The Senate has been busy

...hearing bills left and right. They passed a bill raising the minimum wage, they have passed a bill that increases the amount of ethanol that must be in gasoline sold in this state, and now a committee has passed a smoking ban bill. This is a far cry from the "do nothing" legislature of last year.

Right now, the question is what the House will do with these issues. They will probably stall on the minimum wage yet again, and their smoking ban bill is not as sweeping as the one the Senate is working on. Ethanol may be an issue where everybody can agree, though I'm not completely sold on the need for it. We'll be hearing more from both sides on this issue.