By The Associated Press
The legislative session will end without a road-funding bill, despite the House’s last-ditch effort to pressure the Senate into passing a plan.
The House voted 84-9 on Wednesday to allow the issue to be considered in the special session. If senators had agreed, they could have taken up the bill that’s been stuck in the Senate for weeks without a vote.
But senators rejected the idea. Senate Judiciary Chairman Larry Martin says debate on allowing the roads bill to be considered could block the Senate from passing a budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1, and he won’t allow that to happen.
Both Republican and Democratic House leaders are frustrated by the Senate’s inaction on an issue that lawmakers, business leaders and residents call a top priority.
