Democrats call for the ongoing special session to wrap up early saying it’s costing the state money and nothing is getting done.
House Democratic Caucus Chair Sam Jenkins penned a letter to the Senate President and House Speaker asking to end the session early, noting it’s costing taxpayers 40,000 dollars a day.
“We simply do not see where any solutions are being formulated and it does not make sense to continue to spend money for the session if we are not going to get anything out of here that is going to do anybody any good,” said Jenkins.
Jenkins estimates staying in session until the last possible day, October 27th, would cost the state two million dollars.
The special session was called by Republicans who noted three areas of focus: Hurricane recovery, pandemic response, and the Governor’s public health authority. Jenkins says all three have hit their logical endpoint and can’t be legislated further.
“We are pretty much where we were when the Legislature called itself into session,” said Jenkins.
A bill increasing Legislative oversight of the Governor’s public health orders is stuck in conference committee and a number of House-backed public health bills are awaiting a response in the Senate.
Jenkins notes if the state were to receive any federal pandemic bailout funds in the near future it is likely lawmakers would have to call a third special session for the year.
“Maybe we should have thought about that and waited until we saw whether this money was actually going to be available,” said Jenkins.
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