The battle over the budget between Speaker Richardson and Senate President Pro Tem Johnson both truly fascinating & historic.
The Republican-led Legislature recessed Thursday for a long Easter weekend amid an ongoing fight over the placement of hometown projects in the $17.4 billion state budget.
Republican leaders in the House used their version of the budget to propose $3.5 million in local community grants they say are needed to promote economic development and education throughout the state. Most of the 45 projects are found in the districts of powerful GOP leaders and their conservative Democratic allies.
However, the top GOP members of the Senate want the money placed in a development fund that would be managed by the state Department of Community Affairs. The agency would be in charge of deciding what communities get the money.
Lawmakers from both chambers continued to fight over the budget Friday afternoon, calling off the fruitless negotiations by midday and deciding to meet again Monday. The budget drama slowed business at the Capitol during the next-to-last week of the 2005 legislative session.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram, refused to take up any Senate bills for consideration during much of the day Thursday in order to force the Senate to give in on the budget. The effort failed to produce immediate results.
Democrats have called the proposed local projects the same type of "pork barrel" spending that they were criticized for when their party was in charge of the Legislature.
(3-25-05 Morris News Service.)
Republican leaders in the House used their version of the budget to propose $3.5 million in local community grants they say are needed to promote economic development and education throughout the state. Most of the 45 projects are found in the districts of powerful GOP leaders and their conservative Democratic allies.
However, the top GOP members of the Senate want the money placed in a development fund that would be managed by the state Department of Community Affairs. The agency would be in charge of deciding what communities get the money.
Lawmakers from both chambers continued to fight over the budget Friday afternoon, calling off the fruitless negotiations by midday and deciding to meet again Monday. The budget drama slowed business at the Capitol during the next-to-last week of the 2005 legislative session.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram, refused to take up any Senate bills for consideration during much of the day Thursday in order to force the Senate to give in on the budget. The effort failed to produce immediate results.
Democrats have called the proposed local projects the same type of "pork barrel" spending that they were criticized for when their party was in charge of the Legislature.
(3-25-05 Morris News Service.)
posted by Sid Cottingham | 8:28 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home