Tennessee legislature is coming back to work: 10 key groups to watch in the new session

Key voices are beginning to emerge as Tennessee lawmakers prepare to return for the 2024 legislative session where education funding, gun safety, a property tax cap and spending choices will likely prove key issues.

Debate over whether to expand school choice will likely take center stage, as Gov. Bill Lee has rolled out a proposal to take a state-paid school voucher program statewide — allowing state funds to go to private schools.

As lawmaker interest in gun control measures continues to wane, even in the wake of the deadliest school shooting in state history, education funding debates will likely upstage the conversation over gun safety. Lee has said he has no plans to bring back a proposal to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Nevertheless, advocates from the Covenant School community ― along with the majority of Tennesseans, according to multiple statewide polls ― continue to call for more stringent gun safety laws.

And, as state revenues continue to level off after several years of being flush with cash, lawmakers may have to consider where and how to trim the state’s budget.

Issues to watch: Tennessee lawmakers set to return for the 2024 legislative session: 4 key issues to watch

Here are 10 key players or groups – elected and not – to watch this year.

1. Education leaders and school choice lobbyists

With Lee's statewide school voucher proposal likely to take center stage, leaders in education policy will be key voices to follow.

Perhaps the most powerful players in the debate will be House Education Administration Committee Chair Mark White, R-Germantown, House Education Instruction Committee Chair Debra Moody, R-Covington, and Senate Education Committee Chair Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol.

Debate over school choice expansion, and any proposed rejection of federal education funding, will take place in their committees. House Education Subcommittee leadership ― Reps. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, and Kirk Haston, R-Lobelville ― will also be key, as all school-related bills must also pass through a House subcommittee.

More: Americans for Prosperity, school choice groups assemble army to push for voucher expansion

Likewise, lobbyists will be engaged significantly on both sides of the issue, including Americans for Prosperity Tennessee State Director Tori Venable ― who told The Tennessean that the organization has hired nearly 100 part-time workers to help knock more than 200,000 doors to advocate for school choice. Other school choice advocates to watch include Victor Evans, executive director of TennesseeCAN, and American Federation for Children's Shaka Mitchell.

On the other side, Tennessee Education Association President Tanya Coats has said her organization will work against expansion, calling it an "irresponsible and reckless" policy that "would jeopardize the foundation our state’s success is built upon."

More: Families tout voucher success as test scores spark doubt and critics worry over expansion

Lee has added a number of school choice advocates to his administration, and Tennessee's new Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds will be a key player as she engages this year in her first session in the role. Reynolds joined the administration from school-choice advocacy group Excel in Ed, which supports private school choice programs, including scholarships, vouchers, and Education Savings Account.

2. Property tax hawks

A proposal may be coming to cap how much cities and counties can increase property taxes at one time, after Nashville raised property taxes by 34% in 2020. Rutherford and Maury counties have both had double-digit property tax hikes in recent years.

While specifics of the proposal remain unknown, key voices driving it are supply-side economist Art Laffer and Chip Saltsman, a political consultant to Tennessee's House speaker.

It would take a constitutional amendment to institute a statewide cap. Tennessee requires proposed constitutional amendments to be passed by two separate General Assemblies, and then appear on a statewide ballot during a gubernatorial election. If a proposed amendment passed this year, it would also need to pass in either 2025 or early 2026 before appearing on the 2026 gubernatorial ballot.

Tax breaks, as usual, will be a topic of debate this session, as Lee has said he also plans to propose a bill to simplify the state's franchise tax to offer some tax relief to businesses. The governor has no plans to propose a rate cut to the state's 4% grocery tax (lawmakers have approved months-long grocery tax holidays in the past), even though Tennessee has one of the highest such taxes in the nation. Democrats have proposed a bill to eliminate the grocery tax and require large corporations doing businesses in Tennessee to pay more taxes.

3. House Speaker Cameron Sexton

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, will be backing his own legislative agenda as well as keeping order in the increasingly volatile House. Eyes will continue to be on Sexton as he is widely anticipated to run for governor in 2026.

Sexton ― who voted against Lee's Education Savings Accounts program in 2019 ― is now a vocal proponent of the governor's proposed Education Freedom Scholarships plan to expand school choice across Tennessee and he will play a key role in its passage.

Sexton faced criticism last year for enforcing strict decorum rules and repeatedly clearing disruptive spectators from House galleries as he presided over the House during expulsion proceedings against Democratic Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson in response to the trio holding a gun control protest on the House floor during a session. He has also faced questions about his district residency, as he splits his time between Crossville and a family home in Nashville.

More: House Speaker Cameron Sexton is facing questions about his residency. Here's what to know.

4. Senate Finance Chair Bo Watson

Tennessee's most vocal budget hawk is Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, who chairs the powerful Senate Finance Ways & Means Committee. He will be key to spending decisions this year as state revenues continue to level off due to federal pandemic aid drying up.

Watson has repeatedly cautioned colleagues to be aware of stagnating state revenues as they considered new spending. His committee has been watching financial indicators over the past two quarters, and have been warning of "some economic headwinds" for next year.

“Spending discipline will be critical in the State’s next budget,” he wrote on social media in November.

Though his role is less in the public eye, Tennessee Finance Commissioner Jim Bryson is a watershed figure in framing the state's spending, as his agency is pivotal in drafting the governor's budget proposal. Watson's counterpart, House Finance Chair Rep. Patsy Hazelwood, R-Signal Mountain, will also be a key player.

5. Gun safety advocates from the Covenant school community

Galleries and halls of the state Capitol will once again be black and red ― the colors of The Covenant School ― as Covenant parents and activists from two firearms safety advocacy groups formed in the wake of the Covenant shooting make their case again before lawmakers

Advocates with Covenant Families for Brighter Tomorrows and Voices for a Safer Tennessee pledged to return after a special session in August ended with little progress.

More: 'You will see these faces again': Covenant moms, local clergy blast lawmakers

Many lawmakers have pledged to bring back proposed bills aimed at preventing gun violence, including Rep. Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville, and Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, who have a proposal to require gun owners to store firearms safely, or face consequences.

Sexton has also said he'll bring back a proposal he's worked on with Nashville District Attorney Glen Funk to change the threat standard for emergency detention to a mental health treatment facility.

6. Sen. Todd Gardenhire

Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, is chair of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee ― the committee through which any gun-related bills must pass. Immediately following the Covenant School shooting last March, Gardenhire tabled all bills dealing with firearms — including safe storage bills — saying "we need to be respectful" to the Covenant community.

More: Tennessee lawmakers delay gun bills after Nashville shooting as advocates demand action

7. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally

Tennessee’s second-in-command, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, will be absent for the first few weeks of this year’s session, as he continues to recover from a second ankle surgery. In recent months, McNally has appeared at public events with his foot in a boot. Speaker Pro Tempore Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, and three deputy Senate Speakers will preside over floor sessions in his absence.

“On the orders of my doctor, I will be finishing up my recovery and physical therapy at my home in Oak Ridge,” McNally said in a statement, adding that he will monitor legislative business from there, and stay in touch with his staff and Senate leadership.

It’s not the first time McNally has had to step away from the state Capitol for medical reasons. Last year, he underwent a procedure to treat an irregular heartbeat, and took up the gavel after several weeks of absence.

McNally faced national criticism last year, after screenshots surfaced showing the he had repeatedly liked, commented and posted heart and flame emojis on the nearly-naked Instagram photos of gay male model Franklin McClure. McNally's office brushed off the interactions explaining that he is a "prolific social media commenter."

8. Sen. Richard Briggs

Tennessee has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. Following an unsuccessful attempt to establish significant exceptions to the state’s total ban on abortion last year, Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, a physician, said he plans to try again to expand some exceptions to provide clarity for doctors to treat pregnant women struggling with medical problems.

Proposed exceptions sparked heavy controversy among conservative Republicans last year, and nearly all proposed exceptions failed. One narrow exception did become law: ectopic and molar pregnancies are now explicitly exempt from Tennessee's abortion ban, and doctors are allowed to perform abortions if in their "reasonable" medical judgment an abortion would prevent the death or "to prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman."

9. Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell

After a spate of bills targeting Metro Nashville government last year, some of which have been overturned in the courts, the inauguration of Nashville's new Mayor Freddie O'Connell may prove a turning point in the capital city's relationship with the state.

On the campaign trail and beyond, O’Connell worked to build communication with state leaders. Lee appeared alongside O'Connell during a reopening event for the Broadway Bridge in October ― the first time the governor has appeared alongside a Nashville mayor since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

10. The Tennessee Three

After being expelled from the House of Representatives for interrupting official proceedings with a gun control protest from the floor, and later reappointed and re-elected to their seats, Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, will return ready to rumble.

"We are gearing up for another season of resistance at the General Assembly," Jones declared in a video posted to social media last week, asking supporters to show up at the State Capitol and make their voices heard.

On Friday, Jones filed proposed changes to the House rules that would extend time limits for debate on bills from five to 15 minutes, raise the bar for requiring spectators to be removed from galleries, specifically allow 8.5" by 11" signs in galleries, and ban firearms from committee rooms. House Rules Committee members will debate proposed rules changes during a meeting on Monday.

Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville ― who also faced expulsion last year, but survived after Republicans fell one vote short ― is running for U.S. Senate, challenging U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn for her seat.

Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean.com. 

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TN lawmakers: School voucher, property tax, gun safety groups to watch