The Heat is On, But Legislators and Davis are Cool to Deadline Pressure

SACRAMENTO

What if the Lakers’ Robert Horry had taken his sweet time setting up that three-pointer against the Sacramento Kings, instead of swishing it with six-tenths of a second left on the clock? The Lakers would not have won Game 4 of the Western Conference finals and probably not gone on to three-peat as NBA champs.

What if The Times’ editor had decided to blow off the deadline last night and wait for more interesting news? You wouldn’t have a newspaper this morning.

The world--the successful world--runs on deadlines.

The Legislature, pathetically, does not when it comes to the most important thing the lawmakers do each year: pass a state budget.

For 13 of the last 16 years, a budget has not been enacted until after--usually long after--the start of the new fiscal year, July 1. Actually, the California Constitution requires the Legislature to pass a budget by June 15. But legislators are totally, arrogantly disrespectful of that constitutional deadline. There is no penalty or shame.

It’s as if they were stirred by a gentle alarm clock in mid-June and realized they’d better get up, shower and go to work.

“Why doesn’t this process start earlier?” asks rookie Assemblyman John Campbell of Irvine, Republican vice chairman of the Budget Committee. “Negotiations take time because people need to think, positions need to change.”

Budget subcommittees begin deliberating early in the year, shortly after the governor submits his proposed spending plan. But legislative leaders rationalize they can’t seriously negotiate until after the governor presents his “May revise,” based on April income tax filings. Nonsense. It’s just procrastination.

This week, there’s an eerie quiet in the Capitol. Livin’ is easy. Air conditioning protects the pols from the Central Valley’s furnace; it was 112 degrees Wednesday.

One of the gravest errors ever committed in the Capitol, of course, was the installation of central air. Before that--back in the sweaty era of ceiling and desk fans--lawmakers routinely passed the budget in time to escape Sacramento’s oven. These summers, the Capitol is much too comfortable.

Politicians ritualistically perform their “Dance of Death,” once explained to me this way by a legislative strategist: “Everybody dances around the fire. They throw stuff at us. We throw stuff at them. Everybody falls over dead and we start all over.”

The Senate is shut down, having passed a $99-billion budget June 29. But Assembly leaders are dancing, out of sight behind closed doors and apparently in small steps.

“These meetings have all the excitement and adrenaline of a Pat Boone concert,” reports one insider.

If history is a clue, things won’t get intense until Californians start squawking--like the private vendors who service prisons, veterans homes and firefighters but can’t get paid without a budget. Lawmakers will start hearing from them in a week or two.

Who’s to blame this year? Point your finger in any direction.

At the core, there’s no trust, no long-established relationships. In the Assembly, there’s also little experience in closing a big deal. Blame term limits.

And blame Gov. Gray Davis. He needs at least four Republican votes in the Assembly, but refuses to negotiate with GOP leaders. Instead, he’s going around them, trying to buy off four Republicans individually, as he did last year. The leaders feel disrespected and shunned.

The governor believes-- understandably--that the GOP only wants to stall the budget and gridlock the Capitol. Gridlock will provide Republican Bill Simon with more ammunition to shoot at Davis’ “failed leadership.”

Indeed, the Simon camp Wednesday unveiled a new TV ad denouncing the “budget crisis” and Davis’ proposed tax increases.

Blame the Republicans. Not just for constantly cheap-shotting Davis, but for being so hidebound anti-tax that they’re virtually impossible to bargain with on the $23.6-billion budget gap.

Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D-Culver City) finally did begin trying to negotiate seriously with GOP leaders Monday. Blame him for not doing that sooner, for showing little sense of urgency.

A budget ultimately will pass. GOP leaders need to ask themselves whether they’d like to celebrate a victory--maybe after negotiating some deal for conservatives--or whine about a few renegades jumping ship to Democrats.

Davis needs to realize that every day the standoff continues, he looks worse.

In the end, however, the biggest problem here is not higher taxes, deeper cuts or excessive borrowing--not insults and inexperience, or Davis vs. Simon.

This is about a Capitol full of politicians who can’t do their work on time.