Was it just three weeks ago that I asked our local state lawmakers what was new with the budget? Turned out they were tuned out of the process. You’d think they’d be more clued in by now, but nope.

Trust me, I’m not mocking them. They’re doing their best. But since they’re in the minority party and since Sacramento’s leadership (in other words the Big Five) still think it’s smart to negotiate in private and keep tossing out one crazy plan after another like that last scene in “Duck Soup,” then there’s no chance they’ll ever really know what’s going on until they’re called on to vote. Believe me, Freedonia’s got nothing on Sacramento. Likewise Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Rufus T. Firefly.

So, again, there isn’t much to report on progress with the budget. The state keeps issuing IOUs, which fewer institutions are honoring, California’s bonds are nearing junk status, and the lawmakers keep playing chicken. It’s an absurd game of who can come up with a palatable short-term fix when the only plan that can really solve the problem is long-term. We’re talking paradigm shift. When you have gangrene you need to consider amputation, not which band-aid will look most fashionable.

One of the biggest deal-breakers when the latest budget fix was proposed had to do with releasing prisoners. Oh boy, now that’s a great way to save money. Let a bunch of convicts out of jail — like none of them will pose any more expense on the government when they’re released. Oh sure, jobs are easy to come by these days, especially for ex-cons. And they won’t return to a life of crime. Yeah, right.

“We are told by pretty good sources that the Democrats are not going to move ahead with the prison-release business, which I’m very much opposed to,” Sen. Tom Harman said. “It’s outrageous to let 20,000 convicted felons loose on the streets. They will take that issue off the table and address it in August. But I have very serious concerns with that proposal because if we go ahead and accept the budget now and don’t address that issue then come August we won’t have much leverage.”

First of all, he has to be tough on crime. He’s a Republican running for attorney general. Still, that’s Harman’s whole platform so he’s consistent on message. And he’s right that the issue will probably be shuffled off until next month when the Democrats can approve the prison releases to save money with a simple majority vote. They have the clout to do that. The Republicans, on the other hand, can hold the budget hostage until they gain some sort of concession on that point because the budget can’t be approved without a two-thirds majority.

“We should resolve that issue now,” Harman said.

But he’s worried about holding up the budget to do that. It’s a tough situation. He, like Assemblymen Van Tran and Chuck DeVore, said they will know better Thursday after the GOP gets to caucus on the latest proposals. Until then they’re pretty much in the dark.

“Everyone is in a holding pattern right now,” Tran said. He also opposes the prison releases.

DeVore understands that politically the Democrats have the numbers to separate the prison-release issue from the budget and approve it later, but he doesn’t like it. You might remember that about two years ago DeVore managed to lead bipartisan legislation on prison reform that would create dedicate thousands of prison beds for alcoholics and drug addicts to rehabilitate them. It would cut down on repeat offenders.

“That’s one of the most significant policy achievements I’ve had in Sacramento,” he said, referring to how his proposed reforms were eventually rolled into AB 900.

But the state has been slow to implement AB 900. Why? Well, some suspect it’s because reforming prisoners take a lot longer than just cutting them loose. And when you’re under pressure from the federal government to ease overcrowding it’s a lot simpler to take the shortcut.

DeVore questioned why a state like Texas requires half the white-collar managers to oversee its prison system. In other words, there’s plenty of room to cut spending without seeing a dramatic decrease in services, but DeVore agrees that California needs major budget reform, not the “gimmicks” in this latest proposal.

“This really does kick the can down the road, and it probably doesn’t do it as long as they hoped for. I predict this budget agreement, if it’s approved, will be good for no longer than eight or nine months,” DeVore said.

So we’ll be back to square one, issuing IOUs again.

“While the reforms in welfare fraud and health care are steps in the right direction, the borrowing and gimmickry are such that I don’t know it will last until the end of this budget cycle,” he added.

“There’s gimmicky funding in there,” Harman agreed. “There’s a raid on local governments and they’re stretched as tight as they can go and now they’re going to take more from them. I come from local government so I’m sensitive to their needs.”

He also used the “kick the can” phrase so it’s definitely a talking point among Republicans. But they’re right. Our lawmakers need to summon the courage to discuss long-term fixes to this mess.

“We spend more than we take in and we have to address it now. I don’t want to put it off. Let’s just face the music,” Harman said.

That all sounds great. But the reality here is that to accomplish that would mean dramatic cuts in service. Politically that’s always a deal killer. As most politicians know, voters expect lower taxes and more services. In other words, something for nothing.

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