Democratic lawmakers today put forward legislation to resurrect Insure Tennessee and also bring full Medicaid expansion to the table, the Nashville Business Journal reports. State Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, has introduced two Senate joint resolutions and one bill aimed at doing so. The first resolution would allow Republican Gov. Bill Haslam to pursue his Insure Tennessee proposal in the regular General Assembly session. The second aims to authorize full expansion of the state's Medicaid program, according to a news release.

A bill to increase the rate court appointed attorneys are paid to $100 per hour was filed today in the General Assembly. Senate Bill 1009 and House Bill 1025 were introduced with bipartisan sponsorship in  both houses, with Sen. Lee Harris, D-Memphis, and Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville, sponsoring the bill in the Senate and Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, and Rep. Andy Farmer, R-Sevierville, sponsoring the bill in the House. The proposal -- a TBA policy initiative in this legislative session -- would enact the first increase in the hourly rate for these attorneys since 1994.

James L. Cotton Jr., author of "The Greatest Speech Ever," will address the Tennessee State Senate tomorrow (Feb. 12) on the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. The book recounts the remarkable story of Lincoln and his Gettysburg Address. Cotton, a General Sessions Court judge in Scott County, will talk about the impact the speech had on bringing a new understanding of freedom to America and will focus on the happenings in Lincoln's life that inspired the key points in what many historians consider the greatest speech in American history. Learn more about Cotton’s book in the February 2014 issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal.

The Humane Society hopes its proposal to increase penalties for attending animal fights will be referred to the state's Criminal Justice Committee where it has a better chance of advancing, WSMV reports. Similar bills in recent sessions have died in the Agriculture Committee, but Speaker Beth Harwell said after an especially ugly fight between animal rights activists and the Agriculture Committee, that said she would consider separating pet issues from livestock issues. The legislation would increase the fine from $50 to $2,500.

Gov. Bill Haslam will deliver his annual State of the State address to the Tennessee Legislature this evening beginning at 6 p.m. Central. The address comes a week after a special session of the legislature killed his proposal to extend health insurance to 280,000 low-income Tennesseans. Haslam now says he will focus on education reform, pledging to keep Tennessee’s rigorous education standards while moving away from the Common Core curriculum, Fox 17 reports. The governor’s budget, which also will be revealed tonight, reportedly contains “significant investments” in K-12 programs, teacher salaries and higher education. The Tennessean has more details.

A law that ensures budget increases for prosecutors include a corresponding increase for public defenders would go away under legislation introduced last week by state Rep. Curry Todd, R-Collierville. House Bill 241 would delete TCA 16-5-518 in its entirety. The law, which has been on the books since the early 1990s, governs increases in local funding, not state budgets. Go to TBAImpact to weigh in.

Gov. Bill Haslam's "Insure Tennessee" plan was effectively killed today after the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare voted 4-7 to defeat the proposal. Haslam spent nearly two years negotiating with federal officials to find an alternative for expanding Medicaid in the state. The plan would have used federal funds to expand coverage to about 280,000 additional Tennesseans and cover 100 percent of the program's cost for two years, after which federal support drops down to 90 percent.

Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville, made a final, personal plea to committee members, telling them that they should at least vote to let the full Senate get a chance to weigh in. “I did put my heart into it because I felt that strongly that it’s the right thing to do," Overbey told WPLN following the vote. Asked if he would try to push his plan during the regular session of the legislature, Haslam said that seemed "a little pointless." He also said it was unlikely that the federal government would agree to some of the changes legislators requested, though he said he was willing to try. With no prospects of passing the plan, both the House and Senate formally ended their respective special sessions this evening. The Nashville Business Journal has more.

House Speaker Beth Harwell says that Tennessee lawmakers are unlikely to take up a gas tax increase during this year's legislative session. Speaking to a joint conference by the National Federation of Independent Business and the Tennessee Grocers and Convenience Store Association on Tuesday, Harwell said lawmakers are interested in discussing ways to "broaden the base" of transportation funding to make up for losses from vehicles with better fuel mileage and electric cars. The Tennessean has more.

The Tennessee legislature reconvened today after a two-week recess for a special session to consider Gov. Bill Haslam’s “Insure Tennessee” plan, an alternative to Medicaid expansion for as many as 280,000 uninsured low-income working Tennesseans. Haslam will speak to a joint House-Senate session this evening, laying out his case for the plan. Leaders of both parties say there are not enough votes yet in either chamber to pass the plan. The Commercial Appeal looks at how lobbying efforts are shaping up, while the Tennessean reports that Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville, will introduce the governor's plan in the Senate and Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, will sponsor the proposal in the House.

Chattanooga lawmakers peppered Gov. Bill Haslam with questions about his Insure Tennessee health insurance plan this morning, asking everything from details about copays, to whether the federal government is a trustworthy partner in the effort. Chattanooga is the latest stop on the governor's statewide sprint to meet with lawmakers before the Tennessee legislature starts a special session next week to consider the plan. Haslam said after the roundtable that it is still too early to predict whether he has the votes from the legislature to pass the bill. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has the story.