Dunce Hat for Me!

Error Message!  In my last blog entry, I wrote that I thought the education finance conference committee would not meet until the week of May 13, but then I look at the schedule on the morning of Friday, May 10, and there it was:  a notice that the conference committee would be meeting at 8:30.  I also reported that I thought the omnibus education policy bill conference committee would not close up its work until education finance conference committe had finished up it work and lo and behold, wrong again, as the conference committee report on SF 3567 was posted on Friday morning as well.  You would think that after 49 years in that building I would have a spotless record of predictions, but you would be sadly mistaken.  At any rate, the omnibus education finance bill–HF 5237–will be meeting again tomorrow (Monday) morning before the House and Senate floor sessions.  It will likely be a very hectic week, especially in the Senate where rhetoric is becoming increasingly heated surrounding the status of State Senator Nicole Mitchell and nerves are fraying as a result, with almost all of the funding bills remaining in conference committee at this point and a bonding bill to be assembled.  This could result in a logjam of bills hitting the floor and if there is protracted debate, it will result in very long floor sessions that will stretch past midnight and into the early hours of the morning.  Floor sessions are planned for Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  The will meet on Monday, May 20, but only to adjourn for the biennium.

As stated above, the conference committee report on SF 3567 is finished up and plans are to have the bill passed in the Senate tomorrow (Monday) at some juncture during the day.  It will be interesting to see how long and how spirited the debate is on the bill.  There is not a lot of controversial measures in the bill, but there are a few items on which the Republiccan caucuses in the Senate and House may object and we are past the point where the bill can be amended.  Conference committee reports can only be voted up or down.  If a bill fails, the bill is sent back to conference committee in hopes that items can either be added or subtracted in order to procure enough votes to pass the bill.  Given the one-vote majority in the Senate and the status of Senator Mitchell, if there is a hiccup, it will likely happen there instead of the House, where the DFL has a 70-64 majority.  So, stay tuned and remember the immortal words of Bette Davis in her role as Margo Channing in the 1950 classic All About Eve: