Senators offer reasons for lack of budget debate

Normally meetings of the Senate do not make headlines, but tonight a number of appointed legislators are claiming they were robbed of their right to debate the 2007-2008 Budget. This afternoon, our canvass of Government, Private Sector, and Opposition senators revealed that Leader of Government Business Richard Dickie Bradley did present the motion properly but apparently the “way” in which he did so was so uncharacteristic and confusing, it wasn’t until after the bill had passed that everyone realized what had happened. According to Senator Godwin Hulse, Bradley had just finished wrapping up the debate on the firearms bill when he rose to present the appropriations bill. Hulse says because it is customary for Bradley to speak at length on the bill, he took the opportunity to use the restroom. Hulse says he wasn’t out of the Assembly two minutes when he heard over the loudspeaker Bradley asking the President to put the question to the floor. He tried to run back into the sitting but it was too late. This afternoon Hulse told News Five, “It happened so fast. We cannot ascribe any ulterior motives and there is no law that says he has to speak but it was uncharacteristic, so unusual that [Bradley] did not speak. I have never heard of a bill not being debated in all my years of following these proceedings.” That feeling of surprise was also echoed by Government Senator, Anthony Chanona. He says that earlier in the sitting, Senator Bradley approached him and asked if he was going to speak on the budget. Chanona says he told him yes but indicated that he would await his cue to take his turn to speak. But tonight Chanona is still waiting for that cue because he never got his chance to make his ten page presentation to the floor, a document that he had spent the last twenty-four hours preparing. According to Chanona, “Everyone participated in passing it. I feel we got caught off guard with procedure and did not realize that that was the item that we were to speak on.” Opposition Senator Deborah McMillan, who was supposed to have led off the debate for her party, agrees with Hulse and Chanona, asserting that things happened so fast and being inexperienced with the procedure, she did not realize what happened until it was too late. McMillan said, “I take full responsibility, I really regret it but for me, the content of my speech is so important, I have to share it in whatever forum I can. I owe it to the people.” But as for McMillan’s colleague Senator Esther Ayuso, she says, “We got railroaded yesterday.” Ayuso says she was in the ladies room when the drama unfolded in the Senate on Tuesday but this afternoon maintained, “In my political point of view, it wasn’t a nice way of doing things on their side, but I’m not mad. It will only work against the Government because it means they couldn’t sell the budget and they had only disregard for colleagues that were prepared to speak.” And while those Senators were prepared to speak to the media today, one member we spoke to declined any comment. According to Union Representative Rene Gomez, “I need to get back to my people before I comment to the media … there is a meeting tonight but yes I was in room at the time.”