RTTT bills? Results from late night legislative bargaining

While a conceptual framework was reached at 4 AM, it is considered to be fragile. Our lobbyists have stated that they are cautiously optimistic after discussions with legislative leadership. However, when the bill is printed, Don Noble and our other lobbyists will be studying the RTTT bills to ensure that our members are protected.

Here is the latest from the legislative news service MIRS

Here's the good news. The Legislative Service Bureau (LSB) is drafting the Race To The Top (RTTT) education reform bills that reflect the compromise negotiators reached at 4 a.m. this morning and conferees are already fly-specking parts of the drafts.
"We want to make sure that the intent of what we did is in the language," said Rep. Tim MELTON (D-Pontiac), chair of two of the four conference committees scheduled today.
But here's the bad news. It looks like it's shaping up to be another late night. Although the Senate and House are due in at 1:30 p.m., sources in both chambers said not to expect any action with House members being informed the attendance board will be kept open until 3:30 p.m.
It's rumored that LSB will be done printing around 4 p.m. Assuming there are no major hang-ups in reviewing the bills, conference committees will meet afterward. The reports are expected to have the votes in conference and then both chambers will need to caucus.
That means that floor votes probably won't start until this evening.
Sources say the agreement reached at 4 a.m., as broken by MIRS (See "Deal Reached On Race To The Top," 12/17/09) is still fragile. There were still talks this morning and a Senate GOP source still referred to it as the "framework" for an agreement.
Sen. Buzz THOMAS (D-Detroit), one of the conferees, said he's been communicating with others in negotiations via text message since the wee hours of the morning. Thomas, who sponsored the charter school expansion part of the package, said he "thought things were wrapped up," but there's uncertainty on the House side.
When asked if he felt caught in the middle between the House Democrats and Senate Republicans, Thomas told MIRS, "I'm still a Democrat."
Melton acknowledged that the deal still had to be sold to his caucus, but he expressed optimism that this wouldn't be a repeat of tough budget votes on K-12 or General Government that initially failed.
"I think members will be comfortable with where we're at and it will fly through with a bipartisan vote," he said.