Til Midnight

Last night was a long day as the Senate wrapped up our legislation session for the year. We started at 10:00 am and usually a long session day goes until the early afternoon. Not yesterday; instead we didn't finish until after midnight. We spent most of the time waiting for the House to send us bills that they were working on and needed our vote before the end of the year. I was there mostly to keep an eye on a couple of projects in the budget, one of which the Governor has vetoed twice already and will likely veto again this year.

Late night sessions are an interesting dynamic. Senators and staff start to get a little stir crazy after a while. A group of Senator's played euchre to pass the time. Other Senators closed their eyes to take cat naps while we waited for some action. Some staffers took bets on the exact time the Senate would adjourn while another male staffer surfed Victoria's Secret website presumably Christmas shopping for his wife or girlfriend. Speaking of Christmas there was a spirited debate on the Senate floor over whether the tree in front of the Capitol is really a Christmas tree or a Holiday tree. Perhaps the highlight of the night was Sen. Switalski's annual holiday Limerick which was very funny and a little off-color as well.

On a serious note we did pass quite a few bills including tax cuts for job providers, welfare reform, a resolution to protect property owners from losing their property to imminent domain and a budget bill. All in all it was a pretty successful way to end the year.