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Sunday, May 6, 2007
The constitutional confrontation behind the current teapot tempest
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The temptation is to dismiss the Republican debacle at the state Capitol as an ego-driven temper tantrum in three parts, played out among a governor, a lieutenant governor, and a House speaker.
But it is larger than that.
Republicans have ginned up a philosophical crisis, verging on a constitutional one, with election-year implications for a state party that - only six months ago - thought itself a giddy exception to the directionless GOP in Washington.
And to make sure depression and confusion is complete and widespread, GOP officialdom has apparently decided to delay a special session to address the situation until the debate can be played out before thousands of true-believers at the state Republican convention a dozen days hence.
If you’ve been paying any attention at all, you know the basics. The House and Senate agreed on a $700 million mid-year budget bill. The root of the compromise was a $142 million property tax rebate to homeowners.
On the penultimate day of the winter session of the Legislature, Gov. Sonny Perdue vetoed the measure. He had problems with both the logistics of the rebate, and its cost to other state programs.
Time ran out, and the Republican leadership that in early years declared efficiency to be its middle name couldn’t pass a budget that kept schools funded, addressed tornado damage, or maintained health insurance for lower middle-class kids.
And so the special session, to the frustration of many in the rank-and-file who had long dreamed of what marvels could be done with the GOP in charge of state government.
“We wanted it. We got it. Now we don’t know what to do with it,” said Dave Barbee, former chairman of the Richmond County GOP. The troops, he said, are disappointed and demoralized.
For Republicans, the philosophical question is simple: Give the money back, or don’t.
But beneath that debate is a building confrontation over constitutional powers that could peak next year - meaning even more showdowns and dysfunction among the Republican upper-crust.
Over five years, the governor’s style of management has been largely hands-off, especially during legislative gatherings. In the session just completed, lawmakers have said publicly and privately that Perdue was even less visible than normal.
Speaker Glenn Richardson and his House have stepped into this vacuum, asserting themselves specifically on the issue of tax reform. Richardson and the House leadership want a shift away from property taxes, toward a combination of sales and income taxes.
It’s an ambitious policy matter that Democrats would have reserved, from start to finish, for a governor.
But this session, the Republican-controlled House killed Perdue’s proposed tax break for upper-income retirees, along with most of the rest of the governor’s agenda. A Senate call for a constitutional cap on spending was rejected, as an infringement on the House’s control over the budget.
The push-back has already begun.
On Friday, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle had a conference call with his Republican senators. He passed on a message from the governor. Any bill sponsored by a House member would need a senator to vouch for it before the governor would sign it, the lieutenant governor said.
In other words, Perdue has designated the Senate the gatekeeper of the Legislature.
We could be witnessing the most significant confrontation over power in state government since Gov. Lester Maddox allowed the Legislature its independence. The House is engaging in a fight for “institutional equality with the governor,” in the words of Charles Bullock, the political scientist at the University of Georgia.
“You could call this another step in a march that began in 1966 and 1967,” said Bullock. “If you’re looking for influence, you have to take it away from the governor. Even four years ago, he had all of it.”
To get his way on tax policy next year, Richardson must beat back a now-hostile governor and a Senate that won’t want to become a mere third wheel when it comes to who rules Georgia.
Win or lose, that means a messy fight in an election year, and a legislative session that could become even more fractious and unproductive.
That worries GOP staff sergeants like Barbee, who pull the levers on the Republican grassroots machinery in Georgia. With little in Washington to stir confidence in the ‘08 elections, a meltdown in Atlanta would only add to the difficulty of moving enthusiastic voters to the polls.
