It's 5:30 p.m. The bell to call legislators to session just started ringing.

House staffers say the plan is to get through as many amendments as possible tonight. It’s unclear how many will be printed in time to hit the floor.

There was more anger this afternoon over the Democratic proposal to cut the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability. Following a work session, several members of the State and Local Government Committee talked about whether to write a letter to all lawmakers to let them know they do not approve of the move.

Sen. Paula Benoit, R-Phippsburg, was particularly incensed that her fellow lawmakers seemed to believe the committee supported the proposal.

OPEGA proposal called “Martinesque”

The Democratic proposal to dramatically cut the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability continues to be the subject of much Statehouse discourse today.

To help close the $190 million gap in the state budget, Democrats are proposing to cut OPEGA staffing from seven to two. It’s a comparatively small amount in the big picture — a $1.2 million cut — but it’s sparked a big reaction.

The House Republicans just sent out a long press release criticizing the move put forward by Sen. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake.

“We saw the budget negotiations coming to an impasse, and we knew we would see a Martinesque maneuver,” said Rep. Robert Crosthwaite, R-Ellsworth. “He did not disappoint. Some Democrats never wanted OPEGA to begin with, and they are using this budget process to get rid of an investigative arm that could expose serious waste in the state bureaucracy.”

And yesterday, Senate Republicans sent out a missive targeting Senate Majority Leader Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro.

“I must have missed the memo declaring Opposite Day at the Legislature,” said Senate Minority Leader Carol Weston, R-Montville. “Why else would an elected official who paints herself as a crusader for government efficiencies and transparency want to eliminate one of the most successful oversight agencies we have; an agency she chairs nonetheless?”

Mitchell, who is chairwoman of the legislative oversight committee for OPEGA, said earlier this week that the move is necessary because of a difficult budget. She said the office duplicates some of the work performed in other state offices.

Budget deadline near

Here’s the current scoop on the budget, as it stands right now.

The deadline for legislators to submit amendments to the budget is 3 p.m. today. The House is supposed to convene around 5 p.m. to take up first reading of the budget.

The word from the majority office is there will likely be debate tonight on the Democratic proposal to close the $190 million gap in the budget. Then debate on amendments will happen on Thursday, before it gets shipped to the Senate.

Both Democrats and Republicans have put forward proposals for closing the gap in the two year, $6.3 billion budget. The nonpartisan budget office has posted a lot of material on both proposals on its Web site.

Check out both proposals here.