Rep. Todd Warner Speaks on School Vouchers, The Upcoming Special Session & The Tennessee Conservative’s Press Corps Rejection

Rep. Todd Warner Speaks on School Vouchers, Upcoming Special Session & The Tennessee Conservative’s Press Corps Rejection

The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –

This week Rep. Todd Warner sat down with The Tennessee Conservative to discuss school vouchers, the upcoming special session called by Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN), The Tennessee Conservative’s Press Corps rejection, and his removal from two House education committees.

School Vouchers and Gov. Lee’s Special Session

The current school voucher legislation being considered by Tennessee lawmakers continues to drum up quite the controversy with its estimated cost being $268,210,000 for just the first year.

In subsequent years that cost is expected to increase as the number of scholarships increases.

The bill does not focus solely on school vouchers, but also does a number of “beneficial” things for public schools and issues a $2,000 bonus for every public school teacher in the State of Tennessee, regardless of their performance. 

According to Rep. Warner, passing this school voucher bill would “absolutely not” be a fiscally responsible move on behalf of the state legislature.

“That is a Washington-style port bill brought to the conservative doorstep of Tennessee,” he told The Tennessee Conservative. “That bill should be split into two parts. The part that funds public education, the teacher bonuses, and the part that funds vouchers, and vote them up, you know, straight up or down, each bill, not lump them together. 

“It's almost like you're trying to bribe teachers to get them not to speak out against vouchers, and it's not normally the way we do things up here,” he continued.

The conservative lawmaker out of Chapel Hill also had quite a bit to say regarding Gov. Lee’s call for a special legislative session.

On Wednesday, the governor announced his call for a special session to pass the school vouchers bill or the Education Freedom Act, introduce a disaster relief package for East Tennesseans affected by Hurricane Helene, as well as public safety in relation to illegal immigration. 

The special session is set to convene on Monday, Jan. 27th, 2025, before the regular session has even reached full swing.

When asked if he thought the governor trying to wrap all these big issues into this special session might be yet another attempt at bribing people into voting for school vouchers, Rep. Warner said yes.

“There's a lot of talk going around up here where members and individuals, I might say, feel a little intimidated if they don't vote for the voucher, that their funds may get cut in East Tennessee,” said Rep. Warner. “I've heard stories of county mayors putting pressure on members, telling them that they need to support the voucher in fear that they might get shorted on the back end on the relief money.”

There's been a lot of money, a lot of dark money behind the scenes going on to get these vouchers across the state,” he continued. “And what I don't understand or what I guess I have a problem with is, you know, vouchers were on the ballot in three states that Trump won. I think Nebraska, Missouri, and Kentucky. Kentucky being the closest to Tennessee, I think Trump got 67%. The vouchers got about 36% of the vote. So it's not necessarily a conservative issue.”

Rep. Warner explained that the legislative process for Gov. Lee’s voucher plan would probably end up taking a week instead of the typical four to five weeks of deliberation a bill would receive.

“We should have come into special session maybe two weeks after the storm,” he stated in reference to Hurricane Helene. “We should’ve allowed two weeks for assessment time. Then the governor should have called a special session to help those folks in East Tennessee, and I'm all for helping those folks. It should not be mixed up with the voucher.”

The Tennessee Conservative’s Press Corp Rejection

Rep. Warner also noted his support of The Tennessee Conservative in recent attempts to get press access.

When asked what his thoughts were on Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville-District 25) choosing not to overrule the Press Corps decision and allow the outlet access to his press conferences, etc. Rep. Warner called it “ridiculous.”

“You are the voice of the conservatives across this great state. It's really sad that he won't let you in,” said. Rep. Warner. “[Speaker Sexton] can overrule the press corps at any time. He has that authority to do that, and he should let you in. I think everybody should be allowed in there. That's what creates doubt amongst people. That's the reason they doubt government is when they don't have access.”