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Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Ind. Gov't. - "Senate hears budget testimony as Indiana House remains in standoff"
Some quotes from a story dated March 21st, by Lesley Stedman Weidenbener of the Louisville Courier Journal:
As Democrats in the Indiana House prepared to take their boycott of legislative business into a fifth week, the Senate took over the budget-writing process on Monday, launching a series of hearings on the state's next two-year spending plan.It's the first step in an effort by the Senate Appropriations Committee to revive a budget that currently is mired in the month-long House standoff.
House Bill 1001 has been stuck on the House calendar in the amendment stage since Democrats walked out on Feb. 21, denying majority Republicans the quorum needed to take votes or move bills. They haven't returned since.
"We hope that the House will still be able to take up their calendar and be able to get us a finished bill," said Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville. "But in order for us to finish our work and do our constitutional duty (to pass a budget), we need to start moving in the Senate."
To do so, Kenley said the Senate would start with the budget plan the House Ways and Means Committee passed, even though it has never passed the House.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 23, 2011 08:11 AM
Posted to Indiana Government