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Legislative briefs: Full Senate gets to debate 'grill bill' Tennessean.com The "grill bill," numbered as Senate Bill 238, was approved by the Senate General Welfare, Health and Human Resources Committee Wednesday morning. The Senate Calendar Committee will schedule it for a floor debate. It is intended to protect the public from unclean and unsanitary conditions when being fitted for grills and prevent injuries from shoddy, unsafe workmanship. — JENNIFER PEEBLES Senate votes to end driver certificate The Senate on Wednesday unanimously voted to eliminate the state's driver certificate program for non-U.S. citizens that did not require authorities to check immigration status. The measure sponsored by Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, mirrors a similar proposal supported by Gov. Phil Bredesen. Legal immigrants could obtain a temporary driver's licenses for the duration of their visa. The state began issuing the certificates for non-U.S. residents of Tennessee in 2004. Federal investigators last year found that some testing centers were selling licenses and certificates to out-of-state illegal immigrants. Tennessee suspended the program, then added regulations that only allow certificates for people in the country legally. The companion bill is in a subcommittee of the House Transportation Committee. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Senate OKs private student hearings The Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed a measure that would allow school boards to hold student disciplinary hearings in private. The bill sponsored by Sen. Rosalind Kurita, D-Clarksville, would exempt such meetings from the Tennessee Open Meetings Act unless a student or student's parent or guardian requests in writing that the meeting be open to the public. Typically students who appeal disciplinary decisions go before the local school board, which hears the case during its public meeting. An amendment supported by the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government prohibits the school board from discussing any matter other than the appeal in the private meeting. The House version of the bill has been referred to the Education Committee. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Finney may back off his creation query The state senator who proposed forcing Tennessee's top education official to answer if a supreme being created the universe said he may stop pushing the matter. "I'm not sure I'm going forward with that," Sen. Raymond Finney, R-Maryville, said Tuesday in a telephone interview. "I'm probably going to reword it anyway. This may not be the time and place for that." The resolution he introduced asks Education Commissioner Lana Seivers to answer whether the universe "has been created or has merely happened by random, unplanned, and purposeless occurrences." An attorney general ruling issued Tuesday said the question was permissible. Read the full text of SR0017 on the General Assembly's Web site at www.legislature.state.tn.us. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Bill on immigration effort advances The Tennessee Highway Patrol would have the authority to enforce immigration laws under a bill that passed the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday. Following training and certification, the troopers could enforce federal immigration and customs laws while conducting their normal duties. "Right now there are constitutional questions about whether local law enforcement officials have the ability to detain and question illegal aliens," sponsor Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, said. "This clears that up." Similar legislation Norris sponsored last year failed, but he said he's optimistic this year. The House version of the bill has been assigned to the Public Safety and Rural Roads Subcommittee. — ASSOCIATED PRESS |
