“Rumors and Rumblings” is a weekly feature that runs each Wednesday. It includes short nuggets of information that we glean from conversations throughout the week. Have a tip? Send it here.

1. With the need to pass the budgets looming, lawmakers are pushing to get deals in place. Budget accords have been on-again off-again over the last week as the AEA has made demands that have derailed them.

2. The House GOP Caucus held a fundraiser Tuesday evening with a crowd that included a who’s who of Montgomery power players and the 65 members of the House GOP Caucus. The Caucus raise almost $200k during the hour-long event.

3. A new ad is making the rounds claiming the legislature is essentially shutting down Medicaid. The ad encourages viewers to immediately contact their lawmakers to ask them to save the agency and ends by linking to www.SaveMedicaid.com, which, among other things, contains video of Governor Bentley’s Medicaid news conference. After some digging around we found that the site belongs to Black Warrior Productions, LLC. According the the Secretary of State’s website, Black Warrior Productions is owned by the principals of well-known Democrat firm Matrix, LLC.

UPDATE:

4. It sounds like there has been a shakeup to the legislature’s calendar. Sine Die will now be Tuesday, May 15 and a special sessions for redistricting will likely begin the following day.