Sneaky in Sacramento

Democrats in the Legislature are as good as their word. And their word, it turns out, means nothing.

That became all the more clear last week when they gutted, rewrote and adopted SB 202, a bill that originally was intended to increase filing fees for ballot measures. One aspect of that bill has been much discussed: All initiatives would be placed on the November ballot, when, its proponents say, more voters will turn out than during midyear elections. That clause is sneaky and cynical because what it is really designed to do is to help Democrats move one particular measure from the June 2012 ballot (when Republicans will turn out in force for the GOP presidential primary) to November 2012 (when Democrats are expected to turn out for President Obama’s reelection).

Hard to believe that the same bill has an even sneakier, more destructive clause, but there it is: It would abrogate much of the carefully crafted bipartisan deal, years in the making, for reforming California’s boom-and-bust budget cycle. The terms of the bargain, which was completed in 2010, included a 2012 ballot measure under which Californians would be asked whether to adopt a spending cap and a rainy-day fund.

Republicans in the Legislature already fulfilled their end of the bargain two years ago when they dialed back their demands for larger pension contributions from state employees. They also backed down on deeper cuts to Medi-Cal and social services, and agreed to delays in business tax cuts. Those Republicans should be considered heroes even by those unhappy with the terms of the bargain. At least they were willing to deal. But their colleagues warned them they were just being suckers because Democrats wouldn’t live up to their promises. If Democrats had stood by the deal and simply kept the measure on the 2012 ballot, the example of the few maverick Republicans could have shown the way for future lawmakers to stick their necks out and reach deals for the good of the state.

But Democrats reneged. SB 202 delays the vote on budget reform for two years, to 2014. Now nothing stops them from continually putting it off, and eventually killing it.

No wonder Gov. Jerry Brown couldn’t get a single Republican to agree to a tax measure this year. GOP lawmakers see — accurately — that Democrats can’t be trusted to abide by any bargain for long-term reform.

If Brown holds out hope for any statewide tax vote at any point in the near future, he must demonstrate his resolve to keep fellow Democrats honest, or at least to hold them to their word. He must veto SB 202, then try to begin repairing the damage it has caused to trust and bipartisan deal-making in Sacramento.