The 105th Tennessee General Assembly will reconvene on Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at noon. It should be an interesting and exciting session, with lots of action in a huge election year.

Tennessee Democrats will be busy introducing progressive legislation to move the state forward. Here's a preview of some of the bills we can expect:

• As a follow up to their Helping Heroes scholarship program for Tennessee veterans, Democrats will focus on expanding opportunity with new eligibility standards for HOPE scholarships and by making appropriate adjustments to retention standards. Democrats will also introduce a program to give medical school assistance to future doctors and nurse practitioners who will then provide primary care in rural areas. Recognizing that the entire state benefits when more Tennesseans go to college, Democratic lawmakers are working to make this happen.

• Democrats will introduce a bill (and possibly a constitutional amendment) to tie the state minimum wage to the federal minimum wage, and automatically increase the state minimum wage after any five year period in which the federal minimum wage isn't increased.

• Democrats will propose improved consumer protection, safety, and disclosure standards for toys and other imports from China.

• Tennessee Democrats are also working with business and labor on a Tennessee Family Medical Leave Act.

• Democrats are studying a state constitutional amendment to protect stem cell research.

• The previously announced copper theft bill will include stiffer penalties for illegally selling scrap metal and more effective oversight of scrap metal dealers. This has become an enormous issue across the country. Thieves are stealing copper from churches and graveyards in some cases. A few months ago, thieves hit the monuments on the Chickamauga battlefield.

Look for Democrats in the state legislature to continue the fight for education and our health, safety, and economic wellbeing as we enter a historic year of progressive change in Tennessee and across the nation.