House deadlocked on BP spill fines
An aide to Shelby said the House is a full year behind the Senate’s progress. Without an agreement among the House’s Gulf Coast delegation, the aide added, such a bill stands little chance of passing.
“The danger is, you have so much division among the affected states that (House) leadership just washes their hands of it,” the aide said.
In a telephone interview, Shelby himself said “the prospects are good” for the bill in the Senate. As for the House?
“I haven’t been in the House in 25 years,” Shelby said. “I can’t tell you what’s going on over there.”
House lawmakers are saying little.
“There’s certainly negotiations going on,” said Dan McFaul, chief of staff for Rep. Jeff Miller, a Republican representing Florida’s western panhandle. He gave few details of those negotiations, other than to say, “There’s still some issues out there that are being worked through.”
Spokesmen for Reps. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, Steven Palazzo, R-Biloxi, and Steve Scalise, R-La., all declined to comment or did not respond to messages from The Mississippi Press.
Mississippi Press
10/2/11
Magnolia Tribune
