Tennessee lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation drastically expanding the number of families who can use taxpayer money on private schools regardless of income, a long-sought victory for Republican Gov.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, who has criticized the federal government for "excessive overreach," said the U.S. Education Department should be eliminated during Donald Trump's second term as president. (Courtesy TN.gov) The House and the Senate passed the Education Freedom Act, legislation championed by Gov. Bill Lee.

On Thursday, Jan. 30, the Tennessee House and Senate passed the proposed school choice program, a disaster relief package for those affected by Hurricane Helene and an immigration bill. Now, all three are headed to Lee’s desk for a final signature.

The Tennessee state Congress passed Governor Bill Lee's heavily pushed school voucher bill Thursday, on what is expected to be the final day of the special session the governor called to vote on this initiative and several others.

Lee spoke following Thursday's events of the special legislative session. President Donald Trump began his White House briefing Thursday with a moment of silence and a prayer for victims of Wednesday's crash at Reagan National Airport.

In one of the most hotly-contested questions in modern Tennessee political history, the legislature narrowly approved a $430 million private-school voucher program that critics say will grow quickly to $1 billion and endanger the state’s budget.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's bill cleared the state House and Senate and is to be implemented for the 2025-26 school year, using public money to fund private school tuition for up to 20,000 students statewide.

Governor Bill Lee's school voucher bill is flying through the special session, which is set to be debated on the House and Senate floors on Thursday.