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For about a year Tennessee lawmakers have listened to testimony from people burned by cosmetic lasers, tools used in spas to remove body hair, rejuvenate skin, and erase sun damage.

A proposal much like the Tennessee’s current system got one vote more than a measure that would put a federal-type, appoint-and-confirm system in place.

One of the biggest changes: seniority on the job will no longer be insulation against being laid off.
Bill sponsor Jack Johnson, a Williamson County Republican, explains the new system.

The House raised the exemption for those inheriting more than a million dollars – and promised the so-called ‘death tax’ would be phased out over four years. 

Cut to the tax are rare, but the measure passed unanimously.

A state representative says if Vanderbilt University does not rescind it “all-comers” rule, he will push to include private universities in a proposed law targeting non-discrimination policies.

The state Senate refused today to choose between competing constitutional amendments on how Tennessee names appellate judges. If state senators continue on this path they may push a final decision off for another year.

A high profile part of the Governor Bill Haslam’s legislative package, and one of the most important to state business interests, has quietly faded away this session. The governor wanted a law to make secret, the information filed by private companies asking for government grants.

Drug companies are coming up with pills that do the same job of fighting cancer as intravenous chemotherapy. But Tennessee lawmakers say too many questions are unanswered to make a decision on whether to require health insurance plans to cover the costs of the pills. A proposal to require such coverage was sent to a summer study committee on Tuesday.