TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

State’s Controversial Voucher Program Goes Before Tennessee Supreme Court

Posted by: Kate Prince on Jun 3, 2021

The Tennessee Supreme Court today heard arguments in the fight over Gov. Bill Lee’s controversial school voucher program, the Tennessean reports. A Nashville judge ruled in 2020 that the program violated “home rule” provisions of the state's constitution because it only applied to Davidson and Shelby counties. The court deemed it unconstitutional and the Tennessee Court of Appeals later affirmed that decision. Arguing before the state’s high court today, Metro Director of Law Bob Cooper called the law an “unfunded mandate” from the state. Solicitor General Andrée Blumstein argued that limiting the program to two counties was the state’s attempt at creating a pilot program that, if successful, could expand to more counties. The legislation originally applied to five counties, but as lawmakers debated the program, that number was slowly “whittled down” to two. The measure passed by one vote from a Knoxville representative, who only agreed to switch his vote once Knox County was removed from the program. The FBI is reportedly investigating whether bribery was used to pass the measure. The justices did not indicate when they might rule on the matter.

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