Cross-posted at Blog for Arizona...
Since my work week has started, I'm trying to keep track of the goings-on at the lege via phone calls and an internet connection.
It now looks like that the House leadership is going to try to push through the latest budget bills without being certain that they have the votes necessary to pass them. One Democratic source that I spoke to thought it would be close, with approximately half the Dems in the House agreeing to vote for the package. If that is accurate, they'll still need 18 or 19 Rs to support the package.
However, the state's Shadow Governor (thanks Jen!), Grover Norquist, will be in town tomorrow. His presence may serve to fortify the faux courage of the Kool-Aid drinkers in the House, killing the package.
A possible indicator of movement is the fact that a Special Session agenda has been posted for House Appropriations with the package of Senate bills up for consideration (~11 a.m., HHR1). There is some question if the bills will pass the committee - John Kavanagh (R-LD8), the chair of the committee, has already stated that he will be voting no on the package (see the article linked in the previous paragraph).
As committee chairman, he has the authority to agendize/not agendize any bills, and could simply ignore them if they are assigned to his committee. The fact that the provisional agenda has been posted ("provisional" because the bills haven't yet been assigned to the Appropriations Committee) indicates that he is willing to allow the bills to be heard.
Whether that is to allow them to go forward over his objections or to very publicly kill them and thus embarrass R leadership in the House remains to be seen.
Stay tuned...
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