The governor's civil service changes cleared the House and are ready for his signature.

"Bill Haslam may turn out to be the best governor we ever had. Maybe not," said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner of Nashvillle. "But after this legislation, he's certainly going to be the most powerful."

The bill effectively abolishing the state's civil service system (HB2384) is designed to base hiring and firing of state workers mostly on merit, as determined by a new evaluation system still under development.