JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – After delaying budget conference meetings twice throughout the day Tuesday, the leader of the House and Senate announced for a third time that it would be again rescheduled.
The budget conference, first scheduled to meet at 8:15 a.m. immediately gaveled in and went to recess within seconds, announcing their intention to return at 2 p.m. in the afternoon.
As a full House Lounge and some members awaited the second scheduled conference at roughly 2 p.m., House Vice Budget Chair Justin Alferman, R-Hermann, walked in and addressed the room, saying that the meeting would be pushed back to 6 p.m., since the House had already gaveled in.
But the shock came later in the afternoon, when a tweet went out from the MO House Budget Twitter account, saying that there would be no conference on the budget on Tuesday and that the budget conference committees “are noticed up for tomorrow at noon.”
No conference on Budget today/tonight. Budget conference committees are noticed up for tomorrow at noon. #MoLeg
— MO House Budget (@MOHouseBudget) May 2, 2017
But House members were unaware House of the conference cancellation for that night, meaning the tweet went out before they were notified.
House members were unaware of budget conference cancellation tonight. Tweet went out before they were notified. Interesting. #moleg
— Rachael Herndon Dunn (@therachdunn) May 2, 2017
Many have been left asking just who runs the Twitter account, as it seems that no one is certain at this point in time as to who sent out the tweet.
The House and Senate’s work on the budget is coming down to the wire, as they have until Friday at 6 p.m. to put their final budget on the governor’s desk, but many still remind everyone that the General Assembly received the budget later than usual, as Gov. Eric Greitens withheld announcing his budget during the State of the State address, instead issuing it in early February.
Benjamin Peters was a reporter for The Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine and also produced the #MoLeg Podcast. He joined The Missouri Times in 2016 after working as a sports editor and TV news producer in mid-Missouri. Benjamin is a graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield.
