Tennessee’s $1.9 Billion Franchise Tax Refund Bill Advances

The Tennessee Senate threw its support behind Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal overhauling the state’s franchise tax, a plan that a new fiscal analysis found would cost the state $1.9 billion for fiscal year 2025—$300 million more than initially budgeted.

The Republican-controlled Senate passed SB 2103 Thursday by a vote of 25-6. The chamber’s six Democrats all opposed the bill. Democrats have criticized the bill as the “single largest tax handout in Tennessee history.”

The House, also Republican-led, hasn’t yet taken up a nearly identical bill, HB 1893.

The senators’ bill eliminates one of the two methods for ...