Governor right to veto partial budget

This editorial originally appeared in the Wednesday edition of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Gov. Bill Walker sent an unequivocal message to the deadlocked Alaska Legislature on Monday by vetoing all but the most essential services in the state budget: For practical purposes, a partially funded budget is as bad as none. While Alaskans have varying perspectives on which budget vision should prevail, it’s hard to credibly argue that the underfunded budget passed to the governor was any kind of responsible governance.

The Legislature has had a full session, about a week of overtime and three weeks of special session. Voters are beginning to wonder — is there any dialogue whatsoever between the caucuses at this point? If so, how long can it possibly take for the body to fulfill its primary responsibility?

The sticking point in the budget stems from the state’s bleak revenue picture. With billions of dollars less in revenue than is needed to fund government over the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, the Legislature must draw on money outside the state’s general fund.

The usual source of funds in such cases has been the Constitutional Budget Reserve, a pot of money designed to be more difficult to access. To that end, spending money from the reserve requires approval of three-quarters of the Legislature.

That means in addition to all of the majority caucus’ members, at least some members of the minority caucus must vote to approve the budget. This gives the minority, which is usually relatively powerless in budget discussions, a position of negotiating strength.

The minority has held out on signing off on the budget because of the Republican-led majority’s unwillingness to expand Medicaid or pass sexual abuse education legislation known as Erin’s Law. The two caucuses also disagree on the level of education funding. On that, as on the other items, neither caucus has yet to signal any openness to compromise.

An ominous sign for those hoping legislative intransigence won’t extend far enough to force a government shutdown is the amount of public finger-pointing going on.

Members of the majority caucus are casting aspersions at both the minority, for refusing to budge on their priorities, and Gov. Walker, for vetoing their partially funded budget and for not telling the minority to get in line and support the majority’s budget reserve vote. The minority caucus holds that the majority isn’t following the will of the people, as polls have shown the public supports Medicaid expansion, and public testimony has been strongly in favor of education funding.

And Gov. Walker, in addition to expressing frustration at the Legislature’s refusal to act on Medicaid expansion, has chastised the body for having the temerity to send him a budget that was less than half funded — the legislative equivalent of a shoulder shrug.

There’s plenty of blame to go around on the Legislature’s failure to pass a funded budget. The majority is right that the minority hasn’t budged on its priorities. But the same is true of members of the majority, who have shown no sign of movement themselves and have eaten up much precious time in the process, scheduling Medicaid and budget hearings that appeared to have less to do with listening to experts and the public and more with expressing the majority members’ own point of view on the issues.

Gov. Walker has at times appeared quick to publicly criticize the majority rather than attempt to work matters out with them first. But in this instance, the governor has every right to be upset about the malformed budget of which he vetoed most parts. The governor sent a budget to the Legislature to debate at the beginning of the legislative session, and three months later what came back was a mess.

This is no way for a great state to do its business. The state needs a fully funded budget, and all parties involved in crafting it need to get used to the idea that they can’t always get everything they want.

It’s a lesson most of us are taught early in life; somehow it appears legislators have missed it.