NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — According to multiple Tennessee lawmakers, a bill to pass statewide access to vouchers for private school tuition could be coming. Either among the first pieces of legislation in the Tennessee General Assembly, or considered in 2025, or there could be a special session on it. The news was initially reported by the Tennessee Journal/State Affairs.
When asked about the rumors, Elizabeth Johnson, a spokesperson for Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said, "all options are on the table."
“At this point, no decision has been made about a special session on any particular topic," said House Majority Leader William Lamberth, a Portland Republican.
If the Governor decided to call a special session devoted exclusively to voucher expansion, it would likely be held in the month of January before the annual State of the State address.
Around this time last year, Gov. Lee pitched what he's called his signature program.
"Our plan to establish a new statewide school choice program," he told reporters in 2023.
But the plan never made it to a final vote in either chamber when Tennessee House and Senate leaders couldn't agree on the details.
"I think we couldn’t find a path forward," said Gov. Lee earlier this year, when the bill was officially taken off notice.
NewsChannel 5 Political Analyst, Pat Nolan, understands the logic around holding a special session just for voucher expansion. He says a special session would allow the Governor to narrow the scope of debate.
"He can put that in there, and pretty much make that’s what they have to talk about," said Nolan. "Get it over with so they can get the rest of session going for the rest of the year."
A special session would also allow Republican leaders to hand pick the legislative committees that could make the path to passage a lot easier.
"Make sure that at least the committees they put together have the votes, if there’s one particular bill that intersects with each other, to get that bill out on the floor," said Nolan.
But Pat thinks a special session could also be a risky idea.
"If that [bill] doesn’t go, then nothing else goes either, at least for that special session," he explained.
Pat says a special session won't matter if the two chambers can't agree on a unified version of the plan.
"If you get competing stuff in there, then we could get back into what we had before where two or three different plans and no one is compromising to come together," said Nolan.
The path is complicated more by the fact that Democrats have previously declared they'll never support the idea.
"Not one member of the 24 of us will vote for a voucher bill. End of story," Rep. John Ray Clemmons, House Democratic Caucus Chairman, told us earlier this year.
Only time will tell if the two chambers can reach a consensus and their leaders can find enough votes. What is certain, at least to Pat, is if the Governor can't pass the measure next year, his time may be running out due to term limits.
"When you enter into your final two years in office, political rigor-mortis can set in a lot quicker than you might think," said Nolan.
"We remain grateful for the General Assembly's commitment to deliver Education Freedom Scholarships to Tennessee families by keeping funding for last year's proposal in the budget. We continue to work in partnership with the General Assembly on finalizing our upcoming legislative agenda," Johnson, Gov. Lee's press secretary, also wrote in her statement.
Special Session on Hurricane Relief?
Sen. Rusty Crowe, an East Tennessee Republican, told the Elizabethton Star that he hopes a special session will be called to provide financial support to help with Hurricane Helene relief.
“If ever rainy-day funds were to be appropriately utilized, I would think this could certainly be the time,” Crowe said in a letter sent to the governor last week.
In the letter he asked that the governor support “a conservative, but fitting appropriation” from those funds to help Northeast Tennessee recover from the storm, according to the Star.
A spokesperson for Governor Lee did not specifically respond to our question about the possibility of that being part of a special session call.
"Gov. Lee announced the HEAL Program as one step in a comprehensive effort to help communities impacted by Hurricane Helene. The road to recovery will be long, and we are looking at all opportunities to expand resources for Tennesseans in need," wrote Johnson, Lee's press secretary.
Only the Governor, or a two thirds majority of Tennessee lawmakers, can officially call for a special session.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@newschannel5.com.
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