State Sen. Brian Kelsey and House Minority Leader Karen Camper are sponsoring legislation that would allow the zoo to sell alcoholic beverages during regular operating hours.

Memphis and Shelby County grab the attention of the Beacon Center in its annual Pork Report focusing on government spending for private projects, much of it targeting funds and incentives handed out by EDGE.

A healthcare advocacy organization is calling the state’s federal block grant proposal too “vague” for “meaningful” public comment and says it should be rewritten to show exactly how the state plans to spend any “shared savings” with the federal government.

House District 97 in Shelby County will have a contested Democratic primary in 2020 with Allan Creasy running for the seat again, this time against Gabby Salinas, who nearly defeated Republican state Sen. Brian Kelsey in 2018.

House District 97 Republican candidates Brandon Weise and John Gillespie are taking different stands on education vouchers, with Weise opposing them and Gillespie declining to say exactly where he stands on the governor’s initiative.

State Rep. Kevin Vaughan is set to sponsor legislation enabling active-duty soldiers such as Army Maj. Trevor Joseph of Collierville, a decorated soldier killed this fall in a Black Hawk crash at Fort Polk in Louisiana, to be buried on weekends at Tennessee Veterans Cemeteries.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s commission will consider providing funds, possibly up to $1 million, for a Fayette County incinerator just east of Collierville to dispose of deer carcasses infected with chronic wasting disease, according to state officials.

State Rep. Mark White believes non-tuition items paid for with education savings accounts could be taxed under the state's new voucher program. But even as questions are raised about the governor's initiative, the Department of Education still hasn't firmed up the rules.

Former House Speaker Glen Casada says he reached out to Gov. Bill Lee’s office to request creation of a $4 million rural grants fund that received wide support by the Legislature, noting there was “nothing secret” about the money. But some Republican leaders didn't know the grant fund existed, including state Rep. Ron Gant of Fayette County.

State Sen. Brian Kelsey, under FBI investigation for alleged federal campaign finance violations, is representing an Illinois organization in a lawsuit against Montana’s governor to bolster the cause of "dark money" groups.

A legislative move by Republican state Rep. Ron Gant to rename the Cordell Hull Building in Nashville for former Gov. Winfield Dunn might have to go through the state's Heritage Protection Act but is drawing little attention from key Memphis Democrats.

State Rep. Ron Gant is to meet with state officials Wednesday to seek $1 million in emergency funds for Fayette County to dispose of contaminated deer carcasses infected with chronic wasting disease. Some fear the problem could affect the Wolf River watershed east of Collierville. 

State Sen. Raumesh Akbari says legislators won’t be precluded from coming up with a plan to spend some $732 million in reserve funds even though the Department of Human Services unveiled its own proposal.

House Minority Leader Karen Camper is delving into a rural grants fund to find out whether a list of “earmarked” projects or legislative requests exists.

The chairman of the Legislature’s Joint Government Operations Committee is refusing to hold hearings about a $4 million rural grants pool some lawmakers are calling a “slush fund” designed to reward legislators who voted for the governor’s voucher bill.

State House members criticized Department of Human Services Commissioner Danielle Barnes this week for letting a reserve fund for needy services build up to $732 million and for putting out a plan to spend it without asking permission.

House Minority Leader Karen Camper will ask the Department of Finance & Administration about 50 to 60 “commitments” for rural grants to be awarded from a $4 million pool criticized as a “slush fund” to reward lawmakers for their voucher votes.

Gov. Bill Lee hopes to add people and services to TennCare through the state’s Medicaid “modified” block grant proposal to the federal government, but admits he has no idea how negotiations will turn out.

A House member confirmed Tuesday being questioned in the past two months by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents looking into allegations former House Speaker Glen Casada offered lawmakers favors in return for votes on the voucher bill this spring.

State Rep. G.A. Hardaway is insisting House leaders live up to a commitment to investigate allegations of misconduct made against state Rep. David Byrd as a high school girls basketball coach 30 years ago.

The trial will be a legal battle between the state and voter registration advocates over new requirements and penalties approved this year but on hold because of a federal court ruling.

With Memphis in an uproar over the eligibility of University of Memphis star James Wiseman, state Rep. G.A. Hardaway says he plans to push for a probe of the “business aspect” of the NCAA.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton is following the advice of Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery and declining to call for an immediate investigation into embattled state Rep. David Byrd. But hearings still could be held in January 2020 in the House Judiciary Committee.

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance is ordering state Rep. Joe Towns to come before the panel to explain why he is failing to file campaign finance reports, violations that have led to $65,000 in civil penalties against him.

Gov. Bill Lee admits he's not following James Wiseman’s case against the NCAA and said the state should take a limited position in the matter.