Senate opens long‑bill debate with sharp exchanges over process, education and spending priorities

Senate leaders and rank‑and‑file members spent a long floor session debating the state’s main budget bill, Senate Bill 206, with multiple amendments considered and a steady stream of votes and procedural motions.

The debate returned repeatedly to two themes: how to order the work of the budget — including whether the School Finance Act should be run before the long bill — and whether state spending had grown too fast in recent years. Senator Chris Bridges (Senate) said that the long bill represented a “balanced budget” as prepared by the Joint Budget Committee but warned the chamber that state spending has grown faster than inflation and population, and argued for prioritizing public education in future budget cycles. “We need to put the big rocks ahead of the marbles and the sand,” Bridges said on the floor (remarks at 1611.33–1624.955).

Conservative senators pushed for more…