For a New Generation, Late Budget is Unacceptable
With the looming
budget deadline hanging over the heads of legislators this week, it got me
thinking about one of my father’s favorite "dad-ism’s," "Early is on time, on
time is late, and late is unacceptable". Simple. Elegant. Words to live by in
any situation.
With Wednesday’s deadline nearly upon us, it is looking like our State
Legislature is aiming for unacceptable….Again. Lets face it, lawmakers routinely
fail to pass the budget on time. When I asked one voter if he knew when the
last time the budget was passed on time he stated, "it feels like it has been
forever."
A people’s revolution came into play with the passing of Prop 25 that allowed
voters to reform a horribly broken budget process. Not only did it aim to
stop gridlock by permitting a simple majority to approve the budget, but
— and here is the part I really like — it held the legislators
accountable by placing a pretty hefty set of consequences if they didn’t meet
the deadline. Lawmakers would lose a day’s pay for each day the budget is
late. They cannot pay themselves back once they do finally pass it.