www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-24 13:25:00
(The Center Square) – Two Tennessee bills addressing hemp and marijuana are going before legislative committees on Wednesday with different objectives.
The “Pot for Potholes” bill sponsored by Nashville Democrats Rep. Aftyn Behn and Sen. Heidi Campbell would legalize recreational marijuana and place a 15% tax on sales. The Department of Transportation would receive 75% of the tax revenue and local governments would receive 20%, according to the bill.
“Other states are already benefiting from cannabis tax revenue, while Tennessee is leaving money on the table and ignoring our growing infrastructure tab,” Campbell said. “This legislation invests in safer roads, creates jobs, and delivers new revenue for counties across Tennessee. It’s time to get this done.”
The bill gets its first hearing in a House Criminal Justice subcommittee on Wednesday.
Rep. Larry Miller, D-Memphis, and Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, have their own version of recreational marijuana on the subcommittee’s calendar. Their bill would allow 15% of the revenues for administrative purposes, with 85% going to the general fund.
Recreational marijuana is legal in 25 states and 39 states allow medical use, Miller said previously.
“Our state has spent millions and millions of taxpayer dollars to enforce outdated cannabis laws,” Miller said. “While recent estimations show that we are potentially leaving more than $155 millions dollars annually on the table by ignoring what poll after poll shows Tennesseans overwhelmingly support.”
Bills supporting the legalization of recreational marijuana face challenges in red states. Only two of Tennessee’s neighbors, Missouri and Virginia, allow it.
Republicans introduced a bill that would place more restrictions on the sale of hemp products. It will be heard in the House Finance, Ways, and Means, Committee on Wednesday.
House Bill 1376/Senate Bill 1413 would ban the sale of products at grocery and convenience stores and turn control of the hemp industry over to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission. It would also reverse a law passed in 2023 that allowed a 0.3% legal limit of THCa concentration by prohibiting the manufacturing, production and sales of hemp or hemp plant parts that exceed 0.10% of THCa concentration.
The Republican-led bill would decimate the hemp industry, a Senate committee was told in February.
At least one Republican senator said that the issue of legalizing marijuana will eventually need to be addressed.
“We are absolutely just kicking the can down the road,” Sen. Adam Lowe, R-Calhoun, said of a possible vote on recreational marijuana legalization. “It’s coming, whether it’s this year, next year, five years from now.”
SUMMARY: Tennessee’s recent anti-LGBTQ legislation has led many lifelong residents to leave the state for more accepting places. Despite efforts by the Biden administration to challenge these laws, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care, affecting half of U.S. states. Some, like native William Gwynn, fear losing the Tennessee they once knew, while others, including transgender students and local artists, choose to stay and fight for change. They find hope in supportive communities, schools, and a determination to build a more inclusive future, even amid the state’s challenging political climate.
SUMMARY: In April, Memphis siblings Jasmine Ellington, 26, and Michael Ellington, 25, were killed in a shooting where over 70 rounds were fired. Their mother survived multiple gunshot wounds and is speaking out for the first time. The shooting stemmed from a domestic dispute involving Jasmine’s child’s father, Lorenzo Cross, who, along with Malik Merryweather, remains at large. Two brothers, Martavius and La Cameron Jenkins, are charged and facing a preliminary hearing. The family seeks justice for the deaths and trauma caused, urging the public to help locate the remaining suspects to ease their ongoing fear.
Jasmine and Michael Ellington were shot and killed in Frayser in April. Their mother was also shot that night and is now speaking out for the first time about what happened.
Gov. Bill Lee defended Tennessee’s private school voucher program, saying the state doesn’t need to know if students were previously enrolled in private schools before receiving vouchers. The program, funded with $146 million for 20,000 vouchers, allows “universal” scholarships without income restrictions or prior enrollment checks. Critics, including Rep. Caleb Hemmer, warn this lack of data risks fraud and diverts funds from public schools. Rep. Jody Barrett urges a state study to assess the program’s impact. Despite opposition, Lee argues the initiative reflects broad support for school choice among diverse Tennesseans.
Responding to criticism about Tennessee’s applications for private-school vouchers, Gov. Bill Lee said this week the state doesn’t need to know whether students were enrolled in private schools before seeking the funds.
Lee told reporters this week the Department of Education created the rules and application based on the bill lawmakers passed this year. The governor’s administration is coming under fire for subsidizing private schools with the $146 million program.
The applications for 20,000 vouchers don’t ask where students previously attended school or were enrolled in a private school. Nor do they request financial information from parents applying for “universal” scholarships, those without income restrictions.
The governor said in a press conference last week the data is not required by the legislation and noted “it’s not necessary to have, particularly because what we hope for is universal school choice, where every family regardless of their child’s past educational history has access to a scholarship.”
The Department of Education and the governor’s refusal to ask for critical data on private and previously participating schools is deeply troubling – especially when other states with similar voucher schemes have faced significant fraud and abuse.
– Rep. Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville
Families of more than 38,000 students applied for the funds this spring, nearly $7,300 each, to pay for tuition and other private-school costs after lawmakers narrowly passed the voucher program. Those were divided almost evenly between families without income limits and those at 300% of the poverty level with an estimated income of $175,000 for a family of four.
Another 5,000 slots could be offered next year.
Republican Rep. Jody Barrett of Dickson, a vocal critic of the program, told the Lookout the legislature should require a state study to determine whether students are using the money to continue attending private schools and where they live so lawmakers can decide if the program should be changed.
Democratic Rep. Caleb Hemmer of Nashville, who is trying to obtain information about the program’s applicants, called it the “educational equivalent of Cash for Clunkers,” a 2009 federal rebate program designed to boost the economy and encourage people to buy fuel-efficient cars.
In light of Lee’s comments, Hemmer said Tennessee residents “deserve full transparency” when funds are being “diverted” from public schools.
“The Department of Education and the governor’s refusal to ask for critical data on private and previously participating schools is deeply troubling – especially when other states with similar voucher schemes have faced significant fraud and abuse. We can’t afford to blindly walk into a system that lacks oversight and accountability,” Hemmer said in a statement.
Republican Rep. Jody Barrett of Dickson is calling for
Reports on Arizona’s private-school vouchers show the state’s budget ran into problems because funds had to be diverted from other programs to pay for the education program.
The legislature passed Lee’s main initiative even though the state’s own financial impact analysis showed 65% of the students who receive the vouchers would be enrolled in private schools already. Students from private schools surrounded the governor when he signed the bill into law at the State Capitol.
The governor further defended his initiative by saying, “Tennesseans broadly of multiple backgrounds and economic diversity want to have this for their kids.”
Data such as previous enrollment and income level for “universal” scholarships is “not helpful,” Lee said.
The state’s Education Savings Account program for low-income students in Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga requires applicants to report their household income.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
SUBSCRIBE
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
This content primarily presents the perspective of Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, defending a private school voucher program, which is typically supported by conservative and center-right political actors advocating for school choice and reduced government regulation in education. The article also includes criticisms from Democratic and Republican legislators who express concerns about lack of oversight and transparency. While the criticisms provide balance, the tone and framing largely focus on defending free market principles in education, aligning more with center-right views.
