Bill Lee

William Byron Lee (born October 9, 1959) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 50th and current governor of Tennessee. Elected in 2018, Lee campaigned as a business-oriented member of the Republican Party. Before entering politics he held various positions at the Lee Company, an inherited family business; he was the company's president and CEO from 1992 to 2016.

Lee was raised on his family's 1,000-acre (400 ha) cattle farm started by his grandparents in Franklin, Tennessee, the Triple L Ranch; the family raises Hereford cattle.

After graduating from Franklin High School in his hometown, Lee entered Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama in 1977 and graduated in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. In college, Lee was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order, a fraternity known at the time for its use of Confederate imagery, and a photo printed in the university's 1980 yearbook shows Lee wearing a Confederate military uniform at the fraternity's "Old South" party. In 2019, after his attendance came to light, Lee expressed regret for his participation: "I never intentionally acted in an insensitive way, but with the benefit of hindsight, I can see that participating in that was insensitive and I've come to regret it."

Lee was named President and CEO of his family's home-services and construction company, Lee Company, holding the position from 1992 until 2016. He briefly served as Chairman.

2018 election

In April 2017 Lee announced his candidacy the 2018 election for governor of Tennessee. A self-described social conservative, Lee also targeted pro-business Republicans. In the Republican primary election, he ran against Congresswoman Diane Black, Knoxville businessman and former Tennessee Economic and Development Commissioner Randy Boyd, and state House speaker Beth Harwell. Originally considered a longshot, Lee rose in the polls as Boyd and Black launched negative advertising against each other. He won the August 2 primary with 291,414 votes (36.8%) to Boyd's 193,054 (24.3%), Black's 182,457 (23.0%), and Harwell's 121,484 (15.3%).

Lee defeated the Democratic nominee, former Nashville mayor Karl Dean, in the November 6 general election, receiving 1,336,106 votes (59.5%) to Dean's 864,863 (38.5%).

Lee previously chaired and served on the committee of the Tennessee Prayer Breakfast.

Tenure

2019

Lee was sworn in on January 19, 2019. He issued five executive orders in his first two months in office; one addressed economically distressed rural counties in Tennessee, another addressed nondiscrimination in employment, and a third imposed a 90-day "freeze" on the issuance of new regulations by executive departments. Lee announced that the governor's website would include a new feature to allow citizens to give feedback on bills that had passed through the General Assembly and were awaiting his signature or veto.

As governor, Lee has rejected proposals to expand TennCare, the state's Medicaid program. He supports legislation introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly to ban abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy, in potential conflict with the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. In February 2019 Lee announced that his budget proposal for the 2020 fiscal year would include a repeal of the 10% amusement tax Tennessee levies on gyms, fitness centers, and health clubs. Lee argued that the tax discourages Tennesseans from being physically active. If enacted, the repeal would reduce state revenues by around $10 million.

On March 4, 2019, Lee delivered his first State of the State address to the Tennessee General Assembly, talking about his plans for the future and how he believed that "Tennessee can and should lead the nation." On April 4, 2019, Lee announced that the state would temporarily reinstate paper-based assessments for students taking the TNReady test, an annual statewide assessment, during the 2019-20 school year.

On May 24, 2019, Lee signed into law a school voucher program that provides public funds to families so they can send their kids to private schools, effective at the beginning of the 2020-21 fiscal year. On July 2, Lee signed into law House Bill 1158, a school safety bill that calls for school districts across the state to establish a threat assessment team. Lee visited Lauderdale County in West Tennessee on July 17, to see how recent flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Barry had affected the community.

On November 26, 2019, Lee, along with Comcast, announced a $2.4 million fiber network expansion that will bring high-speed broadband internet connection to Tipton County in West Tennessee. On December 1, Lee proclaimed the first of December as Rosa Parks Day, which was the day that Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. In early December 2019, Lee visited several high schools and colleges in East Tennessee to promote the GIVE program, which prioritizes learning opportunities in rural counties and enhances career and technical education statewide.

On December 10, Lee appointed Kyle Hixson to serve as a criminal court judge for the 6th judicial district, filling the spot of Bob McGee. On December 13, Lee announced that the global industrial company Hyosung Heavy Industries would invest $86.9 million and develop 410 jobs over the next seven years in Memphis. On December 18, Lee announced that Tennessee would continue to accept refugees, and in a letter to Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally and Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Cameron Sexton wrote, "it is important to note that each and every refugee that might potentially be resettled in Tennessee under the President’s Executive Order will have been individually approved by the Trump Administration for legal immigrant status."

On December 19, Vanderbilt University released a poll of Tennesseans over the fall of 2019 that showed Lee's approval rating at 62%, the highest of any statewide politician. On December 26, Lee appointed former state senator Mae Beavers to serve a six-year term on the state Board of Parole.

On January 3, 2020, Lee visited Elizabethton to announce a $1 million grant to the Elizabethton TCAT. During his trip, he was met with protests from people who disagreed with Lee's decision to continue resettling refugees in the state. One protester, Elizabeth Cox, said, "We have homeless and veterans that are sleeping under boxcars and under bridges and freezing to death. We don’t need to look out for foreigners first." On January 7 Lee signed an executive order that offered state employees three months' paid leave for new parents and caregivers of sick relatives. He described it as "one of the most cost-effective investments in the families of our state employees in recent history". The order is to go into effect on March 1.

On January 14, Lee announced that he would sign a measure into law that assures continued taxpayer funding of faith-based foster care and adoption agencies even if they exclude LGBT families and others based on religious beliefs. Supporters of the measure argued that such measures are needed to protect against potential lawsuits hostile to the group’s religious beliefs. In response to this legislation, Amazon, which announced in July 2019 that it would bring 5,000 jobs to Nashville, stated, "Amazon does not support this legislation. We have a long history of supporting equality and we’re opposed to laws that discriminate or encourage discrimination.” To explain why he signed the bill, Lee said, "I think equality is important and protection of rights is important and the rights of religious liberty are important. And that bill was centered around protection of religious liberty and that’s why I signed it." Lee signed the measure on January 24.

On January 23, Lee proposed a "heartbeat bill", which would ban abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected, similar to legislation that has been blocked in other states. Lee said the bill was "a monumental step forward in celebrating, cherishing and defending life." Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Mary Mancini responded, "No politician should be in the middle of the decision to end a pregnancy, choose adoption, or raise a child."

On February 3, Lee delivered his second annual State of the State address. In the address, he outlined his vision for the state, which included creating a $250 million endowment to address mental health in K-12 education and extending TennCare to pregnant women who need dental care. Lee also proposed a $117 million investment to increase teacher salaries.

On February 19, Lee denied clemency for death row inmate Nicholas Sutton. Sutton had saved three corrections officers' lives. Lee's statement read: “After careful consideration of Nicholas Sutton’s request for clemency and a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and will not be intervening.” Sutton was the third person to be put to death under Lee's tenure as governor.

Lee lives in Fernvale with his second wife, Maria, whom he married in 2008. His first wife, Carol Ann, died in 2000 in a horseback riding accident. After her death, Lee took extended time off from his construction company to raise his four children.

Lee attends Grace Chapel Church in Leiper's Fork.

Lee previously served as a member of the board of trustees of Belmont University, chairman of the YMCA of Middle Tennessee, president of the Associated Builders and Contractors, and a board member of the Hope Clinic for Women and the Men of Valor Prison Ministry.