State Rep. London Lamar took a big step forward Monday in trying to help human trafficking victims find redemption from violent acts.

State Sen. Brian Kelsey and state Rep. Antonio Parkinson are making a game plan to pay Tennessee’s collegiate student-athletes for their contributions to state universities on the playing field, a trend catching fire nationally.

State Rep. London Lamar continued her pursuit for legislation Thursday giving pregnant high school seniors an extra year to have children and maintain Lottery scholarship funds, a bill that ran into trouble during the 2019 session.

The Department of Education will spend $25 million this year and hire a new vendor to give the TNReady test, but lawmakers can only hope it will run without errors when the state test goes completely online in 2021.

State Sen. Sara Kyle is set to promote legislation in 2020 designed to cut gun violence, initiatives likely to bump into Republican opposition. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen will hold a press conference Thursday in Memphis on gun safety. 

Memphis will have strong representation on Tennessee’s Health Care Modernization Task Force, charged with forming policies to improve one of the unhealthiest states in the nation and Shelby County, which ranks in Tennessee’s bottom fourth.

The Memphis schools have shown enough improvement to be eligible to leave the Tennessee Achievement School district next school year. Since that's never happened before, no one knows how that should work.

Torrey Harris is making another run at unseating Democratic state Rep. John DeBerry in House District 90, highlighting his opponent’s vote in favor of voucher legislation affecting Shelby County Schools and anti-abortion bills.

Calling on Democrats to drop political attacks, Vice President Mike Pence pushed Monday for passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement at a Tyson Foods plant in Goodlettsville.

The Division of TennCare will hold a Medicaid block grant hearing Oct. 15 at the University of Memphis, adding the event to three already held across the state.

State Rep. John DeBerry took shots at teachers and their union – but said it’s also important to bring them into the fold – in an American Enterprise Institute event in Washington focusing on federal “education freedom scholarship” legislation.

The slaying of his Bolton High School teaching colleague in 2006 spurred state Rep. Jim Coley to focus much of his legislative career on toughening laws for domestic violence and then human trafficking.

Gov. Bill Lee says he will call the Capitol Commission together for discussion on the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust, a point of contention in the State Capitol.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee again confirmed a Medicaid block grant hearing will be held in Memphis but said Thursday people raising opposition are "misinformed" or haven't taken the time to to "understand" the “hybrid” proposal.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee says an independent Public Charter Schools Commission won’t be lenient but will give the state greater latitude for overseeing charter operators across the state.

Gov. Bill Lee confirmed Tuesday he is planning Memphis and Chattanooga public hearing dates on the state’s Medicaid block grant proposal. And he is not "not concerned about the legality" of the proposal.

Middle Tennesseans challenged the state’s $7.85 billion Medicaid block grant proposal Tuesday, with U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper delivering the harshest rebuke, calling it a “radical” plan brought on by President Donald Trump.

State Rep. Mark White is working on legislation language to calm Republicans’ nerves over his bill requiring weapons to be secured when kept in vehicles and boats.

Gov. Bill Lee has selected three Shelby County representatives for his nine-member Public Charter School Commission charged with approving and overseeing charters across the state.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery, in seeking execution dates for nine men including two from Memphis, apparently made a unilateral move in what one federal public defender is calling “mass execution.” Gov. Bill Lee is steering clear of the matter - at least until he is asked to grant clemency.

State Rep. G.A. Hardaway is preparing to revive legislation requiring guns kept in cars and boats to be secured, saying he has the support of Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings, who is seeing a yearly increase in gun thefts from vehicles.

Poverty rates for Memphis and Shelby County rose in the past year despite a strong statewide economy and even as Hispanic residents made significant progress, according to a report based on the latest Census figures.

Gov. Bill Lee is considering scheduling a Memphis public hearing on his Medicaid block grant proposal at the urging of House Minority Leader Karen Camper.

State Rep. Jim Coley will be honored by the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence at an October event in Nashville as a champion for fighting human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

The Tennessee Attorney General is asking the Supreme Court to set executions for nine people, including two Memphis men convicted of multiple murders. But the move will run into opposition from a federal public defender who called the situation a “request for mass executions.”