Saturday. . .Not in the Park. . .and it's Definitely not the Fourth of July. Here I sit on the last Saturday of the regular session and it's already off to a rousing start. The Senate brought up HF 464--the mandatory statewide teacher health insurance pool--just about an hour ago. After describing the bill and the slight change in parliamentary course, Senator Betsy Wergin (R-Princeton) offered an "opt-out" amendment under which 15% of the members of any bargaining unit could force an election as to whether or not their bargaining unit should or should not join the statewide insurance pool. Of course, a majority of voters in the bargaining unit would make the final decision as to what the bargaining unit would do. The amendment passed on a 35-29 vote. The bill then passed on a 49-16 vote. The bill now goes to the House, which will likely vote not to concur with the Senate amendments, forcing a conference committee.

The E-12 Conference Committee will be convening at 2 PM (a half hour from now) to update the education community on what is transpiring in the budget negotiations between the Legislature and the Governor. Don't hesitate to call me at 612-220-7459 if you have any questions. I will be updating the blog throughout the day.