Murphy: House to resume work after Veterans Day

UPDATE: ON SECOND THOUGHT.

While it might not look good for Democratic legislators to skip the gov's conference, by and large, it's worth remembering that politics is personal. Governor Carcieri and his lieutenants spent a good part of recent months targeting legislative Dems, sometimes in harsh ways, so it's distinctly unsurprising, in the absence of overtures by the gov, that they would take a pass on attending what was billed as his conference.

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The following detail in today's ProJo coverage of the gov's economic conference will likely reinforce the dim view that more than a few Rhode Islanders have of the General Assembly:

Many of the proposals raised would require legislative approval, yet General Assembly leaders from the House and the Senate were absent from yesterday’s forum.

Through a spokesman, House Speaker William J. Murphy said by the time he received notice of Carcieri’s event he “had already committed months ago to serve as an instructor for a continuing legal education class with the Rhode Island Bar Association.”

“If the governor has developed some good ideas on economic development, I am always more than willing to listen,” the speaker said.

Are the state's economic problems more important than a standing commitment for a continuing legal education class? (That's a rhetorical question.)

As the same time, Murphy tells me that he "didn't hear directly from the governor" about plans for the conference. So a bit more communication among state leaders is overdue.

As it stands, Murphy says, the House "will be getting back to work" after Veterans Day, looking at some changes in spending and in the way the state is run. Watch for more details next week.