Chichester, however, told senators yesterday that he'd rather have the transportation talks concluded before the budget is finalized.On one level, this is just responsible budgeting - Chich et al would be fools to write budget amendments without knowing what (if any) effect the transportation folks will have on the money available.
That's because the transportation plan may include spending $250 million a year from the general fund--something the House wants and Chichester doesn't--and if that's the case, budget writers may be more "cautious," Chichester said.
"We have to move forward with caution, because if this bill that comes back after we complete our work we don't know whether we're going to be faced with a $250 million a year outlay, and if we don't know that, we have to conduct ourselves with some degree of caution in dealing with our budget," Chichester said.
On another level, however, this gives him more influence than an ordinary legislator outside the conference committee could ever have on the final product. I'm guessing Chichester is prepared to make abundantly clear where he wants the general fund money that the conference shifts over to transportation, and use this to inflict maximum political damage on the chances of the conference report passing the Senate. This is all but certain to make the conference more willing than it would otherwise be to seek his "advice" on their plans.
Now, I'm no fan of the transportation "compromise" (there's no need for tax increases of any kind in a budget that has risen 60% in six years), but Chichester has always pushed for higher taxes than the House and Senate leadership on this issue. If I'm right on this, and Chichester has managed to make himself a de facto conference committee member, it all but ensures whatever comes out of the conference will be even worse than we thought.
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