Listless Legislature Flunking the Tests of a Fiscally Ailing State

SACRAMENTO

Spring break begins today for the Legislature, and so far it’s pulling down an F grade.

No, not even an incomplete. This bunch is just plain failing.

Like they haven’t learned any lessons from the past -- 13 late budgets in 16 years, the last one 77 days past their June 15 constitutional deadline.

It’s not just the tardiness that is annoying. It’s the arrogance -- the inconsideration for schoolteachers waiting to learn whether they’ll have a job, the private vendors wondering when they’ll be paid by the state.

Especially galling is the cowardice -- the ducking of tough decisions about which programs to cut, which taxes to increase, which debt to bridge with borrowing.

There has been a lot of talk-show talk and street-corner talk about potential solutions, but hardly any meaningful talk around bargaining tables.

So once again, in all likelihood, these procrastinators will be required to stick around for summer school. But that’s not much of a sanction. They draw $125 per day, $875 per week, in tax-free expense money while in session -- regardless of whether they’re here, say, only three days a week, which is common.

Unlike with ordinary kids, there’s little consequence for pampered pols when they flunk, except increased public disdain.

In a recent Times poll, only 17% of surveyed Californians approved of the way the Legislature was handling the budget; 56% disapproved. Gov. Gray Davis fared even worse -- 17% approval, 69% disapproval.

It’s not just budget lethargy that deserves an F. The Assembly spent a week wrestling over whether to unequivocally support American troops in Iraq. The more mature Senate took only two minutes. But Assembly Democrats first had to set aside their mistrust -- not entirely unfounded -- of Republicans.

Democrats feared the GOP was trying to embarrass them because the commander-in-chief is a Republican. The GOP was. So what? Democrats embarrassed themselves by rising to the GOP bait and not thinking first of the troops.

Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D-Culver City) has overplayed the political spoils game -- spending roughly $490,000 in public money on consultant contracts and job hirings for political friends and campaign losers. A little of this might be acceptable, but Wesson has left a stench.

The guy’s politically tone deaf. Wesson is a strong proponent of loosening term limits, but here he is spending tax money on payoffs and pals.

Meanwhile, the speaker and other Democrats are staging dog-and-pony shows around California scripted to persuade voters they should dig deeper for more taxes to bail out Sacramento.

Let’s review the action -- or lack of it -- on the budget.

Shortly after the November election, it was revealed that state government was facing a gigantic budget shortfall for the current and next fiscal years. The gap later worsened into the $30-billion range. Davis called a special legislative session in December, and the Legislature promptly left town.

“It’s a little unrealistic to ask people to work through the holidays,” Davis agreed.

Anyway, Wesson said, “we want to see the whole pie” -- meaning the governor’s budget proposal in January.

Then legislators squabbled until, in mid-March, they passed a very modest package of cuts worth $3.3-billion in the current fiscal year and $4.8 billion in the year beginning July 1.

Since then, virtually nothing has happened. Red ink flows unstaunched.

Everybody’s waiting for the governor’s annual “May revise” of revenue estimates, as if that’s going to make it any easier to cut and tax. Revenue is down. Everybody knows it, but is pretending not to. More procrastinating. I don’t have any homework.

What’s wrong? Pretty simple. Here’s a refresher course:

* A two-thirds vote requirement for budget passage. It’s a national abnormality.

* Term limits that produce legislators with little experience, little long-range vision, but a sharp eye for their next office.

* Too much special interest campaign money that makes lawmakers afraid to say no to political patrons. Too much energy spent raising that money.

* Status quo redistricting and closed primaries, which produce lawmakers who represent their parties’ extremes.

But none of that is going to change soon. Here are two things to do now:

* Don’t permit passage of any bills -- not even war resolutions -- until a budget is passed.

* If the budget isn’t passed by July 1, cut off the legislators’ $99,000 annual salary plus their expense money. Don’t merely delay payment, delete it.

By turning in an honest budget on time -- with a minimum of fiscal cheating -- these people still could earn their pay and an A grade.