Moose Jaw North MLA Warren Michelson was busy on the first day back for the Spring Sitting of the Legislature in Regina. He took a crack at becoming Speaker of the House, a position once held by another MLA for the same riding, Glenn Hagel when he was an elected member of the NDP.

A vote for a new speaker was needed after speaker Corey Tochor resigned last year to run for the federal Conservatives.

"It was something that I had considered and I thought it was an opportunity that I couldn't turn down so I put my name in to be Speaker." explained Michelson. "When there's a vacancy for the Speaker, it's elected between all of the Members of the House and as it turned out, there were seven people (running) then it's run like a regular election."

While he didn't win, Michelson believes Mark Docherty, the Saskatchewan Party MLA for Regina Coronation Park, will do a very good job in the role as they can finally get back to work ahead of their budget April 10th.

That budget has a lot of municipal leaders worried following the first public speech from newly selected Premier Scott Moe. At the recent SUMA convention, he warned councillors and mayors that things are tight at the provincial level and there will be less money flowing out of Regina to their communities.

"I think it's going to take some very careful preparation as we move forward." said Michelson. "It's never easy to take less money, especially when you're trying to provide all of the amenities that are expected from government, but in the case where revenues are down, decisions will have to be made."

Michelson doesn't expect as tight of a budget as we saw last year, but didn't offer up any further insights as we wait for Budget Day.