Mixed government brings mixed bag of results
House Speaker Steven Sviggum in recent days has been fond of saying, "With mixed government you get mixed results."
This seems the case with the recent budget settlement at the Capitol.
At issue was some $525 million deemed available for spending or tax cuts this session.
After weeks fruitlessly exchanging proposals and counterproposals, legislative leaders eventually decided to divvy up the $525 million between the Senate, House, and governor.
Each player could then do with their portion of the kitty as they thought fit.
Lawmakers themselves were uneasy with the agreement. Sviggum said the deal didn't feel right and critics have cited it as an abdication of legislative power to the executive branch.
This is a serious charge, and it remains to be seen whether a precedent has been set that will haunt lawmakers in future sessions.
Still, a blanket condemnation is somewhat simplistic.
While a questionable agreement, the alternative was perhaps no agreement at all.
Most people would probably find the tax cuts, tax rebate, and educational funding achieved by the agreement more desirable than just having the lawmakers sullenly going home.
Mixed government produces mixed results.
One factor which perhaps accounts for the record-length session and its procedural quirks more than any other are the budget numbers themselves.
Republicans disputed the administration's budget figures for weeks - Sviggum said Republicans may have ultimately created expectations that could not be met.
The delay, the unfulfilled expectations, could all have been avoided had House Republicans accepted the administration’s budget figures for what the are: the finished product of experienced financial experts.
That these figures represent the legitimate starting point in state budgeting has been taken for granted by the Legislature for years.
Tri-partisan government brings it own set of challenges.
Republicans could do well by not pulling others out of thin air.
