AP: Culver 'Virtually' Rules Out Special Session

From the Chicago Trib, via the Associated Press:

DES MOINE, Iowa - Gov. Chet Culver has virtually ruled out the possibility of calling the Legislature into special session to craft a flood relief package and instead will use his own authority to divert at least $20 million to disaster recovery, The Associated Press has learned.

The governor's decision could be announced by Monday and was sparked by a sharp increase in federal disaster assistance, two legislative sources told The AP. The sources spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the governor's plans.

Surprise, surprise. (FYI, our misspelled capital in the dateline is their error, not mine.) I'd be more wary of the unnamed sources if this ending wasn't already so obvious.

UPDATE -- Local lawmakers are starting to sound off. From a GOP press release:

UPDATE II -- Culver's spokesman, Troy Price, responds: