The Republican-controlled Senate derailed Tennessee's plan to make the Bible an "official" state book. After the GOP-controlled Tennessee House approved the bill 55-38 on Wednesday, the Senate sent the measure back to a committee, effectively killing it this year. Tennessee's attorney general, Herbert Slatery, warned the bill would violate separation of church and state provisions of both federal and state constitutions. Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris said the constitutional concerns were the main reason for sending the bill back to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which could look at the bill again next year.
