Talk More, Campaign Less

One thing Californians won’t excuse is a delayed state budget. No matter who’s at fault, voters tend to blame everyone when a budget isn’t approved by the June 30 deadline -- the Legislature, the governor, Democrats and Republicans. No one wins.

It’s too early to tell if we’ll have a budget on time, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s decision last week to call a special election for Nov. 8 just worsens an already deeply politicized battle. The result: enough posturing in Sacramento to fill a Madonna video.

To avoid being labeled “obstructionists” come November, the majority Democrats caved in to the Republican governor last week and met nearly all his budget demands. But at the same time, they submitted a separate proposal calling for an income tax increase on the wealthy to fund schools. This was pure tactics, a doomed effort that would allow them to portray the governor and legislative Republicans as anti-education at election time.

Republicans, meanwhile, claimed that they rejected the budget -- which is remarkably close to the revised spending plan that Schwarzenegger unveiled in May -- because it carried over too much debt into next year and because they hadn’t had enough time to study it. Nonsense. Republicans simply are not going to vote for any budget until the governor tells them to. So why doesn’t he? Mainly because he’s too busy doing what he does best -- campaigning.

The remaining budget issues separating Democrats and Republicans are relatively minor, and could easily be resolved if Schwarzenegger spent a little time in negotiations. Instead, he is appearing at special-election rallies across the state, claiming that the Democrats are trying to raise the car tax, sales taxes and property taxes. There are no such tax increases called for in the proposed budget.

Some are optimistic that the two sides can come together soon not only on the budget but on the initiatives being pushed by Schwarzenegger for the special election. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) said Friday, “I think a deal on the whole enchilada can be worked out.” But Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman said, “To suggest there are active negotiations underway is an overstatement.”

It’s possible that there is a sly strategy behind Schwarzenegger’s seeming indifference to budget negotiations. Last year at this time, he held up the budget in part to get Democrats to bargain with him on his proposed cuts in aid to local government, an action that ultimately led to a November ballot initiative demanded by cities and counties to protect future state payments.

Sadly, holding the budget hostage may be one of the few ways left to achieve compromise in Sacramento’s current poisonous partisan atmosphere. But it wouldn’t be that way if seeking political advantage weren’t the No. 1 activity in town.