House Speaker Says Special Session Was Doomed From Outset

House Speaker Catherine Hanaway says state representatives might have been willing to consider Governor Bob Holden’s proposals to raise revenue for education – if he had not moved on the first day of the fiscal year to withhold nearly $200-Million budgetted for the schools. Holden’s proposals to raise $44-Million for public schools never got a hearing in a House committee, and the Majority Floor Leader in the House declared he wouldn’t allow any of them to come to the floor for debate. Hanaway denies House leadership never gave the Governor’s proposal any consideration. Hanaway says the Governor’s call to close corporate tax loopholes should more properly be considered by the Joint Legislative Committee on Tax Policy in the interim and come before the General Assembly next year.