Politics

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris says that lawmakers will either have to approve Gov. Bill Haslam's approach to a school voucher program in Tennessee or face the measure being withdrawn entirely.

The Collierville Republican told reporters on Tuesday that he perceives a growing level of comfort with Haslam's more measured approach to the bill that would supply a limited number of parents of children in the state's worst schools with public money to pay for a private education.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A proposal to seal Tennessee's handgun carry permit records from public scrutiny is headed for a full Senate vote.

The measure sponsored by Republican Sen. Ferrell Haile of Gallatin unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and is headed for a vote by the full Senate. The companion bill was approved 84-10 in the House last month.

The bill blocking access to the entire database of handgun carry permit holders no longer includes loopholes for political or lobbying groups that was included in a previous version of the measure.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A proposed bill that seeks to change the way injured workers' claims are considered in Tennessee is scheduled for a full Senate vote Monday evening.

The companion bill to the measure, which is part of Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's legislative package, is set to be heard by the House Finance Committee Tuesday.

Opponents of the measure say it would reduce benefits and remove impartiality from the judgment process.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — Is the section of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that says marriage is between only a man and a woman constitutional?

The United States Supreme Court will be taking up that issue Wednesday.

Justices are looking at the case of a New York woman who sued to challenge a $363,000 federal estate tax bill after the woman she married died in 2009. Had Edith Windsor married a man, the estate tax bill would have been zero.

The case is being followed closely by Tennesseans on both sides of the issue.