Boren: Cogdill, Villines do the right thing for the state

By Jim Boren

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I admit to being overly harsh toward Republican lawmakers Dave Cogdill of Modesto and Mike Villines of Clovis during the past year. From my view, the only thing they did throughout most of the state budget crisis was say no to any solution that contained tax increases. Their stubbornness blocked the state from getting a budget, worsening the financial pain that would surely come when there was an agreement.

Now I see why they were reluctant to compromise for so long.

Their very own party would toss them aside if they dared utter the T-word. Nothing else matters to the anti-tax die-hards, and Cogdill and Villines knew it.

When they finally agreed to a budget deal that contained tax increases, Republicans acted like the duo had morphed into a combination of Willie Brown, Jerry Brown and Gray Davis. It was "off with their heads," politically speaking. Nancy Pelosi would get a better reception at Republican central committee meetings. At least she admits to being a tax-and-spender.

The GOP reaction to Cogdill in the Senate and Villines in the Assembly was swift.

Senate Republicans snatched Cogdill's GOP leadership post from him in the dead of night. Villines, the Republican leader in the Assembly, was vilified for daring to compromise with Gov. Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders on the budget.

In Cogdill and Villines, you had the most ardent conservative lawmakers from the reddest part of California. How could their Republicans credentials be questioned? But we have come to learn that in GOP politics in California, supporting taxes is an unpardonable sin.

"We could have been heroes if we let the state collapse," Villines said the other day. "But we couldn't let that happen, and I finally concluded that there was no way of solving the problem without compromise." Compromise, of course, meant that he would accept tax increases in conjunction with Democrats accepting spending cuts.

Lost in this argument among Republicans is the fact that Democrats gave up much more than most of their members could stomach, especially considering that they hold huge majorities in both houses of the Legislature. But because of the two-thirds vote requirement, three GOP votes were needed in the Assembly and the Senate to get the budget passed.

In any other time, Republicans would have hailed this deal as a victory. They got $15 billion in spending reductions, not to mention a spending limit and rainy day fund that they've been lusting after for years. Some environmental regulations were loosened, and a plan for early release of prisoners was blocked.

The downside for those on the hard right was a temporary tax increase of almost $13 billion.

Cogdill said being dumped as Senate leader for supporting tax increases was a difficult thing for him personally. "But it was fiscally responsible," Cogdill said. "I did what I thought was the right thing to do."

Party activists even tried to censure him, Villines and the four other Republicans who voted for the budget compromise at the party convention that came a few days after the deal was completed. In the end, party members passed a watered-down resolution that meant little.

It's not surprising that the Republicans only hold a fraction of the membership of the two legislative houses. The party has moved way out of the mainstream, causing a voter backlash. It doesn't help when the GOP would rather let government crumble than fix its problems.

A lot of people would have been hurt if the budget collapsed, including small business owners who have state contracts. That would include people such as food vendors and firms providing janitorial services at state buildings. They don't have the capital to survive the several months of not getting paid by the state. Nursing homes and other larger businesses also were threatened because the state wasn't paying them.

But those who opposed a budget compromise thought they were expendable — just so they could make political points about the worthlessness of government. That's too bad.

Cogdill and Villines are conservatives who did what they could to improve state government. Their efforts should be cheered by those who are critical of the way government operates in California.

It took a lot of courage for them to cast a vote that they thought was in the best interest of Californians, knowing there would be huge political repercussions.

Unfortunately, there aren't enough leaders like Cogdill and Villines in the California Legislature.

Boren is editor of The Fresno Bee editorial page. E-mail him at jboren@fresnobee.com or write him at 1626 E St., Fresno 93786.