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.

The Tennessee House of Representatives approved Thursday, Jan. 30, an expansion of the state’s school-voucher program.

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.

The Senate sponsor defended the voucher proposal against critics who said it favors affluent families: “It shouldn’t be based on income. It should be universal.”

A bill filed for school vouchers for Tennessee students has transitioned for a special session, finally mapping out the funding for how the initiative would even work.

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.

The bill would effectively allow public money to be used by families across the state to pay for private education costs. It will now head to Gov. Bill Lee's desk.

Both the Senate and House of Representatives have passed Gov. Bill Lee’s statewide expansion of school vouchers, otherwise known as the “Tennessee Education Freedom Act of 2025.”