• They're closer than they've ever been. If they punt, it's the worst thing ever.
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Nation   |   June 28, 2012
• Kirk Steudle, president of the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, referring to Congress' progress toward passing a new long-term extension of the highway and transit spending law, which expires Saturday.

• I'm a vegan. I'm kind of hungry all the time.
• Source: Huffington Post   |   Nation   |   June 27, 2012
• U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who supported but declined to join a four-day hunger strike led by a group of U.S. Postal Service workers calling for Congress to fix the agency's problems.

• That's the problem with being elected to a two-year term. I haven't had a whole lot of time to do other stuff.
• Source: Arizona Republic   |   Arizona   |   June 26, 2012
• Arizona state Rep. Rick Gray, who sponsored a new law that will revamp a program that rewards employees for cost-saving suggestions by giving them 10 percent of the savings. Gray is unsure when the program will start again though because he's been so focused on his reelection.

• There are some people who will never, ever accept it [diversity]. But they're dying out.
• Source: Reuters   |   Beardstown, Ill.   |   June 25, 2012
• Marge Corwin, who owns a flower and gift shop in Beardstown, Ill., where immigrants have helped the rural community thrive.

• I’d give him a B for governing. I’d give him an A for strangeness.
• Source: Bloomberg   |   Florida   |   June 22, 2012
• Tom Slade, the ex-chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, referring to Florida Gov. Rick Scott. Slade is also the former co-chairman of Scott's campaign.

• He was the smartest guy in American politics then. He’s still the smartest guy in American politics.
• Source: Politico   |   California   |   June 21, 2012
• Vice President Joe Biden, referring to California Gov. Jerry Brown, who was also governor from 1975 to 1983.

• This is not a get out of jail free card.
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Nation   |   June 20, 2012
• Colorado state Sen. Irene Aguilar, who sponsored a bill that gives legal immunity to people who call 911 to report someone else's drug overdose. The state bill would protect people from prosecution -- not arrest -- and only those in possession of small amounts of drugs are immune. New Mexico, New York, Washington and Connecticut have already enacted so-called "911 Good Samaritan" laws.

• Parents don't have control once they pull the trigger.
• Source: Reuters   |   Nation   |   June 19, 2012
• Kathleen Oropeza, co-founder of an advocacy group against "parent trigger" laws, which let parents seize control of low-performing public schools and fire the teachers, oust the administrators or turn the schools over to private management. Such laws are in place in several states, including California, and under consideration in several others.

• It would be naïve to say that money doesn’t help in an election, but it would also be naïve to say money can buy an election.
• Source: Miami Herald   |   Florida   |   June 18, 2012
• Carl Domino, a former Florida state representative who is campaigning to rejoin the House. He's worth $24.3 million in a state where nearly 70 of the 400 candidates for the Legislature are worth more than $1 million.

• I don’t care if it’s the Second Amendment or the First or the Fifth ... you have to test it. Like the Occupy movement. There’s some folks with a screw loose. But I want them doing that.
• Source: New York Times   |   Texas   |   June 15, 2012
• Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, who is known for his quick wit and political incorrectness -- once referring to the plan to add the dunes sagebrush lizard to the endangered species list as “reptile dysfunction." He's running for lieutenant governor in the 2014 election.

• The [Ku Klux] Klan killed people in this state. ... For the state to sanction them as a civic-minded group would be unacceptable and dangerous.
• Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution   |   Georgia   |   June 14, 2012
• State Rep. Tyrone Brooks, head of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, who praised the state Department of Transportation for rejecting the Ku Klux Klan's application for the Adopt-a-Highway program.

• Teachers are being blamed for the ills of society.
• Source: Chicago Tribune   |   Chicago   |   June 13, 2012
• Jean-Claude Brizardon, chief of Chicago Public Schools, where nearly 90 percent of the teachers voted to support a strike if one is called. Brizardon accused union leaders of rushing members into supporting a strike before all the proposals have been reviewed.

• We're not going to pull a blanket over our head and pee in our pajamas.
• Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   |   Wisconsin   |   June 12, 2012
• Marty Beil, executive director of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, in the wake of Gov. Scott Walker's win last week. He said his group would continue in much the way it did more than 50 years ago, when it had no bargaining rights.

• People can no longer say that not having a job is better than working at Walmart.
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Nation   |   June 11, 2012
• Chicago Alderman Howard B. Brookins, who supports Walmart's move into urban areas. The Windy City has five Walmart stores and construction begins this summer on a sixth.

• One thousand dollars for eating a Twinkie in a funeral parlor? That’s ridiculous.
• Source: Stateline.org   |   Pennsylvania   |   June 8, 2012
• Ernie Heffner, a Pennsylvania funeral director who sued the state over its funeral regulations. The court ruled against the state, calling its regulations antiquated and possibly unconstitutional.