Department of Children’s Services Interim commissioner Jim Henry told a House Government Operations Committee today that improvements have been made since he stepped in about a month ago. Henry said changes include having regional administrators call his personal cell phone when a child is reported dead and immediately notifying lawmakers in that child's district. A death review process has also been established and cases are reviewed monthly. Knoxnews has the story. 

State lawmakers are at odds as proposed bills attempt to tackle the issue of the steadily rising number of prescription drug-addicted newborns in Tennessee from two completely different approaches. The Safe Harbor Act, which would give pregnant women incentives to enter drug treatment programs, passed the Senate and will be taken up by a House subcommittee on health today. The subcommittee on criminal justice is scheduled to consider a bill that would criminally prosecute pregnant women whose drug use harms the baby. The flurry of legislation comes on the heels of a statewide push by the Health Department to confront the worsening epidemic, the Tennessean reports.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey has released 14 different judicial redistricting plans put forward for consideration. “The response we have gotten to our public call for judicial district maps is extremely encouraging,” Ramsey earlier said in a statement to TNReport. “I would especially like to commend the Public Defenders Association as well as the Tennessee Bar Association for coming to the table and sharing their ideas.” A bill (SB 780/HB 636), which is expected serve as the vehicle for redistricting, is set for a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday afternoon.

Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to overhaul the state workers' comp system is moving forward after a House subcommittee approved the measure. With that action, the bill heads to the full House Consumer and Human Resources Committee, where it is scheduled to be considered on March 12, according to the Nashville Business Journal. The subcommittee meeting took an interesting turn when the chair of the full committee was heard on a live microphone saying he planned to ram the bill through. The Nashville Scene has those remarks.

Legislation allowing state-college issued student IDs to be permissible for voting was postponed one week, the Commercial Appeal reports. The Tennessee Senate rejected an amendment by Minority Leader Jim Kyle, D-Memphis, to allow city and county local governments like Memphis and Shelby County to create secure photo identification cards acceptable for use. The Tennessee Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling soon on the 2011 Memphis case involving the use of library cards for voter identification that started the debate.

A bill allowing student identification cards issued by state higher education institutions to be used for voting unanimously passed the Senate State and Local Government Committee 8-0, and now advances to the Senate. The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, does not allow library cards issued by local governments to be used for voting however. That issue has been debated in the courts for about a year, the Memphis Daily News reports.

A new bill introduced by state Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, and Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Lebanon, would allow student photo identification cards issued by state universities and colleges to comply with Tennessee’s voter photo ID law. But SB 125 also would explicitly prohibit photo IDs issued by public libraries and other local agencies and governments from meeting that requirement, The Commercial Appeal reports. The legislation would reverse a Tennessee Court of Appeals decision upholding library cards as valid ID for voting. That case is pending before the state Supreme Court, which is expected to issue a ruling by summer.

Four lawmakers who had been listed as co-sponsors of House Bill 100, the Fairness in Ticketing Act, have pulled their support from the measure, the Tennessean reports. Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet, Rep. Bill Sanderson, R-Kenton, Rep. Jim Coley, R-Bartlett, and David Hawk, R-Greenville, have removed their names from among the bill’s 26 co-sponsors. Rep. Lynn said in a release, “I think many of us signed on as sponsors before realizing what it would do to citizens’ ownership rights or its negative impact on small business. In my case, I have not only decided to be removed as a sponsor, but to become a vocal opponent.” The act seeks to impose stricter regulations on event ticketing practices and the ticket resale market.

State Rep. Brenda Gilmore uses an opinion piece in the Tennessean to blast Republicans in the General Assembly for introducing legislation to do away with affirmative action in Tennessee colleges and universities. In the article, Gilmore says that it is too soon to prohibit schools from considering factors of race, gender or ethnicity when it comes to admissions, faculty hiring or contracting since race and gender bias still exists in our society.

House Bill 118 passed the Tennessee House of Representatives on a 72-22 vote this morning. The bill would allow the nearly 400,000 Tennesseans with handgun carry permits to carry their weapons in their cars anywhere they go, including employer’s parking lots. The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, now heads to Gov. Bill Haslam’s desk. The Tennessean has the story.