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they've come to trust," Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, top Republican on the Finance panel, said Tuesday.
• ___

• SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- With Illinois set to become the 15th state nationwide to legalize same-sex marriage, Chicago couple Theresa Volpe and Mercedes Santos finally began planning the wedding they'd started thinking about more than two decades ago.
• "From the moment we met and fell in love, the language was, 'If I could marry you I would,'" said Volpe, who is expecting the couple's third child. "We waited a long time for that to happen, to hear ... that we can have that. I think it's really the final stamp on our relationship."
• After months of arduous lobbying in President Barack Obama's home state, Illinois lawmakers passed a measure Tuesday that would legalize same-sex marriage. Under the legislation, which Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn has vowed to sign, couples could start tying the knot in June.
• Fourteen other states and Washington, D.C., allow same-sex marriage.
• The road to the Illinois vote was long and included a stalled attempt earlier this year, frustrating activists in a state where Democrats lead the House, Senate and governor's office. Chicago Democratic Rep. Greg Harris, who is the main sponsor, decided not to bring the bill for a vote in May, saying he didn't have the support.
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans who passed part, but not all, of the GED test are rushing to finish the high school equivalency exam before a new version rolls out in January and their previous scores are wiped out. About 1 million people could be affected.
• With the new version, test takers must use a computer instead of paper and pencil. The test itself will be more rigorous and cost more -- at $120, the price in some states will be significantly higher than previous versions. Some places may subsidize all or part of the cost.
• "This is the thing that's sort of putting the spur in the saddle," said Lecester John

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