Live blogging the opening session

We've just notified the governor that we've convened for our joint session, and he'll be upstairs to address the legislature in a few minutes. We're now reading bills across the desk for the first and second readings.

House Rules will convene upon adjournment to prohibit the acceptance of campaign contributions for any House member running for any elected office. After that, it looks like the Capitol may close. It's coming down hard now.

Update (12:55 p.m.): The governor is now speaking about our obligation to remain focused and brief in balancing the budget and setting the amount of scholarships from the Arkansas Lottery. He discussed in detail the budget and specifically the concerns about Medicaid services. He discussed the cooperation and trust that exists between the governor's office and the legislative branch and suggested that it is one reason that we've enjoyed some success as a state in staying out of many of the problems other states have recently experienced.