Short of setting the state Capitol on fire, what else can Gov. David Paterson possibly do to get the Legislature to take the state's budget crisis seriously and start acting to solve it?
The Legislature, as a governing body, has seemingly gone from dysfunction to non-function.
For three weeks, the Legislature has been in special session with a deficit reduction plan in front of them. Yet not a dime has been cut from the $3.2 billion budget deficit in all that time. All they've accomplished is to spend $70,000 of the taxpayers' money per day just for being there. The only relief taxpayers have gotten is that they mercifully went home early for Thanksgiving.
The governor has tried everything to get the Legislature to act, from calling special sessions to holding secret meetings with leaders. On Tuesday, he held a press conference, broadcast live on TV and the Internet, in which he invoked some absurd executive authority provision that would give him special temporary powers to close the budget gap himself.
Lawmakers who harrumphed that the low-polling governor was trying to usurp their power missed the point of the exercise entirely.
He wasn't trying to overpower you, you dummies.
He was trying to embarrass you.
But it was a fruitless endeavor by the governor, a Hail Mary pass into the wind at Giants Stadium. You can't embarrass these guys. They are unembarrassable. They don't care. They have a 98 percent re-election rate. The Democrats in the Assembly have an overwhelming majority. The Senate has shared power, whatever that is, a built-in excuse for inaction.
So the governor can hold all the webcasts he wants. He can plead and cajole. He can reason and rationalize. He can throw out statistics and projections. He can hold up California as an example of where we're headed. Heck, he can call the Legislature into special session on Christmas day, for all they care.
They're not doing anything they don't want to do.
For all his lousy poll numbers, Gov. Paterson has actually been a lone steady voice of vigilance, reason and concern about the state's budget crisis from the second he took office in March 2007. And he hasn't just been complaining. He's been offering reasonable solutions for the Legislature to consider.
He's called for a state spending cap. He's called for across-the-board cuts in departmental spending. He's called for the creation of a new pension system tier to lower state expenses. He's proposed ending unfunded mandates. He's made it easier for local governments to consolidate and share services. He's called for mid-year budget cuts to schools. He's threatened powerful state unions with massive layoffs if they don't make concessions. He's laid off workers in the executive branch. His deficit reduction plan has included significant cuts to education and health care, two areas protected by powerful special interests.
Say what you want about Gov. Paterson. Make all the jokes you want. The guy is right about the budget crisis. He's been right all along. And he's the only one who seems to care about finding a solution.
In response to the governor's proposal on Tuesday to give himself extraordinary powers to close the deficit, Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson said, "This is what we were elected for."
Exactly. That's what the governor has been urging you to do all along. And that's all the people want.
Do what you were elected to do.
Get to work.
Local editorials represent the opinion of The Post-Star editorial board, which consists of Publisher Rick Emanuel, Editor Ken Tingley, Editorial Page Editor Mark Mahoney and citizen representative Bill Reynolds.
Posted in Editorial on Thursday, November 26, 2009 11:35 pm
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