It seems like every year I write this commentary, or something like it, which is a statement for both ongoing dysfunction in state government, and/or the ongoing ineffectiveness of my columns to impact human behavior.
Once again the legislature has let the Constitutional deadline for adopting a state budget pass by, with July 1st being a blip in the rear-view mirror. Once again, instead of staying in Sacramento, the Democrat leadership of both the State Senate and the State Assembly have sent home their respective members on "summer recess" subject to being able to return to the Capitol within 24 hours should some sort of ‘break through’ take place on the budget.
Let me first say that newly minted Assembly Speaker John Perez was apparently full of hot air when he publicly committed (see the video here) to an open and transparent budget process. I have been waiting for extensive, open budget hearings that are bipartisan in nature, and reflect the fact that if the legislature is going to actually produce a budget, there needs to be an understanding that the budget committee needs to present a bipartisan package that can generate a two-thirds vote of each chamber. An
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-budget-20100704,0,1073828.story