Thursday, 17 April 2008
Beshear's First Legislative Session A Failure
« Budget Take 2 | Main | Best Buy Dumps Lexmark's Ink Jet Printers »The legislative session is over. What were the results? A failure might be too kind of a euphemism for the debacle that was this year's legislative session.
Let's review Beshear's top priorities from last year's campaign:
- Casino gambling. It didn't even make it out of the Democratic controlled house. Afterwards, Beshear broke his campaign promise and championed a 70 cent tax increase on cigarettes. The Democrats in his own party ignored him as they sought to raise it 25 cents. The Republicans in the senate balked and the tax was dead.
- Ethics reform. It made it through both the house and the senate, but never made it through conference. Where was Beshear in attempts to push it through? MIA.
- Pension reform. Again legislation that fell short at the bell. Beshear was no where to be found on this issue either as it died in the House after conference.
- Prison Overcrowding. Beshear completely passed on this issue. He is going to have another commission look into the problem and might have a resolution in 4 years.
I don't know how it could have been any less of a failure.
"Worst ever,'' said Rep. Brent Yonts, a Greenville Democrat who has been in the House since 1997. "It's been the session from hell.''
"I've been here 24 years. It was the worst ending I've ever seen," said House Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, D-Okolona. "I'm embarrassed to be part of leadership."
Where does the failure lay? Let's ask Beshear.
But the governor added, "It was a disappointing session, and it was partly disappointing because … of the seeming dysfunction of the legislative process from time to time."
He also said the legislature has become "so partisan that it's difficult to get anything done because it seems that many times the partisanship trumps good government."
Partisanship? I thought partisanship wasn't going to matter. During the Democratic debates Beshear said he would force legislation through if elected. I remember the remarks perfectly because after making the comments Comrade Richards told Beshear he had no idea how the legislative process works.
Besides, how is it partisanship when the Democratic leadership in the house suffered a complete breakdown? Their bickering slowed the legislative process to a crawl.
They were weeks late in delivering a budget and other important legislation to the Senate. Leaving very little time for the Senate to pass their own version and even less time for compromise to be reached in conference.
Mix in Beshear's failure to lead his own party, and a disaster was inevitable. Beshear's influence was so weak that house Democrats pretty much ignored him. I know they did on the only two initiatives that Beshear pushed: casinos and the cigarette tax.
The only Democrat that showed any leadership at all was freshman Rep Stumbo. He helped cobble together a deal with Senate Republicans to get the budget passed. It was the Dem's only shining moment from the session. Otherwise the entire four months was filled with Democratic ineptitude. A far cry from the "partisanship" that Beshear claimed.
