California Insider

Lawmakers have fled the capitol for their annual spring break. The Times makes decent hay of this in a piece by Michael Finnegan. The bigger story, of course, is not that they left but that they did so little before leaving. It's hard to tell how much of the failure to confront the budget mess is denial and how much is procrastination. Maybe it doesn't matter. The deficit grows bigger by the day with no sign of a resolution in sight. The governor's budget was dead on arrival, and no one has yet put forward a viable alternative. Davis tells Finnegan that he prefers quiet diplomacy to ranting and raving about the Legislature's intransigence. But the gov has little history of moving the Legislature using diplomacy, or any other means for that matter. This week's income tax deadline will help complete the revenue picture, which isn't getting any better. Then Davis revises his budget next month to set the parameters for any deal that might emerge. The 30 or 40 days between the May Revision of the budget and the day in late June when the state is scheduled to run out of cash might be some of the most chaotic in the history of the state. At this point it seems as if the administration and the Democratic powers that be in the Legislature are almost willing Wall Street to impose discipline on California.