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Wed.: Quick updates
posted at 2009-05-06 12:05 | Last modified 2009-05-06 12:05
So far today:
Bleeding red ink
The legislature's Fiscal Research Division released its latest budget projections this morning. It ain't pretty.
FRD's Barry Boardman and Evan Rodewald told lawmakers the 09-10 budget hole has ballooned from $3.3B to $4.8B thanks to an unprecedented 40% drop in April tax collections.
That means the House will have to find an additional $1.5B in cuts and/or revenue over and above the cuts already proposed in the Governor's and Senate's budgets. You can see the gory details here (PDF.)
And oh, BTW, they say state revenues probably won't return to last year's $20B level till 2013 at best.
Smoking bill changes
Sen. Bill Purcell rolled out those H2 revisions in Senate Health Care this morning. The new version of the bill would ban smoking ONLY in restaurants and bars. Private clubs would be exempt, as would other public spaces and workplaces. Here's the raw audio of the bill explanation and debate, what little there was of either. The first voice is a staffer running through the changes.
Listen Now!
The revised bill sailed through a committee vote and is headed back to the floor, possibly as soon as today.
Muni broadband gets a break
H1252, a controversial rewrite of the state's public/private broadband laws, was magically transformed into a study bill today in House Public Utilities. Discretion may have been the better part of valor, seeing as how the room was jam-packed with citizens opposed to the bill. The Indy's been following it - catch up here.
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