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LaVarr Webb in Utah Policy Daily:

Now Comes the Hard Part

With only 12 working days left in the legislative session, it’s time for a lot of hard decisions. With final revenue projections in (down significantly from earlier estimates), budget decisions can begin to be finalized. It will be excruciatingly difficult to choose among the competing interests for state appropriations. The most difficult legislation will also come up for final action in the last several days.

As floor debate heats up, it’s also time for my annual reminder on how to judge a legislature. The legislative process often seems messy and muddled. Silly bills are introduced and outrageous speeches are delivered. With 104 independently-elected, hard-charging lawmakers, each with a big ego and a mandate from the voters back home, there’s no way to keep a session tranquil and controlled.

But it’s not fair to judge a legislature by any bill, any speech, any committee action or even any particular floor vote. A legislature should only be judged by what it has produced when the session is over, all the votes are counted, and the governor has had his say. The process is chaotic by design, but the legislative obstacle course eventually weeds out bad legislation and produces a good democratically-decided budget. Silly speeches have little impact and angry words are forgotten. When final gavel sounds, the Legislature has usually done very good work, reflecting the desires and values of the citizenry.

Additional hat tip: House Majority Blog

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