The often-crowded halls of the Capitol Annex are close to abandoned this afternoon. The Senate finished its session this morning, and now there's almost no one around. House Speaker Lawerence Denney, who was chatting with a casually dressed Rep. Cliff Bayer in the third floor hallway, said he hasn't met with the governor today, though a number of senators earlier said they met with Otter at noon and reported that it was a "productive" meeting.

Denney said, "We did meet with the Senate this morning. They made a couple of suggestions, and we told them that they need to flesh 'em out." The situation, he said, is "frustrating ... The best way to decide an issue is to put a motion on the table, and I think that's what we've done," referring to the House's motion to adjourn for the session on Wednesday night. Denney will be back in his office tomorrow afternoon, when some bills may need his signature, and said, "I suspect that we will be back here on Monday."

Though the House won't be in session tomorrow, the Senate will; it's scheduled its session to start at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. The Senate State Affairs Committee moved up its meeting, to hear the new election consolidation bill, to 8 a.m. At 10 a.m. is the funeral for longtime Idaho lawyer and lobbyist Allyn Dingel, which some lawmakers plan to attend.

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