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Wed: Notes from Approps
posted at 2007-05-09 15:45 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
More fun and games from the House Budget negotations.
Who's ON this committee, anyway?
Speaker Pro Tem William Wainwright caused a stir when he showed up to vote on a controversial amendment that would have removed a needle exchange program from funding language for HIV prevention. Even Senior Chair Mickey Michaux told someone to "Go tell Wainwright he can't vote in here." Rep. Debbie Clary said she was wondering the same thing.
After checking, Michaux found that yes, Wainwright IS in fact a member of the Appropriations committee - he's on the Capital subcommittee. So yes, he could vote. Which turned out to be a very good thing for the Dems who opposed the amendment, advanced by freshman Republican Wil Neumann. It was defeated by a margin of 1 or 2 votes, depending on who was counting the hands.
Sit down, kids
Even legislators have a hard time staying in their seats for seven hours. Michaux keeps reminding members that if they aren't sitting down, he won't count their raised hands - and to only raise ONE hand. Good to know the members are maximizing their resources.
