I was wondering what happened to that bill...

Though he likes to take his time to make up his mind on controversial matters, Gov. John Lynch doesn't have forever to act on a bill. He gets five days from the time it arrives at his desk, a countdown that stops only for holidays and Saturdays.

Senate President Sylvia Larsen, who signs the bills before Lynch does, isn't subject to any such restrictions. She can apparently hold bills as long as she sees fit.

The best case this year: the bariatric surgery (a.k.a. stomach-stapling) bill, which would require insurance companies to cover such surgeries for obese patients when a doctor recommends it. It sat on Larsen's desk from May 23 until Thursday - 48 days, or nine times Lynch's allowance.

Larsen, a Democrat from Concord, could not be reached for comment Friday, but we're going to take a bold stab and say that Larsen kept it at Lynch's behest. It's not likely that a hang-up emerged in the Senate, where the bill passed 21-3, with Larsen in the majority. Lynch hasn't said where he is on it.

Co-sponsor Bob Clegg, who told the story of his own bariatric surgery to make the case for the bill, has been lobbying Lynch hard and creatively. (More on that soon.) He's met with Lynch and fielded questions.

This isn't the first time a bill has had a hang-up with a legislative leader. There was one House bill that apparently fell off a desk on the Senate side and was never acted on, recounted Secretary of State Bill Gardner. And the there's the story former House speaker Marshall Cobleigh told in his memoir, We Ain't Making Sausage Here.

"There was a bill that came over from the Senate and he just stuck it in his pocket," Gardner said. (Voila! Pocket veto!)

No one was sure if 48 days set a record. "I never kept one that long," said former Senate president Tom Eaton. "We just wanted to get them out of the way, get them off your desk . . . toward the end of the year, maybe they did sit for a couple of weeks."

The question has come up before, Gardner said, and there's just no requirement in the law for when bills must be moved along.

"There's no law dealing with this. There's no forthwith. There's nothing," he said.

As for Lynch, quoth spokesman Colin Manning: "He's still reviewing the bill."