So the RI Senate threw the supplemental budget back at the House because they didn’t want to re-amortize the pension plans. And suddenly, we’re told there was a “sense of urgency”!

“They clearly threw off any timetable,” said House Speaker Gordon D. Fox, advised of the Senate’s plans Wednesday afternoon. “That’s what we were always butting up against, a sense of urgency. Apparently, now the urgency is out, so I will have to see exactly what they do.”

So urgent that the Nero’s in the House waited until April to act on a supplemental budget submitted in January. Please. According to the Senate, everything is back on the table, including taking more money from the rainy day fund (bad idea) and looking at imposing minimum health care co-share/pay for state workers (good idea). The problem is that many of the House members are already out on break and everyone is unsure if they can get a bill passed in these “urgent” times. So maybe, at this point, they should just bag the whole thing and concentrate on the 2011 budget. That will leave them with plenty of time to pass it at midnight on June 30th.