The 2001 legislative session is in its third week, day nineteen. So far, it is dominated by the specter of the budget battles to come. This includes legislators and interest groups alike.
Every session takes on a personality.
This year, the early personality seems to feel like a strange lull, or even the eye of a hurricane. A strange calm has settled over the early session. You can almost feel like people are walking on eggshells. Sooner or later this will change. But for now, it feels like the phony war period of 1940, when a long quiet truce existed before the eruption of total war.