As part of a daily publication, we at The State Press tend to understand the importance of deadlines. (Well, most of the time.)
If we don’t get our act together and things done in a timely manner, you don’t get to pick up a shiny new newspaper everyday, and that’s just not OK with us.
Unfortunately for Arizonans, the state Legislature isn’t so efficient.
Despite passing a moratorium on non-budget issues during its last session and currently being in a special session focused on the budget, the Arizona Legislature has recently tended to fail spectacularly at getting things done on time.
In July, lawmakers missed the state constitution’s legal deadline to approve the state budget for the new fiscal year, causing frenzy over a potential government shutdown and leading to events like the Arizona Parks Department’s ousting of disgruntled campers from parks in anticipation of said shutdown.
Last Monday, the Legislature missed a deadline to approve a bill to repeal a state property tax, and a further delay could leave many Arizonans in a pinch to pay their taxes on time.
One would think that with a strong Republican majority in the Arizona Legislature (much like the strong Democratic majority in the federal government), passing a budget (or health care reform) would not be so difficult. But party infighting seems to have effectively stopped any progress from being made.
Unfortunately for state legislators, we just don’t think that that is a good enough excuse.
Any college student should be able to tell you that most professors won’t accept the inability to compromise with a partner as a good reason for not turning in a project.
So, maybe legislators should start hanging around ASU’s campuses, where they could probably pick some better excuses.
Here are some good reasons for the Legislature to keep missing deadlines:
Every legislator’s car breaking down simultaneously on the way to the Senate.
Scheduling an array of doctor/dentist/financial adviser appointments during the sessions.
Not being able to connect to the Internet to download the assignment — potentially due to the government shutdown.
The collective grandma of the Senate passing away … every day for the past several months.
Everyone coming down with a case of the swine flu — contracted when visiting grandma’s pig farm. (Wait, is she still alive?)
Until the Legislature can come up with a legitimate excuse like, “Sorry, Arizona, we couldn’t turn in the budget because the dog ate our only copy of the budget bill,” we’re not going to be satisfied.
Of course, we would ultimately prefer it if the elected state legislators could actually get their act together and do what we’ve been trained to do since the first grade — turn in assignments on time.
Debating issues that have long-term effects on the welfare of the state certainly has its merits. But when the debates prevent the state from moving forward, they stop being beneficial.
Come up with all the excuses you want, but turning in a bill after the special session is over probably won’t save your grade.
