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Several Republican members of the Tennessee House refused to vote on a Health Care Compact bill Tuesday night. And without a 50-vote majority, the bill died – after two years of partisan maneuvering to pass it.

The President’s federal health care revamp has led some states to set up a ‘health care compact’ that would allow a group of states to take over public health care within their borders. Now both the Tennessee Senate and the House have approved the idea – but in different versions.

Vanderbilt University is back in the legislature’s sights over its “all-comers” policy. The state Senate today passed a bill that would to tell Vanderbilt to reconsider its non-discrimination policy – which Christian groups have complained is pushing them off campus.

A bill to require citizenship to be eligible for most state services is still alive in the state legislature. Williamson County Senator Jack Johnson is hoping to pass the measure even if today is the last day of session.

Democrats plan to argue one last time to beef up that budget with money from a recent increase in tax collections.

The Tennessee General Assembly is scheduled to vote on a final budget when it returns to Capitol Hill today. A 12-member conference committee met Friday night to “resolve differences” between the House and the Senate.

The Senate passed two tax bills – lowering the sales tax on food and raising the exemption on the inheritance tax – and sent them to the governor, who proposed them in the first place.

The House and Senate can’t seem to agree on the state’s $31 billion budget and will likely form a smaller group to work out the differences. The upper chamber passed a spending plan for next year before noon and within 90 minutes, the lower chamber voted not to go along.

The state House Thursday night debated how to protect Christian groups from having to follow a university rule intended to prevent discrimination. Both sides claimed Jesus Christ was on their side. But the sponsor finally dropped the bill into parliamentary limbo.

The state Senate Thursday night passed a proposed law to change the eligibility date for a child to enter kindergarten.