The Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee today recommended for action three significant measures. The constitutional amendment to create a new method of selecting Supreme Court and appellate judges through gubernatorial nomination, legislative confirmation and retention elections (SJR 2) cleared by a vote of 8 to 1. Legislation to codify comparative fault and limit joint and several liability (SB 56) was adopted by a 5 to 4 vote. Finally, the bill sponsored by Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey to require employers to permit employees to have guns locked in their vehicles (SB 142) moved out by a vote of 8 to 0 with one abstention, despite business opposition.

The Associated Press reported this afternoon that Lt. Governor Ramsey and Republican members of the committee met with Gov. Bill Haslam for nearly an hour on the gun issue before taking up the bill.

State Rep. Glen Casada and Sen. Jack Johnson, both Franklin Republicans, have filed HB 500 to create an Office of the Repealer. The repealer's job would be to identify potentially unnecessary rules and regulations, and make nonbinding recommendations to the secretary of state and the legislature every three months and to the governor once a year. “There are hundreds of thousands of rules that are on the books,” Johnson told the Tennessean. “Some for good reason, but some are in all likelihood antiquated and not relevant... We need to clean those up.”

The Fairness in Ticketing Act was filed in the Senate Friday by sponsors Rep. Ryan Haynes, R-Knoxville, and Sen. Ken Yager, R-Harriman, the Nashville City Paper reports. The legislation aims to minimize illegal ticket scalping by requiring ticket brokers -- defined as anyone who resells more than 60 tickets in a year -- to register with the state and pay sales tax on transactions. The bill also requires brokers to disclose certain information about the tickets they are selling such as face value. Supporters of the bill believe requiring increased disclosure by the reseller would cut down on the deceptive practices rampant in the secondary market.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and other top Republicans in the state Senate are launching an effort to cut, realign, and redistrict the 31 judicial districts for the first time since 1984, The Tennessean reports. Supporters say the state’s judicial map is outdated and riddled with political inconsistencies, including too many judges in some districts and too few in others. Proponents say the new plan could save taxpayer money and rationalize the system by combining communities with similar needs into the same district. Others hope the redistricting plan is not a political move to shift the balance of Tennessee courts.

A new, independent state agency would oversee all aspects of Tennessee’s workers’ compensation system, including appeals now heard by the courts, under proposed legislation being drafted by Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration. A Haslam spokesman declined to discuss specifics and said details would be released after a final bill is filed, possibly this week. But a 67-page working draft obtained by The Tennessean indicates Haslam is considering major changes to the 94-year-old system. The proposals appear similar to those recommended by a Virginia consultant who was hired to review the state’s system last year.

A mobile app featuring contact information for the 108th Tennessee General Assembly is now available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices, allowing Tennesseans to connect with their legislators and search staff and committee information for all lawmakers. The $4.99 app was developed by the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association and Bass Berry & Sims PLC. It can be found by searching for the Tennessee General Assembly in the Apple App Store or Google PLAY Marketplace. The Murfreesboro Post reports.

The Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference will push an aggressive legislative agenda during the upcoming session, the Leaf-Chronicle reports, including proposed law changes that would facilitate prosecution of serial child sexual abusers, and increase sentences for aggravated child neglect and the most serious attempted first-degree murder cases. Other legislative priorities include changing current law to clearly establish that criminal proceedings can be initiated against defendants who are identified through DNA profiles even if their actual identities are not known at the time the charges are filed; implementing legislation that would allow for more effective prosecution of selling synthetic drugs; changing the law to facilitate the prosecution of prescription drug trafficking; and adding prosecutorial staff in areas with heavy case loads.

Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, has filed a bill, SB106, to protect the identities of people who post comments on online news articles without using their real names, The Commercial Appeal reports. Saying his bill would "safeguard the free and open exchange of ideas," Kelsey proposes adding a new provision to Tennessee's "shield law," which protects newsgatherers from having to disclose the identities of confidential news sources, with some exceptions. Kelsey said he filed the bill after attorneys for the Shelby County Commission filed a subpoena in federal court asking for the identities of all online commenters on The Commercial Appeal's articles about the push to create new municipal school districts in the Memphis suburbs.

In response to President Barack Obama’s 23 executive orders regarding gun violence prevention, Congressional hopeful and State Rep. Joe Carr is introducing a bill that would ensure any new gun restrictions handed down from Washington, D.C would not be enforceable in Tennessee, the Nashville City Paper reports. Carr’s proposal, House Bill 42, would slap federal officials with a Class A misdemeanor for enforcing the new federal gun laws, executive orders, rules or regulations. Under the bill, state troopers would have the authority to arrest federal officers.

Tennessee’s judicial districts have not been redrawn since 1984 and some powerful voices in the General Assembly are saying it is time to rework the borders to reflect changes in the state’s population, according to TN Report. “Rural counties have become suburban counties, and suburban counties now wrestle with issues similar to urban counties,” Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey said in a statement. “Put simply, our state is a dramatically different place than it was when the last redistricting occurred. This naturally results in inefficiency and misallocation of resources.” Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, the new chair of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, which likely would handle the task, said the issue is “worthy of consideration.” The TBA has obtained a draft map and talking points supporting its proposed changes. Both were circulated last fall.