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Thursday: Show us the money
posted at 2008-06-26 23:44 | Last modified 2008-06-27 08:48
Straight outta Hamlet
The course of budget bills never did run smooth. Senior budget chair Mickey Michaux told fellow House members today that it’s getting a little rocky up in 612.
"We have suffered some slings and arrows but…we’ll get there, folks. I declare we’ll get there. But it’s just going to take some cajoling and soothing some bruised egos over there. "
Michaux's full budget comments are here:
Listen Now!
Whoops
That wasn’t the only bad budget news of the day. The Gov’s office told legislators they have $70M less to spend than they thought they did. (Blame the weakening economy: tax collections are down.)
House budget leaders tried to play it off as no big deal. $70M is, after all, one third of one percent of the state’s overall 21B budget. But come on, guys: the House and Senate have been at each other’s throats all week over $44M for school bus fuel. (Shoot, they’ve been known to draw blood over $500K for a local afterschool program). So I can’t see $70M as chump change, regardless of the bigger picture.
The body language near 612 backed that up. Budget chairs hurried through the halls, shoulders hunched, snapping at each other. Easley budget advisor Dan Gerlach actually raised his voice to reporters (including yours truly), which is NOT his normal M.O. (Update: He apologized.)
The moral of this story? The more time they spend wrangling over pocket change, the less change they’ll have to wrangle over. If they’re smart, they’ll wrap it up this weekend.
From the Irony Dept.:
You’d have to be some kind of politician to trumpet your philanthropy for paying half of your million dollar fine for a fraud conviction. That’s what former House Speaker Jim Black did today, noting that his $500K payment went (by law) to the Wake County Schools.
“While Dr. Black served as Speaker of the House for eight years, and for countless years before that, he maintained a consistent support for education. The payment of his state fine will continue that legacy,” explained attorney Whit Powell.
Now THAT’s cojones. The full release is here.
Supercolon FTW!
The advocacy props war has been competitive this year. The anti-annexation folks had a guillotine, complete with a laundry basket for rolling heads. The “Americans for Prosperity” rally upped the ante yesterday with a giant fiberglass pig named Tenpence.
But neither held a candle to today’s prop, part of a lobby day for cancer screening: a giant inflatable colon you could walk through. Seriously. I think we've got a winner here, folks. (Binker has photos.)
Comments? Drop me a line.
