page_title: Bill Lee (Tennessee politician)
section_title: 2019
hierarchical_section_title: Bill Lee (Tennessee politician) / Governor of Tennessee / Tenure / 2019
caption_attribution_description: English: Governor Bill Lee being sworn into office on Saturday, Jan 19, 2019, in the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, TN.
context_page_description: William Byron Lee is an American businessman and politician serving as the 50th and current governor of Tennessee. Elected in 2018, Lee campaigned as a business-oriented member of the Republican Party. Before entering politics he held various positions at the Lee Company, an inherited family business; he was the company's president and CEO from 1992 to 2016.
context_section_description: Lee was sworn in on January 19, 2019. He issued five executive orders in his first two months in office; one addressed economically distressed rural counties in Tennessee, another addressed nondiscrimination in employment, and a third imposed a 90-day "freeze" on the issuance of new regulations by executive departments. Lee announced that the governor's website would include a new feature to allow citizens to give feedback on bills that had passed through the General Assembly and were awaiting his signature or veto.
  As governor, Lee has rejected proposals to expand TennCare, the state's Medicaid program. He supports legislation introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly to ban abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy, in potential conflict with the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. In February 2019 Lee announced that his budget proposal for the 2020 fiscal year would include a repeal of the 10% amusement tax Tennessee levies on gyms, fitness centers, and health clubs. Lee argued that the tax discourages Tennesseans from being physically active. If enacted, the repeal would reduce state revenues by around $10 million.
  On March 4, Lee delivered his first State of the State address to the Tennessee General Assembly, talking about his plans for the future and how he believed that "Tennessee can and should lead the nation." On March 7, Lee delivered a "state of West Tennessee" address at the University of Memphis. He is the first governor make a speech directed toward only West Tennessee; in the speech, he proposed creating more charter schools and that the state use $25 million to help traditional public schools when they lose students. On April 4, Lee announced that the state would temporarily reinstate paper-based assessments for students taking the TNReady test, an annual statewide assessment, during the 2019–20 school year.
  On May 24, Lee signed into law a school voucher program that provides public funds to families so they can send their kids to private schools, effective at the beginning of the 2020–21 fiscal year, but this program was later ruled unconstitutional. On July 2, Lee signed into law House Bill 1158, a school safety bill that calls for school districts across the state to establish a threat assessment team. On July 17 he visited Lauderdale County in West Tennessee to see how recent flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Barry had affected the community.
  On July 7, Lee signed an order proclaiming Nathan Bedford Forrest Day, as required by Tennessee law, celebrating an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
  On November 26, Lee and Comcast announced a $2.4 million fiber network expansion that will bring high-speed broadband internet connection to Tipton County in West Tennessee. On December 1, Lee proclaimed the first of December as Rosa Parks Day, which was the day that Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. In early December 2019, Lee visited several high schools and colleges in East Tennessee to promote the GIVE program, which prioritizes learning opportunities in rural counties and enhances career and technical education statewide.
  On December 10, Lee appointed Kyle Hixson to serve as a criminal court judge for the 6th judicial district, filling the spot of Bob McGee. On December 13, Lee announced that the global industrial company Hyosung Heavy Industries would invest $86.9 million and develop 410 jobs over the next seven years in Memphis. On December 18, he announced that Tennessee would continue to accept refugees, and in a letter to Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally and Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Cameron Sexton wrote, "it is important to note that each and every refugee that might potentially be resettled in Tennessee under the President’s Executive Order will have been individually approved by the Trump Administration for legal immigrant status."
  On December 19, Vanderbilt University released a poll of Tennesseans over the fall of 2019 that showed Lee's approval rating at 62%, the highest of any statewide politician. On December 26, L
caption: Governor Bill Lee taking the oath of office.
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