Time for Legislators to Feel the Urgency

SACRAMENTO —  We’ve heard a lot of rhetoric out of Sacramento in recent days, but the words that stick in my mind come from a Rancho Cucamonga waitress. She sent me an e-mail complaining about a comment by Gov. Gray Davis, saying it “just chapped my hide.”

It was right before Christmas and Jennifer Seablom had read that Davis said the Legislature should not be expected to grapple with the state budget crisis during the holidays.

The governor had told reporters: “It’s a little unrealistic to ask people to work through the holidays, particularly when you have about 25% of the members new. They need a chance to understand what they’re being asked to vote on.”

Presumably he thought lawmakers could better acquire that understanding in shopping malls, around the family hearth or at ski resorts than inside the Capitol.

“HELLO,” Seablom wrote. “I worked Thanksgiving Day. I will work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as will innumerable other Californians....

“The governor’s comment proves how out of touch he is, as well as most of the Legislature.... Why is it that the Legislature, in the midst of the worst budget crisis in California’s history, can’t be bothered attending to the people’s business -- the jobs they were elected to do???

“It really is quite an insult.... It gives the impression that the Legislature and the governor are above it all.”

I called Seablom. She said she’s a single mom who often works two jobs while, at 45, attending college to earn a teaching degree. She’s a Republican, the waitress said, but mainly “I’m just an outraged citizen.”

And she’s dead-on right, on two counts:

* Rookie legislators need a crash course in state finance and most so-called veterans under term limits aren’t real sharp on the subject either. Leaders need to negotiate. But the Legislature moves to its own rhythm, one seldom in sync with the public.

There’s always an excuse to delay. In this case, Democrats insisted on Davis showing his hand first in the State of the State address and new budget proposal.

“We want to see the whole pie, not just a piece,” says Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D-Culver City). “It’s important for the governor, not just in the press, but in his budget plan, to commit to a balanced budget.”

But there’s no end to oft-used rationales for procrastination: Legislators must wait for the May revision of revenue forecasts. Must wait for the real deadline of July 1. Must wait for the summer heat (when brains fry). Always they must wait for the governor.

* Working up a little sweat in December would have shown the public that Sacramento politicians really are concerned about state spending being $35 billion out of whack with tax revenues, based on Davis’ projections for the next 18 months. It would have signaled that they regard a red-ink flow of roughly $2 billion a month unacceptable.

If the Legislature seems lackadaisical, why shouldn’t the public also be? Why should the public willingly accept the inevitable: sharp cuts in services and steep hikes in taxes?

The politicians saunter up to a week of pomp -- inauguration, State of the State, budget revealing -- and there shouldn’t be any surprise if they don’t connect with the people. The pols haven’t conveyed a sense of urgency because, apparently, they don’t feel it themselves.

To recap, this new Legislature was sworn in Dec. 2. Most leaders immediately flew to Maui, guests of the powerful prison guards union. The governor proposed $10.2 billion in spending cuts and juggling, then called a special legislative session for Dec. 9. The lawmakers promptly recessed until this week, except for a couple of hearings.

In Davis’ defense, he did spend December working on his budget proposal.

But now his political strategy is too obvious and unseemly: Blame the Republican president, blame the national recession, blame California’s tax structure. They’re all valid targets, but the governor’s also culpable. It would be refreshing and enhance his own credibility to hear some mea culpa.

Davis’ current steady emphasis on temporary job creation -- rather than getting on with the details of his tax and spending plans -- also strains patience. “My most immediate priority can be summed up as jobs, more jobs and even more jobs,” he said in Wednesday’s State of the State address.

Fine, tell us how you’re going to balance the budget.

Tune in Friday. The budget “will make significant cuts in nearly every program,” he said. “And it will return this state to sound financial footing.... I will not sign a budget without substantial structural reform.”

When? Next fall?

It’s time to stop pontificating -- posing and posturing -- and start negotiating. Time for the Legislature to pick up its rhythm. To be prodded by an outraged waitress who works holidays.