96 Comments - RIJ - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:29 pm: Until Rauner presents a balanced budget, why bother? - Robert the Bruce - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:29 pm: No. Pointless political charade. What’s needed next is same thing that’s been needed for months (or a year?): Rauner&Madigan to compromise. - PublicServant - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:30 pm: No. Not unless there is something to vote on. - LizPhairTax - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:31 pm: Nope. That’s the playbook. The Governor can end this as soon as he wants but he’s insisting that his weak hand be treated as aces. Sorry dude. - Abe the Babe - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:32 pm: Its up to the leaders as it always is with the budget. If you want resolutions renaming highways then you should support spending 40k a day to do that. Otherwise, the answer is no. As an aside, I haven’t seen a governor grasp at so many straws as I just did. Nixon said that you either get on top of the job or the job gets on top of you. Its easy to tell which one is happening to Rauner. - Anon - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:33 pm: Of course they should be in session that is what they are elected to do and by being there it makes it harder to keep punting everything down the road. - MOON - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:33 pm: NO. Until Rauner is willing to sit down and put together a budget that the majority can agree to there is little the House or Senate can do. This budget must not be tied to Rauners turn around agenda since that is going nowhere. - Ares - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:34 pm: It’s primary elections next week, Catholic / Protestant Holy Week the following week, and Catholic / Protestant Easter the week after that. Hmmmmmm - ignore getting out the vote, the Trump rally / Trump protests / Rauner fundraiser, and traditional vacation periods, in favor of staying in Springfield for more WWI-style trench warfare. Slam-dunk choice. - burbanite - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:34 pm: No. One man’s sham is another man’s real bill. Since everything not proposed by the Gov is a sham, what is the point? - wordslinger - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:34 pm: If there is a budget deal with the governor, yes. If not, no, it’s a great waste of money in a year of record deficits. I’m fascinated by the governor’s ability to convince some of the people, all of the time, that he’s some sort of passive bystander in the process and may deal with only the issues of his choice at the time of his choosing. That’s something new in Illinois. - Abe the Babe - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:36 pm: ==by being there it makes it harder to keep punting everything down the road== Spoken like a true green horn. - Hellinois - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:37 pm: Return? It appears to be pointless. The only thing moving on either side of the aisle…. is Illinois momentum in circling the drain. - titan - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:37 pm: If they’re not going to be calling any bills of substance, it makes little sense to have them in session but not doing anything meaningful. - Omega Man - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:37 pm: No. It’s more fun to watch the Governor get “wobblier and wobblier”. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:38 pm: Certainly. Otherwise they send the message to voters that they have no interest in working on a balanced budget, helping social services get funding, or solving this situation. - Beaner - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:38 pm: No. Until the Governor presents his balanced plan of Revenues and Expenses there is no need for the GA to assemble. - Overtime in hell - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:39 pm: We spend that $40K a day even when they’re in regular session, so to me that point was bogus. That only applied after they adjourned for the year. Plenty of precedent for sending lawmakers home and letting the leaders negotiate. That’s what has to happen. If this situation is so dire (and it is) then a real leader would schedule leaders meetings, would call a special session and do everything within their power to try and reach a compromise. This presser was just a weak attempt to push the poll tested message out there. - 360 Degree TurnAround - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:39 pm: This month long break includes sacred holidays for the Irish and Christians. Legislators should be able to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, Good Friday and Easter with their families and friends. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:39 pm: Unless Rauner shows a compromise budget that has 60 and 30 and he will sign it clean, no, no I see no reason for the GA to meet. Rauner sounds very Rod, or Quinn, like… Rauner’s Dunkin vote and the veto pen make anything not agreed to useless. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:40 pm: No - this governor is perpetually a day late and someone else’s dollar short. During election primary season, this happens. Perhaps he needs to find himself someone on his staff who understand how government works, so he wouldn’t have to be seen walking around wondering what to do. Have him call Rod Blagojevich and ask him how it all works. Right now Bruce could learn a few things from Rod. - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:40 pm: Of course they should be back in session voting on the bills that Governor Rauner has mentioned. Map grants, procurement reform, Senator Cullerton’s pension bill to name a few. What is the point of being out of town until April 4th almost 3 weeks after the election? - Norseman - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:40 pm: Word +1. With one other addition. They should come back to try to deal with HB 2990 - concurrence or veto override should Senate pass the bill. - BBG - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:41 pm: Nope. I know people are still waiting for him to do his job of submitting his balanced budget for 2016 - which he has not done. Making numbers up from benefits you want to cut (but you cannot legally do - i.e. reduction of Tier One benefits) is not a balanced budget. Lets see your budget! - Johnny Pyle Driver - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:41 pm: No? I just don’t know what they’d do if we’re still under the operating principle of needing to crush unions before we can have a budget. And if every bill is a “sham” if it doesn’t include crushing unions, it’ll just be more of the same. Does Rauner just want to make sure they’re in town so he can get “sham bills” into more news cycles? Or what does HE think will be accomplished? Seems like we just need daily updates on whether Dems have become union busters or not to know what “progress” has been made in this impasse - The Captain - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:41 pm: The bills that pass are usually the product of agreements. If you are unwilling to work toward any agreements and you spent each of the last two Mondays dumping $2 million into your various political warchests it’s probably disingenuous to ask the General Assembly to return to vote on agreements you are doing your best to prevent. - NeverPoliticallyCorrect - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:44 pm: Yes, if the Democrats are willing to actually negotiate a budget for FY 2016 and not act like the deficit chasm they have created over the past decade was thrust upon them by a first year gov. - Give Me A Break - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:44 pm: No, having been through countless Blago “Special Sessions” all it does is tick everyone off when they don’t have anything to do or vote on. - Nick Name - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:45 pm: The governor could have looked at the House schedule back in January rather than holding a sham press conference today. - 47th Ward - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:45 pm: Project much Governor? From teh Google: “Projection is a defense mechanism that involves taking our own unacceptable qualities or feelings and ascribing them to other people. For example, if you have a strong dislike for someone, you might instead believe that he or she does not like you.” - illini97 - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:45 pm: Also, I’d watch that “dereliction” term, if I were a Superstar. Not providing the Constitutionally mandated budget is a dereliction of duty, isn’t it? - Abe the Babe - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:46 pm: ==Yes, if the Democrats are willing to actually negotiate== Remind me, which side is willing to talk revenues and cuts without preconditions? - cdog - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:47 pm: Yes, after March 15, but only if Rauner publicly says he will set aside non-budget issues, and if Rauner publicly admits that he has participated in the 300-400% increase in unpaid bills (from - Dirty Red - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:48 pm: Calling them back would not produce results, but keeping them in town would be a different story? Help me with the logic here. How has Franks not shouted, “THAT’S WHAT I SAID?” - Wow - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:49 pm: Separation of powers. The Legislature decides when the Legislature is in. Madigan doesn’t tell the Gov when it’s okay to leave on vacation. Rauner doesn’t realize, his own Rebups are wearing very thin with him. “I heard that in a private conversation”!! - Pot calling the kettle black - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:50 pm: Dereliction of duty? Yet another ironic thing to come out of BR’s mouth - My button is broke... - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:50 pm: Maybe come back after the primary, but I don’t really care. Voters will forget about this come November and nothing would get accomplished. Another thing, I agree that special sessions have not worked in the past. And because of that, the Governor won’t call one. Ok. Yet he talked about House Republicans and how they tried to prevent the month long break. How would House Republicans forcing the House to come back be any more successful than the Governor calling a special session? - highspeed - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:50 pm: I have to work everyday so should they! Im sure there are bills that need attention. - Anon2U - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:54 pm: YES! There is ONE MAN holding the state hostage- Mike Madigan. He refuses to let Representatives do their job by holding all legislation that may get us out of this insane impass up in his private committee, Rules. Bost was right, LET MY PEOPLE GO!! - In the Middle - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:57 pm: Let’s just all throw our arms up in the air like Rep. Demmer did the other day!! - Abe the Babe - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:57 pm: ==There is ONE MAN holding the state hostage- Mike Madigan== Can you articulate in a detailed manner what exactly Madigan is holding the hostages for? We have a slick 15-page slide deck from the governor’s office that outlines his demands. Heck, he’s not even shy about saying what will “release” his hostages. What say you on Madigan? - ash - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:57 pm: Anon2U — Representatives passed HB2990. Assuming it passes the Senate, how will the governor vote? Madigan is not holding the veto pen. HB2990 releases hostages, but will Rauner let them go? - The Muse - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:59 pm: No, because it’s not going to do any good. Rauner and Madigan won’t be ready until next year. Sad times - Because I said so... - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 12:59 pm: I say no since there is no movement. But for the average Joe, it probably looks bad. - MrGrassroots - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:00 pm: No. Not until Rauner says he is finally ready to work. Why wasted time. Rauner may never sign a budget, with three years left. I am frankly stunned that this was even possible. - Dee Lay - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:02 pm: “They should get back here and do their jobs.” That’s a nice demand. Now where is your balanced budget for FY16, 17 guv? - The Fox - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:08 pm: No All my Republican friends have vacation plane. - Joe M - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:09 pm: No, not until the Governor does his Constitutional duty to present a balanced budget for this fiscal year. And if he doesn’t want to talk about new revenue, he needs to specify where and how much the cuts in his budget are. And none of his fairy dust budget savings either. Its really time for more in the media to start calling him out on his fairy dust savings for the budget and from his turnaround agenda. - AC - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:09 pm: So, this is a no win scenario, since not being in session is a “dereliction of duty”. If they were in session they’d be passing “sham bills” which apparently includes all legislation Rauner disagrees with. The only way for the legislature to win in Rauner’s mind is to simply agree with him, and do his bidding, I mean pass “Rauner Bills”, or “Real Bills” as he calls them. - Anon2U - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:10 pm: =Can you articulate in a detailed manner what exactly Madigan is holding the hostages for?= Yes. So he remains in absolute power. Saying otherwise is only true if you think that there are no Democrats or Republicans who are ready to compromise and get to 71 without Madigan in the House. A deal can be had IMHO that would strip Madigan of control AND be overridden. Needs to get called first and there is ONE MAN who will not let that happen. - 47th Ward - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:11 pm: Sorry, I didn’t answer the question. I think they should come back before April 4th and then proceed to jam the HGOPs on bill after bill to provide proper funding for a host of important state programs. The Dems should pass another comprehensive budget that fully funds the state’s obligations. Then they should offer a series of bills to increase revenues to pay for it. When the HGOPs vote those down, the Majority should introduce huge cuts to the proposed budget to balance it. Then, when there aren’t enough votes to increase revenue, or to cut spending, the HGOPs will be completely exposed as tools of Bruce Rauner. Then, just for fun, the Dems should introduce and vote down each and every part of the Rauner agenda. Just to remind him how far away he is from winning. - Honeybear - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:12 pm: No, let Rauner swing in the wind. - RNUG - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:12 pm: No point. Rauner refuses to sign or AV bills (as needed / to his liking) that have everything he needs to run the state but don’t have his TA poison bills. Rauner can’t get 60 / 30 to pass his poison bills. Even after the primary and general elections, Rauner won’t have 60 & 30. Çullerton can get enough votes in the Senate to override on most issues. Madigan is 1 to 3 votes short of enough votes to override. The voting switches Madigan needs to override are owned by Rauner. Bottom line: Rauner owns the stalemate and until HE changes direction, there is no reason for the GA to be in session. - out of touch - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:12 pm: Madigan has dragged the House (and the rest of us) to town for the past year. Rauner has yet to budge from his hostage demands. Is Rauner suggesting that over Easter he’s planning to do a personal “turnaround” and function in moderation? Not likely. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:13 pm: ===if you think that there are no Democrats or Republicans who are ready to compromise and get to 71 without Madigan in the House=== There are 47 House Republicans. You’d need all of them plus 13 Democrats to buck Madigan. Then, in the Senate, you’d need all 20 Republicans and 10 Dems to buck Cullerton. I’d love to see your list. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:15 pm: ===There are 47 House Republicans. You’d need all of them plus 13 Democrats to buck Madigan. Then, in the Senate, you’d need all 20 Republicans and 10 Dems to buck Cullerton.=== Was literally just typing that! It’s easier to have Dunkin and Rauner gum up the works than find 23 other Dems in the House and 10 SDems flip and… get those bills called. Ugh. - Mama - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:15 pm: NO! Why? It would be a waste of time and money if there is no deal between the 4 leaders and the governor. Rauner knows it would be a waste of time. He is only trying to sound like a tough governor by blaming the Dems for everything. - jack stephens - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:16 pm: Bruce, Where is YOUR Constitutionally Mandated Balanced Budget? Love, Jack P.S. I’d email and ask but you dont have email. - MSIX - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:17 pm: No. Since The Bruce thinks anything that comes across his desk from the GA is a “sham” anyway, why bother? This sounds like desperation. He’s worried that if the candidates he’s purchased lose their primaries, the rest of the ILGOP will feel more at liberty to step their cowardly butts out from under his cape and vote for the good of the state. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:17 pm: Ugh, typo … 13. Twelve less Dunkin, but, I digress. - the Cardinal - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:17 pm: So who plays the fiddle whilst Rome burns? Who Cares…get this job done. - forwhatitsworth - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:18 pm: ===Senator Cullerton’s pension bill to name a few…=== Is this the plan that includes “consideration” that most experts believe is just as unconstitutional as the “reform” bill the ISC recently ruled as unconstitutional? - TominChicago - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:19 pm: To what end? RAuner does not appear to be moving on his hostage demands. At least MJM is saving the state the per diem. - 47th Ward - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:19 pm: ===Needs to get called first and there is ONE MAN who will not let that happen=== A motion to discharge a bill from committee only requires a simple majority. ONE MAN, even capitalized, can’t stop a bill coming to the floor that has 60 supporters. - frisbee - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:19 pm: Yes, but only because the Senate is in this week and next. Not expecting much to get done but if the Senate is in the House should be too. I know not all Senators are facing an election this year, let alone a primary next week but since Rauner doesn’t have email and the Speaker no cell phone any deal requires some proximity to the other side. - Mama - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:20 pm: “.@GovRauner today said Spkr. Madigan “should be in town and holding meetings” to “negotiate bi-partisan” solutions.” How can Madigan negotiate a bi-partisan solution when you (Rauner) will not allow your peeps to vote on anything the Dems want? - Abe the Babe - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:21 pm: ==Yes. So he remains in absolute power.== Lol!! He’s passed a budget for over 35 years and hasn’t had a problem keeping power until now? ==if you think that there are no Democrats or Republicans who are ready to compromise== Yes, please show us the list of 23 democrats that are willing to eradicate collective bargaining? The fallacy is that Madigan is preventing his members from voting on the TA. Many Dems have pressured Madigan to put the governor’s full agenda up on the board so it can go down in flames. Nice comment. It was an adorable try. - chicagonk - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:21 pm: Yes. My hope is that once the primaries are over, there will be some momentum to return to normalcy. - Beaner - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:23 pm: RNUG’s bottom line rings true. - Wensicia - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:27 pm: Unless Rauner stops the sham governing, no. - Cheryl44 - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:27 pm: No. Just no. I don’t even know why we even bother having a government at all anymore. Let’s just throw all the elected officials out and start over. - Old Lobbyist - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:31 pm: What is the point until the primary is concluded. Then the parties will know what cards they have in their deck. - Formerly Known As... - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:31 pm: ==Rauner can’t get 60 / 30 to pass his poison bills.== ==Madigan is 1 to 3 votes short of enough votes to override.== Bingo. They have the same problem. Neither has the votes to cow the other one, and both require each other for a budget, so the ==epic struggle== lives on until both give a little and find common ground. - Team Sleep - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:31 pm: Why not split the middle? Have the House come back in the T, W & Th right before Good Friday. It gives the appearance of action and blunts the criticism. The general public assumes that elected officials’s only “jobs” are to vote on bills in D.C. and Springfield. They have no clue how much those officials work - or at least should work - back in the district. They see stuff like this and wonder why the Senate is in but the House is not. And a four week break when the House is already scheduled to adjourn right after Memorial Day makes the schedule look bad as well. - BumblesBounce - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:33 pm: yes for an agreed to budget; no for all else! - the Cardinal - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:34 pm: Cheryl44 …start in Washington - Formerly Known As... - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:34 pm: Yes. One month is the longest spring break ever heard of. Voters will not view that favorably. Speaker Madigan should bring them back for the sake of his own caucus. At that point, however, Gov Rauner will claim he was right and Madigan never should have adjourned for so long to begin with. - zatoichi - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:36 pm: Has balanced budget been presented by Rauner for FY16? If not, why bother? - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:37 pm: Why does anyone ask Bruce Rauner anything and expect a different answer than the one he has been nauseatingly repeating since Day one of his administration? Everyone who has not been affected by brain trauma knows how Bruce Rauner responds to any questions. Why are we even listening to him anymore? - Cassandra - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:39 pm: Probably not, if they aren’t going to do the tax increase until after November-that is, until Jan 2017. We are told by most media that any agreement will have to include a tax increase, although who pays and how much are unresolved. And 9 months is a long time, plenty of time to pull together a smoke and mirrors budget with plenty of borrowing and sweeping in an “emergency” session to close out 2016. As to 2017 budget. Well, do we need one before January? Will we get one before January? - RNUG - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:39 pm: == both require each other for a budget, == Nope. Rauner could have AV’ed the passed budget to his liking and Madigan wouldn’t have been able to override the AV. Rauner could have had a budget but he didn’t want to own the cuts. Instead, Rauner now owns it all. - Mama - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:42 pm: People should be informed that the FY2016 budget has already burnt to the ground. - @MisterJayEm - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:42 pm: “Should the House come back into session this month?” No. Even if we applied the Governor’s logic, this would be a bad idea. If the only thing stopping Democratic legislators from backing Rauner’s agenda is Mike Madigan, why would you want them to spend more time in Springfield with him? If their constituents support Rauner’s union busting, why wouldn’t you want to send Democratic legislators back to their districts to get an ear-full from their voters? If Rauner’s plan for ’short-term pain’ is actually popular outside the ‘Springfield bubble’, why would you want to keep legislators inside that bubble? I voted no. And if Rauner actually believed what he says, he would also be against a sham session. – MrJM - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:43 pm: I would love to see a vote on each part of the turnaround agenda voted on . That is what the Governor is asking for. If I fact the Turnaround Agenda is so unpopular and would be sound soundly defeated why haven’t any of it been called? Could it be that parts of it are very popular? Term limits, redistricting, local control are very popular - NSideLady - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:47 pm: The House should only reconvene if BVR submits a budget. - Anony - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:48 pm: If I were Madigan, I would stay in session. Not doing so gives Rauner the possibility of PR points, especially with the low-information voter. It is a charade, but many voters don’t realize it. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:49 pm: ===If I were Madigan, I would stay in session=== lol Yeah. You’d stay in town while Blair Hull and some of the governor’s pals spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat you a week from today? Right. Sure you would. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 1:49 pm: ===I would love to see a vote on each part of the turnaround agenda voted on . That is what the Governor is asking for.=== There aren’t 60 or 30 votes for his agenda. ===fact the Turnaround Agenda is so unpopular and would be sound soundly defeated why haven’t any of it been called?=== Why embarrass the governor like that? ===Could it be that parts of it are very popular? Term limits, redistricting, local control are very popular=== If 60 members want it called, then they should call it… I wouldn’t hold my breath. Questions? - Touré's Latte - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 2:14 pm: From a “silk purse” POV, at least they are not passing frivolous bills just for another bullet point on their re-election flyers. - 13th - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 2:19 pm: it already been, said the schedule been out since January, was the superstar not informed the governor of this? should only come back if there is a deal of either a balanced budget that will pass OR an agreed recall of the non functional governor - Just Me - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 2:31 pm: Ugh, Rauner should never, ever, ever call a Special Session for anything. It just produces news stories about the money wasted on per diems, no work gets done, and it just angers the very people he needs to get to agree with him. The fact that we’re even talking about special sessions again though makes me realize Rauner is the 3rd Governor in a row who can’t work with the legislature. Maybe the Governor isn’t the problem. - RNUG - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 2:38 pm: == an agreed recall of the non functional governor == I’m not sure if that would be an improvement or if it would fall under “just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse” … - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 3:02 pm: After a year of waiting for this governor to govern, you have to wonder what does Rauner know about duty? - Juice - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 3:30 pm: As to the question at hand, I’m indifferent as to whether the House is in or not. It’s March. Nothing is going to happen before the primary. And then you get into the traditional Easter break anyways. But if the was an inkling that they may do something, then yes, they should be there. But I do feel that if the Governor feels that strongly about it, he should use his powers under the constitution and haul them back in. Stop with this “I’m only the Governor, so I am completely powerless” nonsense. The reason why special sessions backfire is because they are done during the summer when per diems are not available when the GA brings themselves back in but they are if the Governor does it. Guess what Governor, it’s before May 31st. They get their per diem either way. So either call them back or find something else to wax-poetic about. - OFFM16 - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 3:45 pm: VanillaMan at 1:37 — As a person who has suffered brain trauma, I’m a trifle offended by this comment. And yes, I do know what to expect when the guv nonanswers a question. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 5:22 pm: I always suspect that people who say the General Assembly should stay in session to “do their jobs” haven’t spent a lot of time observing what the General Assembly does when it is in session. SPOILER ALERT: It ain’t exactly Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun hashing out the Compromise of 1850 on the floor of the Senate. - downstate commissioner - Tuesday, Mar 8, 16 @ 8:33 pm: No. If they are not in session to work on the budget, they are not in session to do other mischief…. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.