The state Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee yesterday approved $264,000 requested by Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson for hiring additional employees to clear the backlog of open records requests. Last month, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey said the number of pending requests is around 1,000. “I think this office provides a great form of transparency for our state government,” Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, said. Read more from The Tennessean. 

Rep. Jeremy Durham is requesting that Attorney General Herbert Slatery remove himself from an ongoing investigation into sexual harassment allegations against the Franklin Republican, The Williamson Herald reports. Durham says he questions the legality of the appointed committee handing over the investigation to Slatery. The Tennessean reports Slatery has requested that Durham turn over his electronic devices, including his state-issued iPad, and personal email accounts in the investigation. Durham says he will not comply with all of Slatery’s requests until speaking with an attorney. The comments from Durham are the first following his two-week leave of absence from the legislature to seek “pastoral and professional counseling." 

The Tennessean reports the Senate Finance Ways and Means Committee today approved a Republican-backed resolution that orders Attorney General Hebert Slatery to sue the federal government for noncompliance of the Refugee Act of 1980. Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, said the federal government has required the state to participate in the refugee resettlement program, even after the state opted out of the program in 2008. Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville, expressed concerns that the resolution might have a “chilling effect” on the state’s refugee community.

A Republican-backed bill that would create a two-store beer and liquor retailer limit has drawn criticism from a Maryland-based stored hoping to expand in Tennessee. Total Wine & More argues the bill (HB 2586 / SB 2094), sponsored by Rep. Curry Todd, R-Collierville, and Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, is an effort to bar competition. Sponsors say the bill's main aim is to the allow supermarkets to stock up before a law allowing grocery stores to sell wine goes into effect July 1, the Associated Press reports.

The Nashville Scene reports Gov. Bill Haslam told Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey that it is not Ramsey's domain to decide to allow guns into the Legislative Plaza. “We believe the Department of General Services has statutory authority on this issue,” said Jennifer Donnals, Haslam’s press secretary. According to the Times Free Press, Democrats also have objected to plans by Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, to let state handgun-carry permit holders carry loaded weapons in the Plaza. Ramsey has argued that it is the speakers of the Senate and House who control Legislative Plaza.

Tennessee lawmakers today withdrew two abortion measures that would have required a woman to receive an ultrasound before an abortion (HB 1459) and would have banned the sale of aborted fetal tissue (HB 1709). WPLN reports the measures were withdrawn without explanation.

A state House Ad Hoc Select Committee, created by House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, and tasked with investigating Rep. Jeremy Durham, held its first meeting today and unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing state Attorney General Herbert Slatery III “to conduct a full fair and thorough investigation of the allegations of disorderly and inappropriate behavior and misconduct by Representative Durham.” Slatery responded in a statement, “Everyone has one goal – to ensure a thorough and fair investigation while respecting the process and those involved.” Durham, R-Franklin, is accused of having an affair with a former representative and sending inappropriate text messages to women. Read more from the Nashville Scene. 

The legislation known as the "Workers' Comp Opt-Out" bill is dead for this session. The Tennessee Employee Injury Benefit Alternative legislation, SB721, HB997, by Sen. Mark Green, R-Clarksville, and Rep. Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin, was taken off notice this week. Proponents of the bill stated that at this time they do not plan to run it this legislative session. A hearing on the bill scheduled for Feb. 10 in a House committee has been cancelled.   

Knoxville Republican Reps. Eddie Smith and Jason Zachary are donating campaign contributions they received from Rep. Jeremy Durham to a Knoxville women’s charity. Smith and Zachary say they knew nothing of Durham’s alleged sexual harassment when they accepted the money from the Franklin Republican. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports campaign finance disclosures also revealed former Rep. Leigh Wilburn, R-Somerville, donated money she received from Durham to the House Republican Caucus. Attorney General Herbert Slatery III is currently investigating Durham's alleged behavior. 

The state House of Representatives this morning approved the call for a Constitutional Convention in an attempt to limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, Nashville Public Radio reports. Tennessee is now the fifth state to take the action; 34 states are required to call for a convention in order to propose new amendments to the U.S. Constitution. "If there was ever a time in the history of our republic that states need to take advantage of having that constitutional authority, it is now," Rep. Sheila Butt, R-Columbia, said.