Marcia Oddi’s Indiana Law Blog has sensitized me to this issue. The ILB ran a series of posts a while back on the subject of whether Indiana’s Constitution requires the General Assembly to pass a budget. It does not. And yet, year after year in article after article — particularly as the General Assembly is winding down in an odd-numbered year, you’ll see references to the budget as something that lawmakers are Constitutionally required to pass. It’s a great idea for them to do it. There would be hell to pay if they did not. But, near as I can figure, there is no legal requirement for them to do so.
So, where does Theodore Kim get his facts when he writes in the Indy Star:
Failing to pass a budget, which the state constitution requires, is the only issue that would oblige the legislature to meet beyond April.
His story does not require this assertion. The general thrust remains the same: there are a lot of knotty issues that the legislature has to untangle before they’re done. As a practical (as opposed to a legal) matter, the budget is the most important one of these. Thanks to the ILB, every time I hear a reporter or legislator talk about their Constitutional duty to pass a budget, it’s like needles on a blackboard. If someone can direct me to the constitutional provision that requires this, I’d appreciate it. Otherwise, it would be nice if reporters and lawmakers stopped perpetuating this myth.
[tags]budget myth[/tags]
Isn’t it possible that they have simply bought into what the GA says and it becomes shorthand for that which they OUGHT to do?