State Briefs

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) in cooperation with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) has awarded $21 million in federal funds for electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging stations across the state. 

Thirty-one EV fast charging locations are needed to fill...

The latest edition of the Tennessee Blue Book will honor the state’s first responders. 

“I am pleased to dedicate the 2023-2024 Tennessee Blue Book to these public servants,” said Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett. “These heroic individuals put the well-being of their fellow citizens above...

Tennessee Promise students are earning more credits, staying enrolled, and earning more awards than non-Promise students at the same schools, according to a new evaluation from the Tennessee Comptroller’s office. Researchers also found that the most common reason applicants are unable to qualify for...

Two broods of cicadas will make appearances in Tennessee over the next two years, the first time two cicada broods have emerged together in 221 years. Both the 17-year and 13-year cicadas will appear in Middle and West Tennessee in back-to-back years. The last time the 17-year cicadas emerged was...

The Knoxville-based Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful has celebrated several new milestones in 2018, including removing 218,729 pounds of trash from the Tennessee River. The first affiliate of Keep America Beautiful to focus solely on a river, the organization reached several milestones last year...

Two Tennessee school districts have been selected to share in $1 billion being awarded through the EPA’s Clean School Bus Grants program. The Hardin and Warren County School systems will each receive funding to replace five older diesel school buses with new, all-electric buses. A total of 280...

Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson announced revenues for December were lower than expected and were less than the monthly revenues from the previous year. 

State revenues for December were $1.9 billion or $82.5 million less than the budgeted estimate declining...

Unemployment in Tennessee held steady during the final month of 2023. Newly released data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development showed the rate did not change between November and December at 3.5%.
 
The seasonally adjusted rate of 3.5% for December 2023 also mirrored the rate from...

The Tennessee Department of Treasury, Unclaimed Property Division returned $68.7 million of cash property to the rightful owners or their heirs, local governments, and reciprocal states during fiscal year 2023. 

It’s the most money the Division has ever returned in a single fiscal year.  

The Division...

Tennessee will become the first state in the nation to address the use of AI in the music industry. 

Gov. Bill Lee announced the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act, a bill updating Tennessee’s Protection of Personal Rights law to include protections for songwriters, performers...