State Republican Party chairman Tom Fetzer picked at Democratic House Speaker Joe Hackney on Thursday, and the speaker shrugged off the criticism.
Fetzer said that Hackney was blowing off a state budget that is two weeks late for a "fun-filled week" at a conference in Philadephia.
"We’ve all heard of Nero fiddling while Rome burned. Speaker Hackney will be dancing in the streets of Philadelphia while North Carolina’s citizens struggle to make ends meet during the toughest financial crisis of their lives," Fetzer said.
"That's not right," Hackney said of Fetzer's claim that Hackney would be gone all week.
Hackney is president of the National Conference of State Legislatures, an organization, he noted, was an important voice in shaping the federal stimulus bill. He is scheduled to speak on a panel Sunday about the stimulus law. He said he planned to return to North Carolina either for Monday night's House session or Tuesday morning.
He said he expected to go back and forth at no cost to the state as events in the legislative building dictate.
"I have no plans to be there all week," Hackney said.
Correction: Post now accurately states when Hackney is scheduled to speak.




Re: Hackney shrugs off Fetzer barbs
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