While members of the state House spent much of their first week in session wrangling over a new cap on how many bills each member can propose, Tennessee Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey is developing a plan of his own to cut down on the volume of bills, WPLN reports. Saying that the filing cap is not his preferred approach, Ramsey instead is considering dropping the deadline for filing bills. His rationale? Legislation would be higher quality if there’s no rush to file, duplication would be reduced as members see what others have drafted and lawmakers would be able to respond to current events that take place throughout the session.

The House of Representatives voted today to cap at 15 the number of bills each member can introduce. House Speaker Beth Harwell originally had proposed a limit of 10. Democrats criticized the move calling it censorship. In other news, the House also voted for a rule supported by Harwell barring members from asking others to cast votes for them when they are absent. The Tennessean reports.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner sent letters today to Gov. Bill Haslam, House Speaker Beth Harwell and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey requesting a joint Government Operations Committee meeting to investigate the Department of Children’s Services' (DCS) refusal to release records on child deaths. He also requested an investigation into reports that DCS has returned children to homes where there is evidence of abuse, according to The Tennessean. Turner’s request comes two days after a hearing in Davidson County Chancery Court on a lawsuit brought by The Tennessean and other media outlets around the state. News also came out today that DCS fired two top staffers on Tuesday whose duties at the agency included reviewing the deaths of children.

Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle of Memphis is calling on Republicans to make the chamber subject to open government laws, saying he wants to see more transparency in the legislative branch. Currently, the legislature does not fall under open government laws that apply to other government agencies, and it cannot bind future General Assemblies to its rules. But Kyle said the chamber could at least adopt the open meetings laws for the two-year session that began this week. While some Republicans called the move political, Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, agreed to take up the issue at an upcoming Rules Committee meeting, reports the Memphis Daily News.

The General Assembly has unanimously re-elected Secretary of State Tre Hargett for a four-year term and Comptroller Justin Wilson and Treasurer David Lillard for two-year terms. Hargett is a former chairman of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority and represented Bartlett in the state House from 1997 through 2006. Wilson is a Nashville tax attorney and former aide to Gov. Don Sundquist. Lillard, of Germantown, is a former member of the Shelby County Commission and a financial and tax attorney. All three were first elected in 2009. The Memphis Daily News has more.

Tennessee Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey today removed Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, as head of the Judiciary Committee and replaced her with Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown. Beavers told reporters she suspected that her efforts to ramp up accountability for judges might have played a role in the decision. "I think a lot of the judges really objected to us redoing their ethics," she told the Associated Press. Ramsey denied the move was in response to pressure from anyone saying, “We wanted to take a different direction.” The Memphis Daily News has the story. Other chairs also were named this week. See the list of all House chairs and Senate chairs at Knoxnews.com.

The 108th General Assembly convened Tuesday by re-electing House Speaker Beth Harwell of Nashville and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey of Blountville. The legislature has its largest freshman class in years, with 31 new members of the 132. The 99-member House has 23 new members, and the Senate has eight. Republicans rule both chambers with a supermajority of more than two-thirds of the membership in each house. Read more at the Commercial Appeal.

The Tennessee chapter of National Federal of Independent Business (NFIB) said this week that it will support reforms to the state’s workers’ compensation system. State Director Jim Brown said in a news release that the organization looks forward to working with Gov. Bill Haslam and members of the General Assembly to improve workers’ compensation. The Nashville Business Journal has more. 

Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell says she’s ready to “fight for” rule changes she’s proposed to modify how the chamber does business. Considering those rules will be job number one when the General Assembly convenes Tuesday, she says. Harwell will first name a special rules committee, and within hours it could take up her suggestions, reports WPLN. At least one proposed rule, which limits each member to sponsoring just 10 bills, has resulted in grumbling among lawmakers and lobbyists. Harwell says it will make the House run more efficiently. Read more about the rules changes being considered and about the new faces in the legislature this session.

In the ongoing fight between businesses and gun-rights advocates over restricting guns in parking lots, House Republicans are exploring a compromise, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, proposed a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that would still allow businesses to ban guns from vehicles on their property, but prohibits them from searching those vehicles for the sole purpose of checking for guns. While Campfield’s proposal interested many members, House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, said “nobody knows what the bill’s going to look like.”