Which Side is Senator Gibbs On?

Senator Gibbs (R) is rarely absent from the Senate. But she was last Thurs. & sent the Senate a letter that she was ill. I wish her a quick recovery. My family certainly had more than its fair share of illness & other concerns this year. I learned what "Sandwich Generation" means the hard way AND in a short period of time.

However, one IMPORTANT vote was taken on Thurs. That was a vote regarding the House approved bill (Rep. Crowley was a sponsor H-6874) to end the Governor's unprecedented & unlimited power to place non-binding items on the State Referendum ballot. I wrote on this previously. So enquiring minds would like to know: what is your stand? And why?

This reminds me of another vote last year when the Governor was in negotiations with Lincoln Race Track to expand the slots there & at Newport Grand. This proposal took the form of a bill (S-0970, 2005). Initially it went to the Senate where it passed by a large margin. However, ODDLY enough, Sen. Gibbs who is a MAJOR non-gambling opponent (although 8 yrs. ago she had no opinion on the topic) didn't vote. She evidently left the floor & didn't vote on 3 bills. She then reappeared for other votes.

In a final vote taken towards the end of the session, a slightly different version of this SAME bill was offered to agree with the House-passed version. Now she appears & votes "no" (shades of Houdini here). The bill still passed. I guess the Guv said a "no" vote was okay at this point in time. Some non-gambling opponent. Great side-steppin' though.

I could go on in the same vein here, but that's for another day. All of our legislators need to know that we're watching their votes & paying attention to what they do & don't say and vote.