Senate Meltdown

The only thing I have to add to the stories of yesterday’s Senate meltdown (stories in the Birmingham News, Anniston Star, Decatur Daily, and a particularly interesting one on the WSFA-TV website) that you may not have seen is that the parties had dueling statements.

GOP Chair Mike Hubbard’s statement said

Alabama Republican Party Executive Mike Hubbard on Tuesday said “simple greed and an unquenchable thirst for power” among Senate Democrats resulted in Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, Jr.’s decision to ignore state law and gavel down two routine bills that have stalled the body for several weeks.

…and more.

The Lt. Governor’s office responded with a statement from Chip Hill, Director of External Affairs in the Lt. Governor’s office, which read in its entirety:

If the Republican chairman is going to praise Bob Riley’s efforts to kill the legislative session, he should have equal praise for Jim Folsom’s efforts to save it. The Republican chairman has served three terms in the House and should know that Governor Folsom’s actions today were within the law and in the best interest of the people of Alabama. The constitution makes it very clear that passing the state budgets is the primary responsibility of the legislature. It was time for decisive action and Governor Folsom stepped up and put people over politics.