House Leaves Without Passing Slots Bill to Senate, Costing Taxpayers $240,000
Senate President David Williams was hamstrung by the House, which left town for the weekend without passing along HB 2, the slots bill passed out of the House.
Williams has set a deadline of 4:30 on Monday to receive the bill for consideration, otherwise he plans to adjourn sine die.
Williams pointed out that in between today and Monday, $240,000 will be spent. He also pointed out that the Governor is one of many who is aware that HB 2 does not have votes to pass the Senate. Without naming them directly, he scolded the House leadership for adding $1.4 billion in additional spending to the budget in the time of a supposed $1 billion shortfall, and also for failing to deliver the slots bill in a timely manner.
.Earlier in the day Governor Beshear had said:
"An issue that is this important deserves the deliberation and vote of everyone. Now the question is will the Senate give everyone in its chamber the same privilege - an up-or-down vote on an issue of such importance to our Commonwealth?"
The House's failure to do the administrative work has prohibited the Senate from acting according to the Governor's wishes for four days, at a cost of $60,000 each day the session does not adjourn.
