Originally Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2010
Special Session Hits Deadline
With a multi-billion dollar deficit at hand, the Legislature continues to work to trim the current year 2009-2010 budget. Last month, the Governor called an "extraordinary session" during which the Legislature must act on the Governor’s budget fixes or enact their own. Next Monday marks the 45th day of the session; under the state constitution, the Legislature may not act on any other bills until the budget is dealt with. Accordingly, the Senate passed a set of budget bills this week and sent them to the Assembly, which plans to vote on them Monday. If the plan holds, and the extraordinary session shuts down Monday, the fate of several housing bills moving in the extraordinary session looks a bit grim.