We’re midway into January, and that means it’s time for another state legislative session in Nashville. Unfortunately, given the GOP’s supermajority control over the statehouse, that also means we’re under threat of spiraling further into the hellscape that is Tennessee politics.
Starting at noon on Tuesday, through the next few months, it is all but certain that the Republican supermajority will pursue long-desired right-wing pet projects to further subject Tennesseans to its anti-democratic governance.
Hot-button issues likely to take center stage include immigration, school vouchers and what is perhaps Tennessee’s most longstanding matter of debate: tax policy.
But new points of contention are sure to arise. Following the passage of President Donald Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” by congressional Republicans last year, states now carry a heavier burden when it comes to administrative costs for social welfare programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Over the next several weeks, the Tennessee legislature must hash out how the state will cover these new costs.