Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton and his entire Republican Caucus on Wednesday asked Gov. Bill Lee in a letter to call a special COVID-19 session to block what they charged is school and other local officials' "overreach" by requiring students or business patrons to wear masks.
Gov. Bill Lee says "nothing's off the table" when it comes to the possibility of a special legislative session suggested by House Speaker Cameron Sexton to strip Tennessee public school systems of their ability to require students to wear masks.
Two Tennessee congressmen are among 16 U.S. House Republicans warning U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that it's "illegal" for him to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for active-duty troops absent the medicine's full approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
Gov. Bill Lee's administration has put forth plans to use a half billion dollars in new federal COVID-19 stimulus funds to expand Tennessee's broadband internet access in unserved or underserved areas while also providing subsidies to some low-income families.
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton says he will ask Gov. Bill Lee, a fellow Republican, to call lawmakers into special session if local school districts impose mask mandates, segregate students based on vaccination status or close schools amid a state surge in coronavirus infections.
A state Republican representative, who for nearly eight months fought a life-threatening battle with COVID-19 that included 55 days on a hospital ventilator and required a liver transplant, is pleading with Tennesseans to take seriously both the disease and the vaccine providing protection in most instances from serious illness.
Voters in parts of Hamilton County go to the polls Tuesday, where local officials project low turnout in the Tennessee House District 29 special primary election - with neither Republican Greg Vital nor Democrat DeAngelo Jelks facing opposition in their respective party primaries.
Republican businessman Greg Vital of Georgetown received $77,400 in political contributions during the first 17 days of July in his special election bid for the Hamilton County-based state House District 29 seat, according to the latest filings with the state.
A bronze bust of Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest was removed from the Tennessee Capitol building on Friday.
The nonprofit group that operated a Chattanooga shelter for unaccompanied migrant children is suing the state of Tennessee to get its license reinstated.
