Dublin's Courier Herald weighs in...

Dublin's Courier Herald wrote a piece this morning entitled, "Lots of work remains with only three days left in session" where they said of all the last minute legislation, the budget is proving to be the hardest to resolve...

Of all the legislation still unsettled, the state budget may be the trickiest. Leaders in both chambers definitely would like to wrap up their session this week, but may not be able to if they can’t agree on how to spend taxpayer money. ‘‘It all depends on how much progress we make on the budget,’’ Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, said when asked about the week’s schedule. Rep. Ben Harbin, R-Martinez, the House Appropriations committee chairman, said divisions on the spending plan are far sharper than they were last year — the first time since Reconstruction that Republicans controlled both the House and Senate. ‘‘We’ve got a lot of differences, not just over money but over policy,’’ he said. He said the Senate’s version of the budget, which is crafted first in the House, shifts around millions of dollars, in some cases eliminating entire state agencies and creating new ones. ‘‘Those are decisions that ought to be worked on together when they’re that big,’’ said Harbin, who said the Senate’s opening proposal removed several projects from his district in an apparent show of strength. ‘‘You can’t govern by shooting from the hip.’’

These quotes are the same as in other newspapers yesterday...see previous posts. Remember, within all of this work is an election year - they want to get home! They are prohibited from beginning to campaign as long as they are in session.