Gov. Bill Lee held a victory-lap press conference Thursday after the state House and Senate passed his administration’s special session legislation on education, immigration and disaster relief, along with an appropriations package for more than $900 million.
The 114th Tennessee General Assembly will consider education, immigration, guns and health care
“We passed a major disaster relief package that will deliver even more assistance to communities that are still recovering from Helene,” Lee said. “Universal school choice is now a reality for Tennessee families. I've said that all along, that we should and could have the best public schools in America and provide parents with choice, and we've done that.”
As it passed, the more than $400 million Education Freedom Act created 20,000 scholarships for students that are worth around $7,000 apiece for private school tuition and other educational expenses. It also allows teachers to receive a $2,000 bonus and puts 80 percent of the collected sports betting tax ($62.7 million this year) toward school infrastructure spending.
The bill was discussed for hours on the floor of both chambers, with around 30 amendments brought in the House. Each one brought by a Democrat was tabled with little to no discussion. Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville), whose district includes Antioch High School, where there was a fatal shooting just last week, presented one amendment that would establish an annual appropriation for schools where a shooting has occurred to make necessary improvements. The initial amount he proposed was $50 million. While the amendment was tabled, Powell tells Scene sister publication the Nashville Post he plans to bring it back to the legislature in some manner in the future.
Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville) speaks on the House floor, Jan. 30, 2025
Another amendment, brought by Rep. Chris Hurt (R-Halls), stated private schools could not discriminate against students with disabilities in admissions. The amendment failed 37-54.
Democrats attempted to appeal to the ideals of Republican fiscal conservatism in much of their debate time. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) ended the Democrats’ 45 minutes of debate by noting that the “hold harmless” provision, which would protect funds for local schools, would see a decrease of almost $45 million in state expenditures to the TISA formula, due to the students who leave public schools in FY 26-27. Future years are also expected to see a decrease of at least that amount, and potentially more.
“What happened this week was farcical,” Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) said in a press conference at the end of the special session. “[Republicans] said that they can run this brand-new program without any school system in the state losing any of its funding. We need to hold them to that promise, but right now, there's not enough money in the budget to do that.”
Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) speaks alongside Democratic leaders in the Cordell Hull State Office Building, Jan. 30, 2025
The voucher bill was not a landslide vote for the Republican Party. In the House, the vote was 54 aye, 44 nay and 1 present. That means 21 Republicans joined with Democrats in the House to mount a strong opposition to the bill. Notably, Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) immediately filed a change to his vote with the clerk after hitting the wrong button. The change will be reflected in the journal of the General Assembly, but the vote tally does not change.
In the Senate, the education bill passed just 20-13 with Republican Sens. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma), Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville), Bobby Harshbarger (R-Kingsport), Tom Hatcher (R-Maryville), Jessie Seal (R-Tazewell), Steve Southerland (R-Morristown) and Page Walley (R-Savannah) joining the six Democrats.
Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) noted that there was a lack of information on the Education Savings Account program that was billed as a pilot program for universal school vouchers.
“Even if I was a CEO of a company, and I presented this voucher program to my shareholders, I would have data to say the pilot is failing,” Oliver said. “We don’t have the data to prove that it’s better, and now we’re going to expand into other markets. They’re going to laugh at us. They’re going to laugh at me if I present this as a CEO to shareholders.”
The metaphors continued as Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) spoke in favor of the bill.
“Mr. Speaker, if we’re given 16 choices of pizza at a restaurant, surely Mr. Speaker, surely we can give parents a choice when it comes to something as important as educating their children,” Taylor said.
Following President Donald Trump's executive order in support of such vouchers on Wednesday, Gov. Lee said in a press conference Thursday that he had spoken personally with Trump about school choice in Tennessee.
Vouchers take a backseat to immigration, disaster relief on third day of special session
Lee also reiterated that the immigration legislation was in line with what the president is doing nationwide. The House also passed the legislation Thursday after it was heard in the Senate on Wednesday. The main point of contention remained an amendment that would make it a felony for local public officials to vote to make their municipality a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants.
Newly elected Rep. Gabby Salinas (D-Memphis) passionately shared her story of becoming a naturalized citizen and coming to the U.S. for medical treatment as a child when her family was in a car accident in which her father and sister were killed and her mother was paralyzed.
“I hope that by sharing my story you will see there is a human cost to this,” Salinas said, explaining that it was former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson who sponsored a private bill that gave her family permanent resident status.
Rep. Gabby Salinas (D-Memphis) speaks on the House floor, Jan. 30, 2025
Lamberth responded by noting it is the responsibility of the federal government to make changes to immigration laws to allow for individuals to become citizens and said he joins her in asking for a better process for legal immigration.
“We may differ on 99 percent of this stuff from a political standpoint or whatever else, but your story matters,” Lamberth said. “You reached out to a federal official who changed the immigration laws of this country. That is exactly where that battle should occur. It should not occur at a city council or a county commission or a school board chamber in contravention of federal or state law.”
