Republican infighting will cost us $45,000 a day

In one corner, we have lame duck Governor Perdue, who just wants to Go Fish. In the other corner, hot-headed Speaker Glenn Richardson accuses Perdue of crying “waaaaaah,” even while Richardson whines that the Governor is “wrong, wrong, wrong.” And in the other corner (yes, there are three corners, or perhaps 3 rings would make a better analogy), Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle coolly accuses the others of “playing games.” Appropriately, the session comes to a close -- well, almost-- with a barroom brawl at The Spotted Dog, where one lobbyist smashes another over the head with a beer bottle, severing his ear.

There is only one absolute mandate on the Georgia legislature. Every session, they have to balance the budget. They are not required to issue special license plates, commemorate birthdays or 150-year-old battles, pander to special interest groups or tweak our laws. But they must agree to a budget.

You would think the Georgia budget process would be streamlined these days. After all, the GOP controls every branch of state government. They captured the Governor’s mansion and a majority in both chambers of the Georgia legislature in 2005. In the last election, they added the first and only Republican lieutenant governor, Casey Cagle, shoring up their control of the State Senate. Since these folks are all fiscal conservatives (right?), they ought to be able to whip the budget into shape in no time. Instead, they spent the past 40 days whipping each other.

Here’s a run-down of the protracted fight. With an eye on the 2010 governor’s race, Casey Cagle set to work stripping the budget of “pork.” But House Republicans had made campaign promises, too. As the Senate eliminated projects from the supplemental budget, the Governor and the House were eager to snap up those funds, adding back about $200 million for local projects and study commissions.

In a fit of GOP one-upmanship, House Republicans tried to demonstrate they were more conservative than the conservative Senate. They agreed to most of the cuts, but declared that they would send a little of the “extra” money back to taxpayers. It is not a lot of money, mind you. $142 million only divides out to an average $68. That’s a one time refund, and only the land-owning gentry need apply. Apparently, your vote is now worth $68.

Of course, there is no true surplus in Georgia – not with PeachCare on the rocks, classroom sizes bloated, public defenders under-funded, and literacy programs shutting down. Even as Perdue went to Washington to beg for a PeachCare bail-out, the Republicans who run this state were boasting that they can create a large budget surplus and toss a bone back to taxpayers. Don’t be surprised. Conservative commentators are proud that fewer children are eligible for the health insurance program. They openly call it “reigning in PeachCare.” It is unclear when vital programs like healthcare, literacy, and public defenders came to be considered “pork.”

Governor Perdue worried about the cuts, too – or maybe it was his gutted Go Fish program. Perdue was also peeved that the legislature dropped his $142 million tax break for property-holding senior citizens (like himself), yet the Speaker managed his own tax break for all property owners (like himself) with the same price tag. Perdue called a press conference and vetoed the mid-year budget in front of television cameras. However, he did not send the veto to the Legislature.

The 11th hour pseudo-veto was a thinly veiled tactic to let the clock run out before House members had the chance to respond. Desperate, they voted to override the veto. But when the House looked to the Senate for support, Cagle folded. He said the House override was invalid, because technically it came before the veto.

The Governor accused the House of a temper tantrum. Speaker Richardson became combative, saying the Governor “showed his backside.” The Governor called the House’s mid-year budget irresponsible. The House might as well have answered, “Go Fish.”

Since lawmakers failed at the only task required of them by Georgia law, the Governor will call a special session of the legislature. The cost of a special session is estimated at $45,000 a day.

Who won the 2007 legislative session? Nobody yet, but we can safely say who lost:

• Kids who need health care
• Public defenders and those who need them
• Students, crammed into classrooms 32 at a time
• Teachers, who will continue to balance crowd control with teaching
• Governor Perdue, the “conservative” who vetoed a tax cut
• Speaker Richardson, who started the session facing allegations of an affair with a lobbyist and ended the session throwing childish insults at members of his own party
• The Republican Party, whose lawmakers will now have an additional 5 legislative days to demonstrate their incompetence
• Taxpayers, who must foot the extra $45,000 a day for a special session