Steve Flowers: Inside The Statehouse: The Casualties of the budget crunch

  The 2012 Alabama Legislative Session is in its seventh week and they are no closer to finding a solution to the daunting financial dilemma facing the General Fund Budget than when the session began on February 7th. There is even some talk that decisions or solution to the nightmare may be delayed to a special session later this year - closer to the start of the fiscal year - which begins October 1st. However, that procrastinating would cost the beleaguered General Fund an additional $200,000 that it does not have at this time. Maybe the legislature is hoping that some manna from heaven will rain down on them and they can avoid the Armageddon that awaits. This miracle has occurred the past few years in the form of federal stimulus dollars but that rodeo is over. The chickens have finally come home to roost.