State Rep. Cameron Sexton has introduced HB 31, or Boomer’s Law, which proposes to change the state law regarding the punishment for aggravated assault. The legislation is named after 20-year old Boomer Smith, who was killed last March following an argument with a friend. The assailant was charged with aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, a crime that has a penalty of three to six years. Boomer’s father, Richard Smith, has been working with a number of officials to redefine aggravated assault under Tennessee law and increase the sentence up to 10 years. The Herald Chronicle has the story.

Legislation granting handgun permit holders the right to keep firearms inside a motor vehicle is “virtually assured of passage on the Senate floor tonight.” In the House, the companion bill faces its first committee vote on Tuesday, Knoxnews reports. On the eve of the vote, however, Gov. Bill Haslam continues to express concerns not just about safety issues but that the bill could inadvertently limit the current right of non-student adults to keep guns locked in a car on school and university grounds, despite the fact they do not have permits. Haslam has not take a position on the bill, but says in deciding whether to sign it or not he will consider whether "it actually is more restrictive than the law is now."

Lt. Gov. and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey held a press conference today asking the legal community and the public for advice on redistricting the boundaries of the state’s 31 judicial districts, according to TN Report. Over the last several weeks, Ramsey has said he wants to hear from district attorneys, judges and bar associations, including the Tennessee Bar Association. He has long argued the lines need to be redrawn to deal with imbalances in workload and resources. At a forum sponsored by the Associated Press last week, WPLN reports that he said judicial districts are “completely out of whack.” In addition to pushing for a new map this year, Ramsey is supporting legislation that would require lines be redrawn every 10 years.

The TBA has a number of tools to help you track action in the Tennessee General Assembly. Read TBA Today for regular news updates and follow the TBA Action List to track bills in the General Assembly that the TBA has a direct interest in -- those it has initiated, taken a position on, or has a policy on. The TBA Watch List is a broader list of bills of interest to the Tennessee legal community.

With Gov. Bill Haslam telling reporters today that he will not decide whether the state should expand its Medicaid program before the end of the legislative session, Republican leaders in the General Assembly have put a hold on legislation to ban expansion, the Nashville City Paper reports. Twenty-six Republicans in the House and 16 in the Senate have signed on as co-sponsors of legislation to ban an expansion, but House Speaker Beth Harwell and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey say they want to delay that effort to give the governor time to consider all options. Ramsey said fellow Republican Sen. Brian Kelsey has agreed to delay consideration of his bill. Harwell said her chamber will take a wait and see approach.

Most states do not yet have court e-filing and the few that do usually do not mandate a single vendor or e-filing system, instead leaving it to local courts to decide, Gavel to Gavel reports. Tennessee legislators are taking a different approach however. Bills introduced recently in the House and Senate would give the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) power to identify a single provider that must be used in all courts in the state. The bills, HB 418 by Vance Dennis, R-Savannah, and SB 1050 by Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, give the AOC until January 2014 to identify an e-filing provider and ensure that all courts in the state are utilizing the same system.

The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce released its 2013 state legislative agenda yesterday, identifying its top priorities for Tennessee lawmakers. The Nashville Business Journal reports that improving primary and secondary education topped the list in terms of importance, followed by job creation, support for the federally funded TennCare/Medicaid expansion, workers’ compensation reform and immigration reform.

Business leaders are speaking out against the bill allowing permitted gun owners the right to store firearms in their cars no matter where they are parked, even on employers’ property. Businesses such as FedEx, Nissan and Volkswagen opposed similar legislation last year but the Senate Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to approve the bill, which now advances to full Senate floor vote tomorrow. "Anything that infringes on the rights of property owners or employers clearly is viewed as a negative by companies that are already here or are looking to locate here," Bill Ozier, chairman of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the Nashville Business Journal.

State Sen. Jim Tracey, R-Shelbyville, has filed Senate Bill 632 that would require women receive a “transabdominal ultrasound” and wait at least 24 hours before having an abortion. The bill would require ultrasound technicians to display an image of the fetus and make any heartbeat audible to the woman. According to the Tennessean, however, the state constitution has a privacy clause that has limited lawmaker’s ability to place restrictions on women seeking to end a pregnancy, making it highly possible Tracey’s proposal may face a court challenge. State Rep. Rick Womick, R-Rockvale, has agreed to sponsor the House version.

The Finance, Ways and Means Committee voted 9-1 Tuesday morning to send constitutional amendment Senate Joint Resolution 1 to the floor of the state Senate, permanently banning a tax on personal income or a payroll tax in Tennessee. Sen. Douglas Henry, D-Nashville, cast the only vote against the amendment, stating he is against income tax in principle but believes a payroll tax is different, the Tennessean reports.