Special session? Bet the farm on it
Posted by Scott "The Piper" St. Clair - March 09, 2010
For the past couple of weeks, talk of a special session of the Legislature has heated up. Driven by a growing sense that the House and Senate will be unable to get its work done - primarily on taxes and a budget - what was only a whisper two weeks ago is now openly
acknowledged as possible by the governor.
Last week, word came from some in the Senate that staff were complaining that a special session would be required in order for them to have the time necessary to do all their prep work on key bills.
Now some on staff are predicting it. "The talk around here is that we are going into a special session," wrote one in an e-mail.
A special session raises two issues: the mischief that can be done, and the cost associated with that mischief.
It's impossible to speculate what will happen during a special session since neither house has shown much discipline this session. To compare it to herding cats would be an insult to the cats.
And the cost for it all is being pegged at between $18 - 20,000 per day...at least.
For what? Taxpayers will be paying that bill to give the Senate and the House the luxury of time to hash out how they will raise taxes higher than they are now while making phantom budget cuts.
What else is out there to discover?
The Piper
Add Comment -
LarrY Gremlin said on Mar 10 2010 at 10:33am
It's a very sad state of affairs when the Legislature uses their time (and our money) to discuss and vote on such nonsense as whether to allow golf carts on streets, allowing wine tasting events in grocery stores, etc. It seems fairly obvious to this writer, that our elected representatives just don't care about anyone but themselves.
With much disappointment, I heard that the Legislature, in their infinite wisdom, have denied pension benefits to the widows of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. The Senator's defense, "We don't have any money."
But yet this same Senator had no qualms about having a special session.
MissOly said on Mar 10 2010 at 3:39pm
And don't forget... during the special session all members will be fed by their very own kitchen crew chefs. How nice. Maybe they need to do less SGA's and more work in caucus.
