that agenda.”

On the campaign trail, Blackburn said several times she would like the state to consider a Department of Government Efficiency-like program. That idea stems from the Trump administration's efforts, led by tech mogul Elon Musk, to cut waste and federal spending. Those efforts largely backfired, with the federal government having to rehire many people it fired to maintain some functions of government. 

Scene sister publication the Nashville Post asked what a Tennessee DOGE would look like, given that the Republican Party has controlled the state's pursestrings for the past 16 years. 

“Look, I mean, it is good to periodically kind of get inside of your numbers to look at positions that maybe are not being fully utilized,” Blackburn said in response to the Post’s question. “When I was in the state Senate, I proposed we do a 5 percent across-the-board cut every year just to make certain we are not building or getting lax with how programs were being administered. So the legislators are excited about doing this. I am excited about working with them, and it’ll be good for the people of Tennessee."

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Blackburn has also supported more school choice options. She used the example of her own children and grandchildren, noting that each learned differently. A hallmark effort of the Lee administration was Education Freedom Scholarships, or vouchers, worth more than $7,000 for a student to attend a private school of their family's choice. The state legislature has already voted once to expand the program since its inception, and Blackburn was not clear if she would make an effort to continue expanding the program. 

Lawmakers have not addressed how vouchers affect rural pockets across the state that do not have private schools. When the legislature passed Lee’s voucher program in a special session in 2025, rural lawmakers questioned how it would help families in their districts, with some voting against the program. 

“You know that education is not one-size-fits-all,” Blackburn said Tuesday. “You want to make certain parents don’t have to win the lottery in order to have a say in their child’s education. I look forward to working on that.” 

Blackburn and Lee’s teams will continue to work together on her transition. She is set to be sworn in on Jan. 16. 

This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.