The pot and the kettle are calling each other black.
House Speaker Joe Hackney is a bit peeved that Gov. Bev Perdue accused the legislature of trying to hide public records associated with the budget process.
In September, Perdue vetoed legislation that, she said, would have hidden legislative budget documents from public view. Perdue has cast herself as the champion of government transparency.
Hackney recently responded, telling the Asheville Citizen-Times that with a little tweaking next May, the vetoed legislation will satisfy the governor and the public. The legislature, he said, is committed to a "mostly open" budget process. In contrast, he said, no one outside of the administration sees how the executive budget is prepared.
Hackney makes a good point about the governor's budget -- not just Perdue's, but every chief executive's. This is a process in serious need of some sunshine.
Early in legislative sessions, governors announce their budgets, and it is the first time the public has seen any of it.
The public doesn't know who influences the governor as he or she decides to increase funding for one program or cut it for another. Cabinet secretaries and assistant secretaries hold no open votes as they choose one capital project over another.
But when Hackney, speaking of the legislative budget process, said that "ours is mostly open," he really was spinning yarn.
At the General Assembly, spending bills are filed. Most of the requests are discussed in the open, and a few are even supported or rejected in public votes.
Then, when budget committees must decide the final spending plan, activity disappears behind a black screen. Budget subcommittee chairmen meet privately in closed offices, and most meeting times are never announced. The public and the vast majority of legislators are shut out of the process.
A small group of influential legislators -- and for several terms Sen. Linda Garrou has been one of them -- decide how to spend much of the money. Not all the money. But decisions on a big chunk, usually the most controversial funds, are made in private.
Joe Hackney has been a friend of open government for a long time. As speaker, he has been a big improvement over some of his predecessors.
He should know better than to brag about the openness of a budget process that is closed when the crucial decisions are made.
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