During session this afternoon Senator Vince Fumo collapsed. He was in the front of the chamber, not too far away from me when he went down. It was a little scary for a while then he seemed to come around after medical personnel came into the chamber. They took him out by wheel chair and I have not heard of any report on his condition since, I’m sure that we will hear something tomorrow. We went through a number of bills today, some in preparation for the budget. The House sent over a tax reduction bill that was changed in the Finance Committee meeting to reflect the original set of four tax cutting bills the senate introduced as our tax stimulus package. The Governor was dealt a blow today when it became known that the State Treasurer, through her attorney, said that the Governor had no legal requirement to furlough state workers on July 1st if the budget was not in place. This is the same opinion the Republicans have had all along. We still cannot get a clear answer from the Governor about his position. He doesn’t seem to want to present any legal evidence, probably because there is none. The clock is ticking and it could be after June 30th until the budget is signed by the Governor. Remember that it will take at least three days to finish any deal once it is agreed to.
- John
RSS: