When House Speaker Bill Murphy steps down later this week, he will hand  the gavel to his loyal lieutenant, Gordon Fox of Providence.

House Speaker is one of the two or three most powerful jobs in state government, yet the campaign for the post has been invisible to all but the 75 state reps and the usual gang of state House lobbyists, journalists and pols.

The campaign has been playing out behind the scenes for months now, with Fox and Murphy lining up support from Democrats who form the vast majority on Smith Hill.

The race to succeed Rhode Island House Speaker William Murphy is underway. That means State House Democrats will be deciding who will take over one of the most powerful jobs in state government.  But WRNI analyst Scott MacKay says that if the past is any guide, state voters will be pretty much in the dark until after the deal is done.

When House Speaker William Murphy, D_West Warwick adjourned the Rhode Island House session early Saturday morning, he said lawmakers needed a cooling off period. What he didn't say was that he had a long-planned European vacation scheduled to begin this week.

As reporters and lobbyists scurried around the State House yesterday seeking information on the state budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1, Assembly leaders were tight-lipped.

The House Finance Committee has set a  1 p.m. hearing Wednesday at the State House to unveil the taxing and spending plan. The reason nobody was talking Tuesday is that the budget negotiations between House and Senate leaders have not been finalized yet.