Gov: Special Session To Wait Until Assembly "Ready To Face Reality"

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(STATEHOUSE) - State lawmakers will be called into their first special session since 2002, having failed to pass a new state budget by a midnight deadline for ending the regular session (Wednesday evening).

Governor Mitch Daniels won't give a specific date for the session, but says he'll call legislators back to the statehouse when "they're ready to face reality."

He says the best thing for them to do is to go home, get away from the lobbyists and talk to real taxpayers. Daniels says he wants them to stop pretending the state will have revenues that are not possible in the current economic climate.

The governor says he's maintained a consistent position on the budget since his State-of-the-State address in January. He concedes he may have been more effective in getting the kind of budget he wanted by being more blustery and threatening instead of being flexible.

Governor Daniels and House Speaker Pat Bauer continue to clash over the failed budget. Bauer says Daniels told him the governor has more power and always wins in special sessions.

The speaker called the governor "the nowhere man," saying Daniels did not demonstrate leadership during legislative sessions on the budget.

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