A Republican-led push to use college IDs to vote was held up on the floor of the Tennessee Senate today. Another GOP senator says there’s no need to expand the state’s voter ID law.
This legislation comes from a Rutherford County lawmaker, home to the largest undergraduate student body in the state. And while Senator Bill Ketron refused to accept student IDs when the law was passed two years ago, he’s now had a change of heart.
Senator Stacy Campfield of Knoxville has not.
“You know, I hate to say it, but possibly in my younger days I may have known a person or two who had a falsified college ID,” she said.
Previous naysayers are coming around to the idea of expanding Tennessee’s Medicaid Program. Even while criticizing the Affordable Care Act, they say pulling more poor people into TennCare could have some upsides.
Students in the state’s counseling programs could refuse to see patients on the basis of their religious beliefs. The proposal passed its first test last night with little resistance, except from professional counselors.
An overhaul of the state’s workers compensation system began moving forward in the Tennessee legislature today. It would remove judges from the process, which is worrying some opponents.
House Speaker Beth Harwell single-handedly kept an effort alive that would allow grocery stores to begin selling wine. In a rare move, today she broke a tie in a legislative subcommittee.
The speaker can vote on any of the committees. And for the first time this year, Harwell chose to do so. She says it’s time to find a compromise that would still be agreeable to the state’s 600 liquor stores, which are the only places wine can be sold now.
“We don’t want to hurt those liquor stores, and we want to do everything we can to make this as palatable to them as possible," she said. "This brings everyone to the table to discuss it.”
In the Senate, Speaker Ron Ramsey has played a critical role in moving the wine-in-supermarkets legislation, admitting he structured one committee with the bill in mind.
State lawmakers are threatening to pull the rug out from under Vanderbilt University’s police force of 90 sworn officers. It’s a roundabout way to overturn a controversial non-discrimination policy on campus.
The idea for a new state-level panel that could authorize charter schools to operate anywhere in Tennessee is moving ahead, while facing bi-partisan resistance. The House Education Committee gave its blessing Tuesday, though two Republicans voted against it.
The GOP lawmakers opposing what is seen as an end-run around local school boards are educators themselves. Rep. Jim Coley teaches in Shelby County.
“Increasingly we’re taking those decisions away from local education associations, and I don’t think that’s right.”
The Tennessee Firearms Association is again looking for a fight. The organization is unhappy with Republicans who passed a more restrictive guns-in-trunks bill than the TFA would have liked.
The Tennessee Democratic Party is crying foul as advocacy groups begin running TV spots promoting school vouchers. The ads target certain lawmakers without mentioning specific legislation.
The Tennessee state House will consider creating an entirely new panel for authorizing charter schools at the state level. It’s part of a compromise set to be heard in an education committee today.
