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Mon. late: One down, one to go
posted at 2008-07-08 04:02 | Last modified 2008-07-08 09:14
Or should that be Tuesday early? Either way, it's too darned late to get into a lot of detail, but the House and Senate both passed the budget conference report by big margins tonight.
Want to see how folks voted? Here's the Senate vote (34-16), and here's the House (97-21). In case you're wondering, the reason the House tally only adds up to 118 is because Speaker Joe Hackney generally doesn't vote unless he's breaking a tie, and Minority Leader Paul Stam excused himself from voting because his wife's family would financially benefit from a provision in the measure.
My recap and reax story airs Tues AM - hear it here.
Both chambers have to pass the bill one more time to make it stick. Then it's off to the Governor, who (recent saber-rattling aside) is pretty much certain to sign it, even without a lot of things he wanted.
Helms' funeral
Hackney and Senate leader Marc Basnight have scheduled Tuesday's sessions around Helms' 2pm funeral service. The Senate's meeting early, at noon, while the House is holding off till 4:30pm. 29 House members say they plan to attend. I haven't heard the Senate headcount, but I bet it'll be quite a few.
Helms' viewing was today. WUNC's Dave DeWitt talked about it on All Things Considered. He'll be covering tomorrow's funeral, too - listen for it.
Buckle up and hang on
Once the budget is passed, it's all downhill. (I'm talking momentum here, not legislative perspicacity, though a strong case could be made for the latter as well.) It's always a mad dash for the finish line - sine die - which inevitably occurs in the wee hours of the morning for no discernible reason.
The 64K question is when they'll pack it in. I'd thought it might be the end of the week, but there's a ton of stuff still up in the air - gangs, annexation, the transfer tax, bullying, Jessica's Law, drought planning, coastal stormwater, foreclosure relief, just to name a few. Legislators won't get through all of it, but this being an election year, you can bet a few of those bills are high-priority items to someone or other. Best guess: the end of next week, or the beginning of the week after.
Coming up tomorrow - fun budget trivia. (Who could resist?)
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