Maybe we’ve been going at this state budget process the wrong way. We don’t need more economists and policy wonks to lead us out of the morass. Rather, we just need to enlist a team of dance instructors and choreographers.
After all, the folks at the table seem to like to sway to the rhythms of the polls. And they’ve already mastered that one-step-forward, two-steps -back maneuver. We can’t be far from the precision antics of Dancing with the Stars, right?
Consider last week’s ballroom activities.
We had Governor Malloy and his numbers czar Ben Barnes trying to lead the group in a reserved budget waltz. Yes, it appears there will be a small budget surplus but we need to put that away for expected even rainier days ahead, they said, with solid justification. But the legislative Democrats want to party like it’s 1999 and spend more to make their constituents happy.
It seemed to be a clash of cultures. But to prove he’s no Grinch, no old fuddy-duddy, Malloy indicated he’d be happy to spend other people’s money. So he came out in favor of raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour, despite signs the federal minimum wage won’t budge this year. That would put Connecticut in the position of bargaining with itself to have the highest cost of doing business in the region. That should help clear the dance floor.
There was a techno beat over on the Senate side where there was concern that there weren’t enough votes to raise the debt ceiling. Without that adjustment, the budget dance might have to end early. But sharper minds have a plan to avoid the curfew — change the law to not count costs that are reimbursed by the feds. Freestyling is a valid musical form but we have to wonder how it jibes with the intent of those who drafted that constitutional provision.
Controller Kevin Lembo put on a party hat and invited everyone to dance to their own tune by playing with his interactive online budgeting tool. Turn down the sales tax here; dial up an extension for a sunseting business tax there; fiddle with the dials on entitlement over here. The result of amateur DJs seems likely to be cacophony, but, hey, let the good times roll.
So in the interest of good government, we endorse the appointment of an unpaid position as budget-dance coordinator. It couldn’t hurt. And so many of the other steps being suggested can’t make that claim.
Our scandals say a lot about the state of the state.
The governor went to the Correspondents Ball in Washington, courtesy of People Magazine. And the commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection talked to investment bankers about the state’s emerging energy policy.
Both are silly things to do and both politicians should know better. Malloy eventually wrote a check. But these seem misdemeanors in the grand scale of things.
It’s good that these missteps came to light. But perhaps we should focus our outrage on making sure future missteps also come to light. That means resisting efforts to shred the various watchdog agencies and legislative protections that allow such facts to be uncovered.
Without empowered watchdogs, future scandals likely won’t be nearly as small.