A chance for bipartisanship
Published 12:01 am Wednesday, January 12, 2011
While most eyes were on the political maneuvering to keep Nick Harper of Everett from taking his seat in the state Senate on Monday, an even bigger decision was brewing in the chamber — one that could result in the Legislature passing a truly bipartisan budget this year.
After finally seating Harper, the Senate approved a rule change that creates a new bipartisan power base for state budget decisions. Amendments to budget bills passed by the Senate Ways & Means Committee now will require a simple majority for approval, rather than the 60 percent threshold previously required.
The supermajority rule, which had been in place in some form since 1915, made it extremely difficult to change budget decisions made by a relative handful of senators from the majority party. Now, with Democrats’ edge over Republicans trimmed from 11 to five after the November election, the GOP needs just three moderate Democrats to side with them to get their way on individual budget items. That’s plenty of leverage to force meaningful bipartisanship — if it’s handled responsibly.
Democratic leadership supported the change Monday, a week after Sen. Tim Sheldon, a Democrat who often votes with Republicans on budget matters, called for it in a press release. Their motivation for going along isn’t clear — some have speculated that they sensed they were on the unpopular side of the argument, others say that given the challenges of closing a $4.6 billion budget gap, they wanted Republicans held accountable for the outcome — but the gesture is a welcome one.
It means that after several sessions of budgets written solely by Democrats, the other side of the aisle can have real input. The product — in theory, at least — should be a budget based on fair compromises, one that more closely reflects the values of the entire state.
Achieving that, though, will require mutual trust, which means Republicans will have to resist opportunities to abuse the new rule. If some choose to offer budget amendments simply to be used against opponents in the next campaign, they could force moderate Democrats to side with their more liberal colleagues. The effort at bipartisanship will have died quickly.
Senate Republicans have long argued their ideas for a responsible, sustainable budget have been ignored. They’ll now be part of the debate. Moderate Democrats were so tired of being ignored by their more liberal leadership that last session they banded together in the “Roadkill Caucus.” With this rule change, Ways & Means Chairman Ed Murray noted, “all members of the Senate have the opportunity to participate in the budget process fully and equally.”
The value of that should be self-evident, especially given the difficult and far-reaching decisions lawmakers face this session. In the power game of politics, though, it’s decidedly refreshing.
