Carpi & Clay - The Legislature came back into session on August 2nd and is currently winding up the 2010 legislative year (ends at midnight tonight). The Legislature is finally having their first votes on the budget…62 days past the July 1st deadline. Both houses are voting on the Democratic and the Governor’s versions of the budget today – and of course there are not the votes necessary for either proposal to pass (hence the name of a “drill” – except that Senate Pro Tempore Steinberg doesn’t want to call this a “drill”). Most likely the Governor will either call a new special session (8 so far in the 2009-2010 legislative session) in order to continue working on a budget or use one of the existing special sessions. Rumors continue to persist that this budget stalemate could last until after this November’s election.

As typical during an end of session, there have been numerous gut/amends of legislation. Bills that had been dead, magically come back to life in a new form or in a new bill. In addition to the typical end of session madness, the Legislature has also decided to focus on reforms to deal with the aftermath of the scandal in the City of Bell. And typical of the Legislature, some of the reform measures radically swing the pendulum too far.

Finally, the Governor will have until September 30th to sign or veto legislation. Without a budget in place, nor the pension reforms the Governor has been seeking, it is possible that the Governor may decide to veto most of the legislation that lands on his desk. The Governor had made this threat 2 years ago, and the Legislature responded by approving a budget on September 16th. We’ll see what plays out during the next 30 days.

Look for a Statenet report showing the final disposition of the bills during the week of September 6th and a written end of session report once the Governor finishes with signing/vetoing measures.