It's Been a Whole Week.  Because there hasn't been a lot to report on the legislative front.  No truth to the rumor that the Donald has offered me the Secretary of Education spot in his presumptive cabinet.  But make no mistake, I would be YUGE in that position and America would love me.

Seriously, the omnibus supplemental appropriations bill passed both houses and the House named its conferees yesterday.  They are:

Representative Jim Knoblach-Chair of the Ways and Means Committee
Representative Jenifer Loon-Chair of the Education Finance Committee
Representative Pat Garofalo-Chair of the Job Growth and Energy Affordability Policy and Finance Committee
Chair-Health and Human Services Finance Committee
Representative Denny McNamara-Chair of the Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee

I would expect that when the Senate names its conferees, it will mirror the same funding divisions as those represented among the House conferees.  That would mean Senators Cohen, Wiger, Lourey, Tomassoni, and Marty, but that is mere guesswork on my part.  The Senate should be naming its conferees at some point today and I will post them with links to their legislative web page when that happens.

Hard to know what will happen as this all plays out.  The Governor added $50 million to his education package last week by incorporating the maximum effort early pay-off bill into his recommendations.  As has been reported before, that generates approximately $50 million.  The Governor's revised request included the $13.1 million in the Senate bill for the Student Support Services grant program with the remaining $37 million going to facilities for school-based early childhood programs.

I will let you know how things unfold.