SUMMARY: Tennessee’s new law, effective July, bans “community benefits agreements” (CBAs) for companies receiving state economic incentives. CBAs are binding contracts addressing local concerns like wages and affordable housing, exemplified by Nashville SC’s 2018 deal with Stand Up Nashville. Major corporations like Ford, Oracle, and GM have received sizable state incentives, with Ford’s $5.6 billion BlueOval City project sparking local demand for a CBA to ensure community investments and protections. Ford favors a voluntary $9 million Good Neighbor Plan, but some residents argue it lacks accountability. Despite the law and challenges, affected communities continue advocating for formal agreements to secure lasting benefits.

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The post Checking in on ‘community benefits agreements’ in Tennessee — and the new law curbing them appeared first on wpln.org

SUMMARY: Today will be warm and muggy with hit-or-miss showers and thunderstorms. Rain chances become more widespread Tuesday, bringing heavy rain especially late afternoon and evening. Wednesday will be hot, with highs in the mid to upper 80s and heat indices reaching the mid to upper 90s. Thursday sees more widespread rain and potential stronger storms. Summer officially starts Friday night, and the weekend will bring the first 90-degree highs of the year, with heat indices nearing triple digits. Be mindful of heat safety as you plan for the hot and humid conditions ahead.

Scattered showers and storms are possible each day through Thursday while remaining very muggy. Temperatures could reach the low 90s this weekend.

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by Gabe Hart, Tennessee Lookout
June 16, 2025

Twenty-five years ago — in what could easily be described as another life — I was a youth minister in a Southern Baptist church. I knew every verse to cherry-pick to support my personal views on anything from abortion to same-sex marriage. 

That year, in the first presidential election in which I was allowed to vote, I voted for George W. Bush because…well, abortion and stuff. Four years later, I was completely out of the SBC and voted for John Kerry. 

What changed?

After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a proliferation of politics began to swirl from the pulpit at my church, a toxic mix of ideology and scripture. Until then, whatever naive political beliefs I had sprang from MY belief system. As misguided as it was, that system was my own, for better or worse — not something dictated to me verbatim from a lectern.

One Sunday, my pastor referenced Fox News to buttress a point about a specific social issue, and a line was drawn. The “compassionate conservatism” espoused by the Bush presidency had started to curdle. Something was spoiled. Fundamental Christianity had been weaponized, and I wanted no part of it.

Comparatively speaking, those were the good ol’ days.

Since Gov. Bill Lee was elected in 2018, he has consistently spoken of how his personal faith influences his decision-making. He has proudly made a grandstanding show of signing performative bills into law that reinforce his idea of Christianity (see the Adult Entertainment Act of 2023 and the Heartbeat Bill of 2020) while simultaneously discriminating against same-sex couples (see SB 1304 of 2020) and preventing LGBTQ+ children from being fostered by families if the families so choose in the Tennessee Foster and Adoptive Parent Protection Act of 2024. 

Recently, Lee may have committed his most damnable offense — a Faustian promise to support President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants by creating a Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division and vowing to be “supportive of his (Trump’s) strategies moving forward.”

Tennessee ‘human smuggling’ bill heads to governor’s desk

Did Lee envision a racial profiling dragnet in South Nashville when he made that promise? 

In early May, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, along with assistance from the Tennessee Highway Patrol, made traffic stops in an area of Nashville that is heavily populated with immigrants. Witnesses observed vehicles being stopped and people being detained. When the dust settled, nearly 200 suspected migrants without permanent legal status had been arrested. 

Mothers. Fathers. Children. Did all 200 people have violent criminal records? Was each person arrested a legitimate threat to their community? Anyone with common sense knows the answers to those questions.

When Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell denounced the ICE raids, GOP lawmakers at the state and federal levels attacked. House Republicans in Washington announced a federal investigation of O’Connell; Sen. Marsha Blackburn implored the Department of Justice to look into the matter. Based on O’Connell’s remarks, border czar Tom Homan threatened more raids. 

As he is prone to do, Lee remained silent, complicit in the chaos. 

After the Covenant School mass shooting tragedy three years ago, Lee called a special legislative session to address the lax firearm regulations in the state. It was one of the few times Lee has even slightly pushed against his supermajority of political bullies. Nothing happened other than Lee slinking from the public spotlight, muting himself out of righteous self-preservation. 

U.S. border czar: Nashville mayor, a critic of immigration sweeps, now faces investigation

I’ve met Lee twice. He spoke with students, genuinely listened to their ideas and posed for pictures. In my very limited time with him, I came away believing he truly cares for people on a personal level. People I have spoken with who know him say he’s a good man and I don’t doubt that. 

But when you hitch your political wagon to a brand of Christianity that has been bastardized by a powerful group of people hellbent on power, your personal witness automatically falters. When you pledge blind loyalty to a man like Trump and set up systems within your state that allow innocent children to be hurt, people to be discriminated against and families torn apart, it might be time to stop leaning so heavily on Christian rhetoric to advance your political causes. 

Recently, I’ve dipped my toe back into a faith community. Testing the waters, you could say. Ironically, most of my core beliefs about politics and humanity were formed by my time in church, by the actual teachings of Jesus Christ. He had strong thoughts about powerful political structures like the one we have in Tennessee. He also had very specific language about the way we should treat vulnerable people in society, specifically foreigners.

“For I was hungry and you put me in jail, I was thirsty and you confiscated my water,

I was a stranger and you arrested me…Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Wait. Sorry. That must have come from the Trump translation, not the King James Version.

Faith in anything is an extremely personal matter to be respected, but when that faith is used as a manipulative weapon to further a political agenda, it becomes blasphemous. 

Our leaders should act more like O’Connell and less like Lee, placing humanity above legalistic righteousness. 

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.

The post Gov. Bill Lee’s performative Christianity places political agenda over faith appeared first on 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-Left

This content critiques conservative policies and political figures, particularly Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and his alignment with Donald Trump, focusing on issues like abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration enforcement, and the intermingling of religion and politics. It expresses skepticism toward conservative Christian political influence and calls for more compassionate, humanitarian leadership, aligning with progressive or center-left values on social justice and immigration. However, the tone is measured and personal rather than overtly polemical, situating it in a Center-Left stance rather than far-left advocacy.