Senate cancels summer recess

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State Senators were told Thursday that their summer recess was canceled because a budget has not been approved, but they were given permission to leave town as long as they can get back for a vote within 24 hours. ‘The summer recess is canceled, and canceled until we complete our budget work, which is ongoing and intensive,’ Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) announced on the senate floor.

One day into a fiscal year without a budget, the senate spent an hour in session Thursday debating and voting on bills and resolutions, including one that ‘honors the 50th anniversary of the flying of the current American flag.’

Steinberg said lawmakers can leave Sacramento as long as they are able to return within a day. ‘I ask members to stay close,’ Steinberg said.

The request that legislators be available for quick budget action has not stopped legislators from going farther than their districts in the past.

Two years ago, several lawmakers went to Maui for a conference after the start of an emergency session on the budget, while others traveled to India.

No senator has asked Steinberg for permission to go on vacation out of the country during the coming weeks, a spokeswoman said.

-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento