Kind of like "Waiting for Godot" but without the critical acclaim...
Update at 3:05 - Still waiting for the meeting to start. When asked whether the proposed splitting of the tax measures would affect his vote, Jack Harper was coy, leading to some speculation by some (including me) that the upcoming meeting could be a little more interesting than most observers previously expected.
...Senate staff and pages are setting up the hearing room (SHR109) right now. The agenda has been posted, here. There are even a couple of folks in the room waiting for something to happen.
The expectation is that the bills will pass Approps because Huppenthal has replaced Gorman and Harper still has his deals in place (5% RIF of state employees, crippling Rio Nuevo in Tucson, etc.)
...All indications are that Senate President Burns is still seeking to pass the budget package with votes from his own caucus only.
Not absolutely sure that will happen, but the building's staffers seem to be in a better mood than they have been for weeks.
...A lobbyist who spends far more time down here than me (and far more time than any sane person should :) ), thinks it will pass, but that "nothing would shock" him at this point...
...Best quote of the day (so far) - Sen. Debbie McCune-Davis, describing the Republican budget during the Democratic caucus meeting - "There's legislative malpractice going on here."
...I expect she's barely scratching the surface with that quote...
More later...
2 comments:
What it came down to, is not enough people called Carolyn Allen.
She knows very well that her vote for a tax referral is actually in effect a vote for the whole budget but she's going to do it anyway, her phone has probably been ringing off the hook with anti-tax right wingers.
It was reported last Thursday that whe was probably the swing vote, so people had to call and/or email her and I don't think enough of them did.
I take that back, it was known as early as Wednesday, because that's the day I put up a blog post urging people to contact her and one other Republican Senator.
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