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Lawmakers find agreement in bill drafted and passed by legislative intern

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's been quite the week at the state capitol, with political infighting that resulted in lawmakers walking out of the House, and harsh words between both parties.

But you may have missed what happened with one bill this week that passed unanimously in the Senate -- without any fighting at all.

A bill that would give high school students more opportunities for dual enrollment credits unanimously passed the Senate and is headed to the Governor's desk.

While the bill was sponsored by Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville), he says he was not the one who came up with the idea for the bill.

Yarbro says its the first ever bill in the state legislature that was crafted and lobbied for by a legislative intern: Yarbro's intern Dalton Slatton from Whitwell in East Tennessee.

"Actually seeing those green lights light up on the board, I don't think there's really words for top say how excited I was, how grateful I was for the opportunity," Slatton said.

Slatton says he would like to serve in the Tennessee state legislature some day. He's graduating from Middle Tennessee State University this weekend, heading to law school in the fall.