Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee preaches unity to Nashville business leaders

Gov. Bill Lee told Nashville's business community he's focused on Tennessee's breakneck growth and putting "dollars back in the hands of people" at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce's annual Governor's Address on Tuesday.

He mostly side-stepped the bitter ongoing feud between state and local political leaders.

"We live in a very toxic political world," Lee told hundreds of guests at the JW Marriott. "People disagree and some of them are very loud. I hope we can be civil. It's clearly a very challenging environment to walk through. There are a lot of forces, even on the national level, that make that especially challenging."

His priorities are maintaining low taxes and an economic-development agenda that enhances the state's job-training programs, increases transportation infrastructure, and offers more K-12 educational opportunities, Lee said.

His comments come amid a fractious political environment in the Volunteer State.

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The Tennessee General Assembly filed several bills this session aimed at curbing local authority over Nashville's sports venues, convention center and airports. If approved, they would give state leaders power over some of Music City's most valuable real estate, including Nissan Stadium, Bridgestone Arena and Nashville International Airport.

In addition, he quickly signed legislation reducing Nashville's 40-member Metro Council to no more than 20 members, a move the city quickly challenged in court.

Meanwhile, Lee has firmly stood behind GOP-led efforts to pass restrictions on public drag performances and a ban on transgender health care for minors. Lee signed both measures within hours of final passage in the General Assembly.

The Republican governor has faced intense criticism from Democrats, LGBTQ advocates and others in the wake of signing the two bills.

The moves targeting Nashville are largely seen as retaliation for the council not supporting an effort that could have brought the 2024 Republican National Convention to the city. Mayor John Cooper sent a letter of intent to host the 2028 convention, and a formal bid has been submitted.

On Tuesday, Lee highlighted his work to cut taxes, improve roadways and transit, and to provide more workforce training to help employers − critical concerns for Tennessee businesses.

"When you have one of the best economies in the country, then you have a real challenge with workforce," Lee said. "We've brought in 86,000 jobs. Filling those jobs is an enormous challenge."

He cited a $1 billion investment in worker training programs via the Tennessee College of Applied Technology system.

"Ninety percent of (TCAT) graduates have job placement in the field in which they study," Lee said. "If we make this investment smartly this year, we will have 10,000 more workers."

The proposed $3 billion Transportation Modernization Act, approved by the Senate on Monday, was designed with the best-practices gleaned from cities that have successfully met the demands of a fast-growing population, according to the governor.

"We’re one of the only states that don’t use debt to build roads. We find other solutions," Lee said. "We're creating funding streams to deliver infrastructure to rural states that still have two-lane interstates built in the 1970s. We need to reduce traffic (on regional Nashville corridors) and this plan will address that."

Increased education funding, including a boost to teacher's pay statewide, and efforts to retain and enhance natural resources with brownfield-contamination cleanups and more public amenities like hiking trails, are also on his list.

"We have tremendous challenges in this state," he said. "There are 7 million people who are hoping we will set aside the complicated struggles that are political in nature. I do think Tennessee has the ability to do that in ways other places do not."

Sandy Mazza can be reached via email at smazza@tennessean.com, by calling 615-726-5962, or on Twitter @SandyMazza.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Gov. Lee preaches unity to Nashville business leaders