Senate Republicans were in a closed caucus this afternoon for more than two hours, and a rather odd sight presented itself - a big chair, pushed up against the door, as if to block them all in. That prompted some speculation about just who pushed it there - who wants to keep GOP senators cooped up until they agree on something? The governor, perhaps? But it turns out it was the senators themselves, cramped in the hot meeting room, where they opened a window that then prompted a whoosh that kept blowing the door open. Only a combination of the chair outside and candy wrappers stuffed into the doorway managed to wedge it shut so that the meeting remained closed-door.

Afterward, Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, said the GOP senators discussed state employee personnel cuts, education funding-cut bills, and transportation funding. "It's our understanding as leadership that the governor is committed to finding a transportation solution this session," Davis said. "We talked about different alternatives and looked to the caucus for some input." Amending the ethanol exemption bill, which already has passed the House and is pending in a Senate committee, is "certainly a possibility," he said. Lawmakers want to adjourn their session, he said. "I believe we have only three or four days worth of work left to do - I don't know how much politics we have left. This happens at the end of difficult sessions. ... Politics by definition is a struggle, and it's a struggle of different people with different points of view trying to find common ground."

Asked if the governor won't let lawmakers leave town until they increase transportation funding, Davis said, "That's my understanding."

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