TheVoiceOfJoyce How did individual cities lose their rights to the State Government. Tennessee Law has bypassed their Constitution to prevent keeping their one Black Representative? That’s not legal. There are 36 Governors up for election, don’t elect a Trump Republican unless you want to continue to lose your rights!!

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Keep us strong. You power public media.Donate todayTuesday, May 12, 2026Good morning! Catherine SweeneyHow did we get here? It might have been hard to see while it was happening. 

After all, how many people are following Tennessee’s drama over local airport boards? Who cares if transit companies submit their asset values to the county assessor or the state comptroller? What a snooze-fest.

But put those and a handful of other new state laws together and what do you get?

According to Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz: “A power grab that is unprecedented in Tennessee history.“

City-state turf wars appear to be ramping up. That’s important context to consider when lawmakers are breaking up Memphis’ and Nashville’s Congressional districts — weakening the cities’ voices in Washington — and taking over Memphis schools.

WHAT TO KNOW

Tensions over local control were again prevalent in the legislative session, and several measures will shift power to the state. Photo: George Walker IV / AP“In all my years of being around the General Assembly, as a former member, I’ve never seen an assault on local government that I did this past session,” said Darren Jernigan, Nashville Metro’s manager of legislative affairs and a former state representative.

That quote is from WPLN Metro Reporter Cynthia Abram’s latest story.

A few years ago, Metro sued the state over four different laws. Their complaint: The laws affected only Metro Nashville. The state constitution says the general assembly isn’t allowed to single cities or counties out like that. 

So this year, lawmakers passed a bill that takes over the airport boards in Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga and Knoxville.

“It’s everyone’s interest to make sure everyone is represented on these boards to make sure all Tennesseans have a voice on the board, they currently do not,” said Rep. Johnny Garrett, a co-sponsor of the bill. “They are currently appointed by the locals.”

Additional supporters note that the state pays more for airports than local governments.

And the transit company tax bill noted above? It’s one of two bills that goes back to Elon Musk and the Boring Company’s Tesla tunnel. The state has been much less skeptical of the project and wanted to take oversight power away from Nashville.

Typically, infrastructure projects are only required to report to the state when crossing county lines. The Boring Company project is completely in Davidson County. Lawmakers changed the rules, and said everyone working on underground transit has to report to the state, including the Boring Company.

A different law created a new state-appointed board to oversee the Boring Company’s Music City Loop. The “Subterranean Transportation Infrastructure Coordination Authority,” will be made up of nine voting members appointed by the governor, House speaker and Senate leader.

The major focus of this year’s session — immigration — has also concerned the city. A White House-backed legislative package included a new law that requires all local law enforcement to partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under the 287(g) program, ICE can house detainees in local jails and deputize police officers and sheriff’s deputies. Without that law, cities and counties got to decided whether they wanted to work with ICE.

Metro released a statement saying that the new law does not apply to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, because of the way the bill was written. 

This is only a handful of the measures, but they give a glimpse into what had Dietz, the legal director, calling the session an “assault on local control.”

“It was really disappointing to me, to the mayor, to other people here in the Metropolitan government because we had been working really hard to develop a constructive working relationship with the state,” Dietz said. “The legislature this year told us they didn’t care.”

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On today’s episode of the NashVillagerpodcast 
with host Nina Cardona 🎙️ 

What’s driving up property tax bills in so many Middle Tennessee communities? Tax rates are one thing, assessed value is another, but between the two factors, property tax bills are causing lots of heartburn right now. Plus the local news for May 12, 2026, and Big Emma. 

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MORE TO KNOW

  • A new Beacon Center poll shows Republican gubernatorial candidate Marsha Blackburn with a commanding lead in the upcoming August primary. The conservative think tank’s survey found 63% of likely Republican primary voters would support the senator. That puts Blackburn more than 50 points ahead of the next closest candidate in the race, Congressman John Rose.
     
  • All Memphis Shelby County Schools third graders have to re-take the English section of the state’s standardized test, Chalkbeat reports. Tennessee law requires students to enroll in summer camp, take intensive tutoring, or both if they don’t score “proficient” on that section. And a new law says they could be held back. A re-take allows underperforming students a better shot at passing. But because the state will not disclose who fell short until the next-to-last day of school, Memphis is going ahead and administering a re-take to every third grader.
     
  • A Brentwood eye doctor has pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicare out of millions. Helen Boerman carried out the fraud over three years. The Department of Justice says she billed for new wound care products she had either not actually purchased, or ones that she didn’t use because she split wound care products intended for single use. The scheme brought in more than $6 million. She now faces a maximum of five years in federal prison. 

FROM THIS IS NASHVILLE

We kicked off NextAge Season 2, a series focused on romance, intimacy, and relationships in the second half of life. We have a personal and hilarious conversation with Brenda Kay and Sheri Lynn, the purveyors of NashTrash Tours. For nearly 30 years, Brenda Kay and Sheri Lynn, also known as the Jugg Sisters, have been carting tourists and locals alike around town, showing off the city with their comedy show on wheels. Today, the real-life sisters open up about love, aging, intimacy, and things many of us still laugh nervously about discussing out loud.

Please note: This episode contains candid conversations about intimacy, aging and physiology that may not be suitable for younger listeners.

This is Nashville with host Blake Farmer is on YouTube,
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