In the Company of Misery

People think of the California Legislature as uniquely dysfunctional because of its yearly budget wrangles. Critics often point to California as the nutty home of political gridlock, strange voter initiatives, pressures from special interests and hardened political ideologies. For all these reasons, the 2003-04 budget is now more than two weeks late.

But consider New York state, where the new fiscal year began April 1. The Legislature and Gov. George E. Pataki didn’t only fail to pass a budget by then, they still don’t have a budget for a fiscal year now in its fourth month. The lawmakers, when they return to Albany in August, will have to take up the issue again.

Or consider this comment from a state lawmaker: “Voters have passed a large number of initiatives in our state that take an enormous amount of money right off the top of our budget. We need tax reform -- we need tax reform desperately.” That was Carolyn Allen, a Republican who is president pro tem of the Arizona Senate.

Or this one: “Constituents want quick solutions to very difficult problems.” That’s Paul Tokasz, the Democratic majority leader of the New York Assembly.

Or, “Partisan divisions are going up, money in politics is going up, party discipline is going down,” said Joe Hackney, Democratic leader of the North Carolina House.

These observations were offered during a round-table discussion on “the new legislative reality” conducted by State Legislatures magazine, published by the National Conference of State Legislators. Journalist Ed Fouhy concluded by seeking opinions on the biggest changes in legislatures:

“Lack of civility.”

“Term limits.”

“The impact of big money in politics.”

“The explosion of information in communication.”

The fact that other states suffer the same political traumas as California doesn’t make things better in the Golden State. But at least it counters the perception that California is unique in its dysfunction. What makes California so visible is that it’s the largest state -- a bulk dramatized now by the presence of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Unfortunately, being part of a larger crowd doesn’t reduce the need for all kinds of reforms, from term limits to taxation. California, one-upping the other states, also has the largest problems.