At the behest of the Senate’s two floor leaders, Memphis Democrat Jim Kyle and Blountsville Republican Ron Ramsey, members of the Senate Finance Committee recently put on their hooded robes, lit some skull-shaped candles, and held a secret meeting to determine how the state should spend a miniscule amount of taxpayer money totaling somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 billion. The clandestine event, which delayed the committee’s official public meeting by an hour, wasn’t, as it might seem, in violation of state Sunshine laws … because they somehow don’t apply to the legislature. Dresden senator Roy Herron told reporters that, money issues aside, it wasn’t really like an “official meeting” or anything, but more like a gathering of “friends.
Plante: How It Looks
