Bad Budget Brings Blame

Still sitting in the Wet'lanta rains, but here's a little run down of the budget fallout and who gets paid.

In a leadership vacuum - leadership will emerge. The question is, What kind of leadership can Kentucky expect from the unholy alliance of Senate President David Williams and Rep. Greg Stumbo? For Dems, it must appear that they need a black knight to battle the Reps black knight.

This from the Courier-Journal:

A deal between Senate President David Williams and Rep. Greg Stumbo likely saved the state budget from failure in the House, lawmakers said yesterday.

Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, is not part of the House leadership and was not a member of the conference committee that worked out differences between the House and Senate.

But on Tuesday, without the prior knowledge of House Democratic leaders, he brokered an arrangement with Williams to authorize dozens of local water and sewer projects around the state.

And this from C-J:

...The Democrats have a governor who won in a landslide but seems to have little or no influence over the General Assembly. They have a House leadership that was the antithesis of the word as it mishandled the Governor's main initiative. They have a House budget committee chairman, Harry Moberly of Richmond, who voted against the budget that he spent marathon days negotiating.

Moberly's vote was understandable. He was reacting to a post-negotiation arrangement of Williams and Stumbo, the two political chess players in a checkers legislature. They used coal-severance and tobacco-settlement revenue, both originally allocated for investment in economic development, to give House members the fix for the addiction they have developed -- money to take home and show off to get re-elected.

These budget scraps are called "projects," but that's not the right word for appropriations such as $25,000 each for offices of three elected officials in Breathitt County (no strings attached); and $15,000 for K-6 students' football equipment in Bell County. Youth sports are one of the most popular targets of such spending; $400,000 is going to high schools in Stumbo's Floyd County for "Academic and Athletic Program -- Athletic Teams -- Equipment and Educational Support." Such obfuscation abounds.

For the list, go to http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/08RS/HB410/SCS1.doc.

Sadly, parents in these needy counties are more likely to remember such short-term
favors than the legislature's failure to keep Kentucky's schools on the upward course that is essential for the state's future. Perhaps that is because Beshear and other Democrats have made their arguments in Frankfort's echo chamber, not in the coalfields and county seats...

And this:

...precedent has been set that could make the House Democrats continue to be the little sister of Senate President Williams. Actually, this was the second time this was done by House Democrats. This has reaffirmed that there are House Democrats who will cut side deals with the Senate President and future budgets will likely feature projects being held out as carrots for cutting deals...

And this:

...Lawmakers and Gov. Steve Beshear had the opportunity to produce a responsible budget. It was their choice to settle for what has emerged. In an election year, the great majority of legislators were not interested in finding new revenue with which to move our state forward, despite the fact that Kentucky lags behind in so many ways...

This from the Herald-Leader:

Despite emerging with an agreement that was passed by both the House and Senate later in the week, many lawmakers came away from the unwieldy, secretive process of crafting the all-important state budget last week with one feeling: disgust.

"If I were practicing law, I'd say I was committing malpractice," Rep. Robin Webb recalls saying at 6 a.m. that morning when someone "stuck an amendment in my face" to sign.

"It was the equivalent of legislative malpractice to put yourself through that," said Webb, D-Grayson and the House's first vice chairman of the budget committee.

There is general agreement that the state's budgeting process is dysfunctional, if not undemocratic.

And this from H-L:

...[Beshear] will review a companion bill to the budget that includes a list of construction projects. That measure was the result of a deal brokered between House and Senate leaders late Tuesday and early Wednesday and served as an enticement for many rural House lawmakers to vote for the budget.

"I'm assuming that enough legislators got together and felt like they wanted to supplement the budget in that way, and it's going to be my job now to take it and review it and see what's in there and what should be done," Beshear said.

And from C-J:

There's responsibility to spread around, but you really have Senate President David Williams to thank for the smoking ruins that will be left behind by the 2008 General Assembly.

He can go home to Burkesville, stand in the doorway of the big house on the hill and sigh, "It's good to be king."

He loves the smell of his political enemies' defeat in the morning. Never mind that it comes at the expense of ordinary folks who need properly funded health programs, social services and educational opportunities.

Mr. Williams insists cuts are "not so bad." He thinks belt-tightening is a good thing, as long as the belt is around your neck.

He has obstructed at every turn, blocking even a pathetic little cigarette tax increase that was passed by the Democratic House and supported by the public. No matter. He doesn't have to explain himself. He's king -- King of Gridlock.

House budget chairman Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, had the courage to call Mr. Williams on his ruinous indifference to state revenue needs, whereupon he was denounced by the Senate president for "unprofessional" conduct. But in fact it's David Williams who flouts the professional responsibilities of legislative leadership. He doesn't lead. He throttles and thwarts....