Marin is fortunate to have two serious and policy-driven state legislators in Assemblyman Jared Huffman and Senator Mark Leno. They ran for state office because they wanted to improve life in our Golden State, and they are both in positions to do so. Unfortunately, for some time and as of this writing, the Capitol has rightly become a one-issue place.

The issue, which cannot be fully fixed even with a legislative agreement by the time you read this, is our $40 billion plus budget deficit and the resulting incremental shut-down of the state. There is always plenty of finger pointing in such situations, and Californians can begin by pointing their fingers at themselves.

I see four legs to this dysfunctional stool. California's two-thirds vote requirement for passing a budget is shared by only two other states and results in a minority of legislators being able to hold the rest of the body, and the entire state, hostage. Voters launched supermajorities with Prop. 13 in 1978 and built into state law the two-thirds limit for increasing taxes. While they have been limiting revenue sources, including the state vehicle license fee, voters have passed a long list of spending mandates.

Leg two is term limits. At the beginning of each two year cycle, which is where we are now, over a third of the State Assembly is new to the body, another third has two years of experience, and the "veterans" have four years of experience. Not a formula for developing the skills, judgment and courage needed in times such as these.

Leg three is Governor Schwarzenegger. Voters chose a political novice who understands media events but knows and/or cares very little about public policy or working with a legislature. As one legislator described him to me, "He's the lone ranger." The irony is, of course, that he built his body and his image as the ultimate macho male, but as a governor he's impotent to sway legislators in either party. The only box he has blown up is the one that housed a tradition of governors with political and policy skills.

Leg four is legislative districts drawn to provide safe seats for both parties and which result in insulated incumbents less likely to seek common ground. This is one case where voters acted to address a problem. They passed a new redistricting system last year which should produce changes in 2012. Let's hope the changes are improvements.

How much of the issue is a spending problem? Leno has produced an analysis of how spending has grown by $46 billion over the past 10 years. He says, in summary, $31 billion is due to inflation and population growth with the remainder is mostly due to voter-passed initiatives.

We've created a deeply flawed system ripe for a couple of Los Angeles talk show personalities who have threatened to recall any Republican who votes for a tax increase. See George Skelton's recent Los Angeles Times column for an analysis of what "cuts only" produces. He says there are 205,000 full-time jobs controlled by the governor. Cut all of those (includes closing all prisons and eliminating the highway patrol), and you save maybe $24 billion.

If you eliminate all higher education--UCs, state colleges and community colleges, you can save the additional $16 billion. Minority factions in the legislature often grandstand about why they oppose complicated measures like the budget and vote "no" without taking real responsibility or paying a price. This time the price is a major one for our state and many of its citizens.

Meanwhile, both Huffman and Leno have put themselves in positions to create change. With a number of environmental policy successes in his first term, Huffman is even more of a player this session. He serves on four committees and chairs the Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife, where he will tackle one of California's perennial dominant issues--water. One of his first projects will be hearings on the Delta Vision report, product of a multi-year study on how to manage the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in a way that serves environmental and economic needs.

Leno has surfaced successfully in the Senate after beating an incumbent last year as evidenced by his service on seven committees including chairing the Public Safety Committee and the Budget Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. Leno will also pick up the single payer health care mantle from termed-out Senator Sheila Kuehl which he hopes to keep alive and ready for passage and signature by a friendlier governor in 2011.

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