It’s 8:40 p.m. The Senate just began debating the controversial “consensus forecasting” legislation Senate Democrats threw on the table last night.
The debate is likely to last for hours.
Senate President Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn, last night said House leadership was on board with the proposal even though House Speaker Christopher Donovan, D-Meriden, was conspicuously absent when Williams visited the capitol press room.
Asked earlier today to comment on the amendment, Rep. John Geragosian, D-New Britain, co-chairman of the legislature’s Appropriations Committee, did not exactly provide a ringing endorsement.
“Right now our focus is on keeping the (budget) process going and negotiations (going) … That’s what we have to be doing at this point,” he said.
Apparently the consensus forecasting proposal is what brought budget talks to a screeching halt yesterday.
Later today, when Donovan met with reporters to discuss the Governor’s new budget proposal, I asked him if the House Democrats will take up their Senate counterparts’ consensus forecasting bill between now and the end of the session at midnight June 3.
Donovan said he is not sure. But he also credited the consensus forecasting bill for compelling Rell to make her updated budget proposal public.
“I’ve been trying the ‘nice guy’ approach,” Donovan said. “Maybe the tough amendment works better.”
But then the next question is if consensus forecasting did in fact get Rell to show her hand, why not pull the bill as a gesture to clear the air with the Governor and move forward with budget talks? Why spend tonight even debating this issue?
Williams’ spokesman Derek Slap just told me with a very straight face this is not some game and his caucus feels very strongly about the importance of consensus forecasting as a tool for solving the current budget crisis.
All I know is those precious minutes of my life I’ve wasted either typing or using the words “consensus forecasting” in a conversation are gone forever and I can never have them back.
