Most important, lawmakers should heed calls from the panel and Gov. Eliot Spitzer and guarantee that all of the revenues raised will be spent on mass transit, no matter how tough times get.
Ryan -- as House Budget Committee Chairman perhaps the most important Republican lawmaker in this drama -- described the meeting as a "very frank exchange".
With less than three months left in the legislative session, Siena asked respondents to identify which issue was most important for lawmakers to address.
The change on Thursday came after Rep. John Garamendi (D-Fairfield) and other Democratic lawmakers became outraged over the plan, disclosed last week, to import the most important parts of future rail cars, including motors, brakes, wheels, axles, the aluminum shells and undercarriages.
Steele added that to some Republican lawmakers, "the most important thing is to give cover to this president". .
The legislation, several lawmakers said, is the most important measure involving voting procedures since the landmark civil rights legislation of the 1960's.
Perhaps most important, in the legislation creating the university, lawmakers can give it access to the Permanent University Fund, a major source of money that, under the Texas Constitution, only some U.T. System and Texas A&M University System institutions are allowed to use.
Lawmakers said "public confidence" was the most important factor in deciding what to do about Agbar.
Perhaps the most important takeaway, though, is that the bill puts certain lawmakers on the Congressional record, stating they agree that major changes in NASA's current Mars-bound exploration strategy would seriously damage the progress of the organization.
The burden now lands heavily on this new governor to prove how a likable but untested lawmaker can manage one of the most powerful and most important state jobs in the country.
Lawmakers and advocates for the poor say the most important bill deals with child care.
