Bi-Weekly Update #10

You’ll recall that we were able to get H. 3101, the nullification of Obamacare, set for special order during the last week of session. It was set right behind the ethics bill which means that we had to deal with that one first. Now, I was happy to work on and pass an ethics bill if it actually did something, but by the time we got to Wednesday evening (remember, session ended on Thursday at 5pm), three things were clear to me: the bill had several flaws, some Democrats were ready to use procedural tactics (mainly hundreds of amendments) to block/kill it, and it was holding up H. 3101. Ethics reform, furthermore, was not something that I had heard about from back home (except for 4 emails). However, I had hundreds of emails and tons of phone calls asking me to do whatever possible to stop Obamacare! Given all of that, I was ready to move on to the nullification of Obamacare and so were the other conservatives. You can imagine our shock, then, when the Senate leadership, i.e. the RINOcrat majority, voted to adjourn for Wednesday meaning that, with only one day left, 3101 could not pass. They also effectively killed the ethics bill that they wanted. I’ve seen a lot of things in Columbia, but this was my first viewing of pure spite. That’s okay, though, they know that we’re not going away, and that in itself was a victory.

The “ethics reform” bill, as noted above, was something that I was happy to work on and pass, if it actually did something worthwhile. The House version of the bill contained at some point everything from the requirement that you and I register as lobbyists just to go and speak in front of County Council to the absence of penalties for violations of the law by politicians (this actually was in their final version). So, the Senate moved largely its own bill through the process, and that’s what bogged us down last week. The Senate bill, moreover, had plenty of problems. It provided for no public hearings to review the appointees of the governor as would be required of other appointees. It allowed politicians to illegally receive money up to $9999 and still be charged only with a misdemeanor. It required a single person who spent money on a political effort (including merely making a donation) to file with the Ethics Commission. And there were other flaws. The bottom line to this bill was that a few politicians decided that they wanted to pass an “ethics reform” bill in order to have something to talk about. One politician even admitted that the legislation was aimed at a “perception” that something is wrong. The final clue for me that this bill may not be such a good idea was the flood of editorials insisting that we had to pass this bill. When the liberal media wants it that badly, that’s when my radar goes off. I’m still happy to come back next year and discuss an ethics bill, but hopefully one that actually accomplishes true reform.

I mentioned to you last time that I hope that our governor will take a conservative scalpel to the budget when she finally gets it. I particularly hope that she’ll excise the tens of millions of dollars of borrowing for roads (we could have put tens of millions of current money in) and the expansion of Obamagarten (a phrase coined by Sen. Bryant) for four year olds. These are two items that all conservatives should be able to agree upon. Hopefully her vetoes will help get our fiscal house in order, which has always been a top priority of mine. As our state’s motto says, “While I breathe, I hope”.

We return the week of June 18th to take up the budget conference report and any other matters. It will most likely be the week of June 25th before we receive any vetoes from the Governor.