In his column this morning, “Republicans are dead right about this secret spending by Democrats” (subscriber exclusive), Tom Moran bemoans the annual ritual of legislators’ slipping pet projects into the budget at the last minute (which is when it is always passed). Moran pushes what he says is an easy fix suggested by Peter Chen: require the legislature to present a draft budget by June 1. Chen says: “This would prevent lawmakers from waiting until the last minute to finalize and vote on a budget bill that they may or may not have read.”
I don’t believe it. Don’t get me wrong, I agree that it would be good to see a draft budget in advance. But if that draft is not subject to change, then we’re just moving up the deadline and, if it is subject to change, the last-minute goodies will be part of that change. While there are what I will call structural provisions that can help, they cannot guarantee good government.
In a democracy the only way to keep politicians in line is the threat of voting them out. This requires attentive voters with access to relevant information (the last part is – I thought – part of the role of a free press).
Jay Bohn
July 27, 2023