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It is possible to blame Ernie Fletcher for some of the budget dilemma that Steve Beshear faces -- a dilemma the new governor calls "dire," and a circumstance he rightly describes as "serious disarray." So far Mr. Beshear has avoided any finger-pointing. Perhaps he and Cabinet Secretary Larry Hayes remember the unhelpful spectacle of Gov. Wallace Wilkinson, bitterly accusing Martha Layne Collins' administration of giving the public false hopes with optimistic projections. Whatever blame Dr. Fletcher is due for the current dismal money situation in Frankfort, the General Assembly also must accept its share. When Gov. Fletcher and the lawmakers did tax reform, they could have established a base that would finance essential services. Instead, they opted for "tax reform lite" and continued to pass structurally unsound budgets. The General Assembly continued to raid the trust and agency accounts, and kept right on approving each other's pet projects in order to agree on a budget bill. It was the lawmakers who gave teachers bigger raises than Dr. Fletcher proposed, which is fine, but they didn't incorporate that and other big spending into a budget plan that really would stand the test of time or the pressure of lagging revenue. Add the looming demands of Medicaid financing and public employee pension funding and what you get is a mess. Where does Gov. Beshear go from here? To the public, with a call for another cigarette tax hike? A plea for expanded gaming and the revenue it would produce? Maybe even services tax expansion that would align state government's revenue system with the state's emerging service-dominated economy? Whatever he decides, he will need the legislature's help. Twenty years ago, Mr. Hayes responded to claims that Ms. Collins, whom he served in the same capacity, had not been a strong governor. He argued, "What's missing in all of this is the subtlety of (Ms. Collins') leadership, how she takes her agenda and makes it (the legislature's) agenda. That's not done by bludgeoning people. That's leadership." Maybe he's right. Beating lawmakers over the head (figuratively, of course) could produce just the response the Governor does not want. However, the example of Gov. Louie Nunn is instructive. Faced with a less drastic financial situation when he became governor, Mr. Nunn used the opportunity -- against the full weight of his party's traditional anti-tax ideology -- to win a sales tax hike and expand the service of state government to Kentuckians. No, he was never elected again, as Sen. Mitch McConnell and other careful political calculators point out, but he left a legacy of accomplishment. And that, Gov. Beshear has said repeatedly, is what he wants to do. -Original Article-
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