Former House Speaker Allan Bense says he won't try to reconvene the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, which put the ill-fated amendments on the November ballot, even though the panel is good until summer 2010.

"It would take funding from the House and Senate, and I think they've probably had enough of us," the Panama City Republican told the Buzz. He said today's court decision is a major disappointment, adding that the amendments were fashioned amid "fair and open discussion."

"I'm proud of the commission," said Bense, who led the 25-member group for about a year. "We ended up getting four (of seven) amendments on the ballot, and I hope those get passed. We didn't run the table. That's life."

In an unrelated matter, Bense revealed how the economy is hurting his own road construction business. "I just laid off 80 men," he said when asked if he was going to catch any of the Republican National Convention. "I'd feel guilty having laid someone off and then flying up there."

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