Tuesday, January 24, 2012
2:11 PM
Fitzgerald scolds Dems, warns next budget could be even tougher
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald delivered a strong rebuke to Dems for their criticisms of the guv from the chamber floor and warned the next budget will be even tougher than the one crafted less than a year ago.
Minority Leader Mark Miller and several Dems gave speeches today during final comments criticizing Gov. Scott Walker for the state's sluggish economy and the job losses the state has seen for six straight months.
Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, accused Dems of living in a fantasy world. He went on to mock Dems for their job creation efforts in the last session when they were in the majority and was incredulous that they could call on Republicans to work with them while they're launching four recall efforts seeking to take back the majority.
"It’s about we didn’t get our way in the last election and the way we’re going to change that is going back to politics," Fitzgerald said. "We’re going to go back to the street and recall legislators and waste $9 million of taxpayer money so you can take over the chamber sometime this summer and then what?"
Fitzgerald then challenged the Dem senators considering a run for guv to use the chamber floor to launch their campaigns and lay out what they plan to do
"I'll tell you what I think you're going to do. You’re going to raise taxes," Fitzgerald said. "If you think this budget was scary, wait until the next one."
Fitzgerald said he hopes Legislative Fiscal Bureau Director Bob Lang will tell lawmakers within the next few weeks that somehow income and sales tax collection have grown compared to a year ago.
"But I'm not optimistic because that's where the national economy is," Fitzgerald said. "I'm not sure what happened in December, but I hope retail sales will change that."
His comments prompted several Dems to rise in rebuttal.
Quorum Call site feed
Post a Comment