(I just posted on Twitter : “Budget Week – not as fun as Shark Week – but alot of bleeding.” I guess I just have the ocean on my mind.)

If there’s a bright side to having everyone together for Budget Cuts this week , it’s that it gives us a chance to see Representatives and Senators that have been calling and emailing this summer in support of common-sense reforms that will be pre-filed later this year.

What started as a battle seems to be moving towards a reality as everyone understands the needs for change. The question seems to have moved from “Will we actually do this next year?” to “How will we do this next year?”. By that, it seems many are eager for “real reform” but (as happens often in politics), will we see an attempt to water-down Representative Haley’s bill or even see something like a rules change that might not have the “teeth” like Haley’s bill?

As of today, there are roughly 30 members willing to go public by agreeing to sign as co-sponsors on the Spending Accountability Act (On-The-Record Voting) and the Campaign Disclosure Reform Bill .

That’s a good number of co-sponsors for any bill but; what’s even more exciting is that several colleagues have shared that they will go public AFTER the House has our re-organizational meeting in December.

As I’ve said all along, I’m hoping to report back in early January that these common-sense reforms have passed the House and that we are moving forward with restoring public trust and confidence in their elected officials while also allowing more sunshine on the process.

The grass-roots support from those across the state is working! Thank you to those that have contacted your elected officials and asked them to support these measures. Keep it up!