Alva Review-Courier -

I wanted to talk about the state budget this week, but negotiations are still underway.

As you can imagine, when you have three bodies of power – the House, the Senate and the executive – all led by people with their own vision and their own sense of priorities, negotiating something as significant as the state budget takes more than a minute.

My hopes are that we will get to a point of unity soon; we have to. A balanced budget is the one duty the Legislature is constitutionally bound to pass each year, and end of the legislative session is looming near.

Instead of the budget, I’ll tackle anot...