Can You Feel the Dysfunction?

(An op-ed as it appears in the August, 2009 edition of Campaigns and Elections Politics Magazine)

State governments are floundering on both coasts, as debt-ridden California struggles to maintain basic services and the New York State Senate has looked like a Marx Brothers movie.

Working in Upstate New York, I can easily write about the chaos in Albany. But both Albany and Sacramento are endemic of what has gone wrong in politics, and how voters may react to it.

In Congress and other U.S. legislative bodies, being the majority party is very important. In the New York State legislature, it's everything. That is the essence of why the New York State Senate was in chaos for more than a month.

For too long, the most used adjective to describe the New York State legislative process has been "dysfunctional." Each legislative body's leader, the Speaker in the Assembly and the Majority Leader in the Senate, have near total control over what bills will be voted on. The minority party is, in most all situations, left out of the actual decision-making. That includes a much smaller share of budget "member items" than go to a legislator's district. Members of both bodies have two-year terms, increasing the influence of business and labor special interests.

For more than 30 years, Democrats from New York City and other urban centers controlled the Assembly and Republicans from rural and suburban areas held the Senate. The Governorship has shifted regularly between parties. With suburban voters shifting in significant numbers to the Democrats, in 2008 the Democrats won 32 of the 62 state Senate seats.

However, four New York City Democrats at first refused to caucus with their party, but were cajoled into coming home and making former Minority Leader Maclolm Smith the new Majority Leader. Then, on June 8, two of the original dissidents, Pedro Espada Jr., who has been fined for not disclosing political contributions, and Hiram Monserrate, who was indicted on charges that he stabbed his companion with a broken glass, joined Republicans to take control of the body. Espada was named President Pro Tempore and Sen. Dean Skelos resumed the Majority Leader post he held before the 2008 election.

Behind the scenes, Rochester billionaire businessman Thomas Golisano, was reported by the Times to have "secretly planned with Republicans to persuade two Democrats to join them in ousting Mr. Smith." Golisano had supported state Senate Democratic candidates in 2008, but, according to the Times, soured on the new Democratic majority when they proposed raising taxes on the wealthy.

Democrats had the keys to the chamber, and locked out the Republicans. Not to be outdone, on June 11the Republicans found what the New York Times called "a mysterious set of keys to force their way into the Senate chamber for the first time since their leadership coup on Monday." The melee then entered the judicial system, with both sides claiming they should be the majority party.

The Senate was shutdown and key bills, including one that would extend mayoral control of the New York City school system and others that would send revenue to municipalities, were left hanging. Also, the Senate was due to vote on a gay marriage bill that had already passed in the Assembly.

The impasse ended on July 9 when Espada rejoined the Democrats. (Monserrate had already done the same.) As part of the deal, Espada became Majority Leader and shares power with Smith.

Democrats remain fractured, with divisions between African-American and Hispanic Senators. Gov. David Paterson is further weakened. He had tried to intervene, and in the days before Espada broke the impasse, Paterson named Democrat Richard Ravitch to the vacant post of Lt. Governor, where he would have been the tie-breaking vote.

In the post Hurricane Katrina era, voters are more likely to see government as unable to solve problems. People don't want an absent government, but they sure don't want one that is hyper-partisan. Albany and Sacramento are perfect examples of government on automatic pilot, using outmoded rules, and behaving in preposterous ways.

It is easy for voters to "throw the bums out," but much harder to change dysfunctional institutions. That will take a great deal of citizen engagement. The ball is in the peoples' court. (8/1/2009)