House and Senate GOP leaders say too much time is being spent on hot-button issues from gay marriage to plastic bag bans to abolishing the death penalty.

 

State Reprehensive Mike Armstrong, says legislative session is nearly a quarter of the way complete with no timeline on when a draft budget will be circulated.

 

Senator Linda Evens Parlette agrees, adding that she feels democrats are delaying discussions on how to close a $1billion budget gap.

 

The session is supposed to last 60 days and is referred to as a short session.

 

During the special session last month, the Legislature narrowed the $2 billion budget gap to about $1.5 billion through an assortment of agency reductions and fund transfers. They agreed that the main order of business for this session would be to balance the state's budget; however, this round of budget decisions is expected to be much more difficult.

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