* 3:02 pm - The Senate has passed SB 1102 - part of the FY 2009 budget - with 36 votes.

Sen. Bomke just said he accidentally voted “Yes” on the bill. Oops.

The Senate will not vote on the $16 billion pension obligation bond plan until next week.

They are currently debating SB 1103 - another piece of the budget. Sen. Dahl is currently complaining about the complete lack of funds for a new veterans’ home in his district. He is not a happy camper, to say the least and is promising a fight.

Listen or watch here

* 3:08 pm - Kevin was complaining about this earlier today while he was sitting in a committee hearing trying to text me…

Doormen for a Senate committee are telling reporters they can’t text message on cell phones during committee hearings under the general rule of electronic devices not being allowed. […]

The reasoning given was the noise is distracting to others in the committee.

I was just told that the Senate Dem tops weren’t aware of this action and that it wouldn’t happen again. That’s good news, because I have live-blogged committees with my iPhone, and other reporters take notes on laptops, which are also “electronic devices.”