Senate Session June 13

Senate Session, 13 June.  We are getting to the bottom of the bill pile, finally.  For openers we sustained the Governor’s veto of SB 5.  All ten of us Republicans voted to sustain, which was just enough to do the job.  This bill would have increased Medicaid provider rates.  The governor’s stated reasons were that this bill was only good thru 1 July of this year, a date that is nearly upon us, and that this kind of funding ought to be part of the budget.  

   Then we did a lot of house keeping.   75 bills, previously passed by the Senate, had gone over to the house, and the house had made small changes in them.   Working off of 50 pages of spreadsheet we plowed thru all 75 of ‘em, approving the house changes by voice vote in nearly every case.  Six bills were controversial enough to get a roll call vote.  In each case the Democrats voted it thru, 14-10.  These were:  SB 99 and expansion of worker’s compensation to cover partial disability, SB 148 that allows union recruiters access to all new employees, SB 196 that allows non academic surveys on our school children, SB 168 that raises electric rates by requiring more renewable energy, SB2 which raided the business & economic affairs fund to more “workforce development”. And SB 263 which would allow disgruntled parents wide latitude to sue schools and school districts. 

   We were able to whisk thru all 75 bills by 12:30.  The house was still chewing over more bills, so we adjourned til 1:30 for lunch.  This was a picnic, hot dogs and potato salad out on the lawn.  Would have been more fun if it had not been raining hard.  My umbrella was in the trunk of my car, way off in the LOB garage.  I got fairly wet. 

   By 2 PM the house finished up, no more changes and so we adjourned for the week.  I drove home in the rain.  Sun did not show itself until I was going up into the Notch.