The Associated Press

The top Republican in the Illinois House won't say how he would vote on a measure allowing same-sex couples to marry.  

House Minority Leader Tom Cross declined to publicly state his position yesterday, a day after Republican Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr. came out in favor of the issue. Sullivan said momentum for legalizing gay marriage is building. Cross said House Republicans will vote based on their backgrounds, beliefs and personal experiences. 

A tea party activist has filed a lawsuit in Frankfort challenging the legality of the Kentucky Health Benefits Exchange that Gov. Steve Beshear approved last year by executive order.

David Adams says in the lawsuit filed Monday that Beshear created the exchange without necessary legislative approval. Adams is asking a judge to order work on the exchange to cease.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has raised nearly $12 million so far for his re-election bid, giving him an enormous head start over any potential Democratic challengers.

Campaign manager Jesse Benton says McConnell will file a report with the Federal Election Commission later this week showing he has raised another $1.8 million since January and that he has about $8.6 million on hand. Republican Party of Kentucky Chairman Steve Robertson says McConnell also raised more than $500,000 since January for the state GOP that will work to support his re-election. 

Tennessee State Sen. Stacey Campfield calls it "laughable" that a former House candidate is suing him in a $750,000 libel lawsuit.

Roger Byrge is suing Campfield, a Republican, for falsely stating on his blog in the weeks before the 2008 general election that Byrge had a criminal record. Byrge, a Democrat, lost the state House race to Republican Chad Faulkner by fewer than 400 votes. 

The Tennessee House has given final approval to a proposed constitutional amendment to ban a state income tax.

The chamber approved the measure sponsored by Republican Rep. Glen Casada 88 - 8 Monday. The vote completes a lengthy process for constitutional amendments, which must pass both chambers in consecutive General Assemblies before they can go before the voters in the same year a governor's election is held. 

Legislation that makes cock fighting a felony in Tennessee is dead this session after failing to pass the Senate. Under the bill, a first offense for cock fighting would have remained a misdemeanor. But a second offense would be considered a felony punishable by six years in prison and a fine of up to $3,000.

Crews are working to contain a fire that has damaged at least 14 acres of the sprawling Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois.

U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Patricia York says at least one-quarter of the blaze is contained at Little Grand Canyon near Pomona, southwest of Carbondale, in Jackson County. 

An Illinois House Republican leader has announced his support for legalizing gay marriage in the state.

Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr. says his mother-in-law influenced his position. She's been in a lesbian relationship for about 20 years.

Sullivan is the second GOP House member to support gay marriage and the first member of Minority Leader Tom Cross's leadership team.  The proposal got Senate approval in February and a House vote is expected soon.

Police are investigating the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Clarksville woman.

WKRN-TV reports that officers responded to a shooting in progress around 3 a.m. Sunday. When they arrived on the scene they discovered a woman had been shot and was lying between two buildings. She was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Republican legislative leaders in Tennessee are glad the most contentious issues of this session are largely decided as they enter the final weeks.

Gov. Bill Haslam's decision last week to withdraw his limited school voucher proposal highlights the sometimes contentious nature of his relationship with fellow Republicans in the Legislature, who now hold a supermajority. The governor was unable to persuade a faction led by Sen. Brian Kelsey to refrain from trying to expand the bill to more families.