The General Assembly is starting to resemble that guest who just won’t leave the party. But I’m not sure it’s their fault. From time to time, people grouse about how if they ran their business in this fashion, they’d get fired or whatever. Legislating isn’t a business — unless it’s the sausage making business. The primary distinction is that corporations are not democracies or even republics. They tend to be autocracies – a form of government that can be wonderfully efficient, but which we avoid for other reasons. So, efficiency isn’t the hallmark of good government.
The Republicans and the Democrats are in the midst of a good old-fashioned negotiation. Each has priorities and is looking for leverage to get as much out of the negotiation as possible. Each side typically sees the ticking clock as an asset — or at least distrusts the notion that the other side is putting its best foot forward with a lot of time left on the clock, so serious negotiations are tough unless a deadline is looming. Now the deadline is approaching. Old appropriations expire on June 30 and the legality of continued funding will probably become ambiguous at best for a lot of government functions. I tend to think they’ll reach a deal. If it were just the House Democrats and Senate Republicans negotiating, I’d be more confident of a budget being past. In fact, I’m pretty sure they would have passed a budget in the regular session. Governor Daniels is the fly in the ointment. At the end of the regular session, he shifted his negotiation stance at the 11th hour and effectively pulled the rug out from under the House and Senate. Perhaps not so incidentally, it is Gov. Daniels whose tastes seem to run most toward the autocratic.
The biggest sticking point seems to be that the Democrats want to fund the city schools at a level that’s reasonably close to the present level. Gov. Daniels wants to drastically cut spending, particularly in school districts around Indianapolis and Gary. He favors a spending formula that rewards well-heeled, growing suburban schools. I think the debate over a one year budget versus a two year budget is just so much sound and fury. It’s gimmicky, and I doubt the House Democrats are actually all that married to the idea.
Rumor has it that the legislators are negotiating through the weekend. Then they have Monday and Tuesday to pass a budget. I expect they’ll put it on Gov. Daniel’s desk at the last minute so that the decision about whether to shut down the government falls squarely on his shoulders with all the praise or blame that goes with it. And, if they do that, I expect he’ll blink and sign whatever they give him.
But, you know, I’m just a guy with a computer and an opinion. My computer isn’t worth a heck of lot at this point, and I wouldn’t put a lot of money down on my opinions either.
It’s the obvious devotion to the good of the people of Indiana on the part of all the players that makes this process so heartwarming to watch.
I think legislation has always been an uncomfortable and often ugly mix of self-interest, special interest, and general interest.
Well, Doug, as one of the 30,000 State employees whose jobs are on the block, I certainly hope your opinion about the size of the Governor’s testicles is well-founded.
Have you switched a setting over there? I miss being able to read the text of your posts from an RSS reader.
I think the RSS settings changed somehow when I upgraded WordPress the last time. I like it better with the full feeds too. I tried to switch it back briefly but wasn’t immediately successful. I’ll try again.
Once again you are on the mark in paragraph #3. It does reward those districts, but that is not his m.o. Their agenda is to privatize public education and bust unions. Very sad they use students as pawns. Very sad that my child in one.
Unfortunately believe the comments on adminstration seeking to destroy ISTA and regular (as we know it)public education are correct. As a retired teacher and long time ISTA member do undertand that just as the governor and some legislators have held to a far out point so has the organization. When there existed need for some meaningful changes they too have been resisted. At the same time it is interesting that the concept of charter schools is that there are less state mandated regulations,etc.–now back to the what is good for the goose is good for the gander than why not extend those same relaxization of the many rules for all schools. School funding is a conern in many respects including strong programs exist in some public schools that will be killed with reduced funding; cost of special ed and the mandated programs will continue to go up perhaps drastically in light of recent court rulings; the sweep the place out of all persons with seniority as Bennett has felt free to do in the DOE and then freedom to dictate without resistance, etc….. It all is almost too much to comprehend as to how it will finally work itself out.