Dec. 20, 2004
Campaign Promises vs. Government Reality
By J. Barlow Herget
RALEIGH - When Sen. Eric Reeves, D-Wake, was first elected to the General Assembly in 1996, he began his term with the new ideas and great expectations that flowed from his campaign promises.
Then he learned the lesson of most freshmen officials: “The vast amount of the agenda is really already set. Dinner has been served . . . and you’re getting chicken.”
Reeves’ experience exemplifies the growing disconnect between campaign promises and the reality of running the government- be it state, county, city or nation. Reeves, who is stepping down after four terms in the Senate and two terms on the Raleigh City Council, found that even as an incumbent “campaigns talk about the issue of the day; then you have to deal with mental health reform.”
Candidates may campaign on who is most opposed to homosexual marriage, while the fate of most families, from matters of education to employment, is what will face candidates when they take office.
A glaring example of these unconnected wires was the tit-tat contest between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry over their Vietnam War records. The surreal fight occupied weeks of the campaign while substantive debate over winning the very current Iraq War languished.
North Carolina’s campaigns were no less haywire. Consider some of the issues that dominated the public airwaves:
In the U.S. Senate race, Republican Richard Burr reminded voters that Democrat Erskine Bowles once said he admired President Bill Clinton and Clinton’s trade policies, slyly implying Bowles also admired Clinton’s sexual foolishness. Conversely, Bowles wanted people to think that Burr gave the back of his hand to cancer victims.
Neither charge was credible or had much to do with what faced the victor once he took office. Other North Carolina campaign subjects this year included:
Who was telling the truth about their votes on education policy.
Wasteful government spending must be cut.
Who was telling the truth about state employee pay increases.
North Carolina’s economy; all were for more jobs but argued over whether the state had recovered or remained sick.
Many promised no tax increases and railed against tax raisers (left unsaid was whether the increases had balanced the budget).
Attendance, not performance records.
Who best represented family values.
These may be important points to voters, but compare them with the work that state officials must deal with in 2005.
There was little said about the rise in Medicaid spending. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Lanier Cansler believes spending in this joint federal, state and county medical program for the poor may exceed $300 million. Plus, poor counties cry for help as Medicaid’s share of their respective budgets approach 30 to 40 percent.
Without any increase in per capita spending for public schools and universities, student enrollment growth will require millions of dollars more.
At the university level, individual campus trustees are all expected to ask for tuition increases, varying between $200 and $300, according to UNC System Trustee Peter Hans. Legislators have the final say on such increases if they so choose.
The temporary sales tax and the surcharge tax on large personal incomes expire in June. With no action to retain these taxes or phase them out, there will be $500 million less in revenue for the state budget.
Bills calling for big changes in state regulations of lobbyists will be on the agenda. Laws for full disclosure, caps on lobbyists’ gifts, and money to enforce the rules will face legislators.
(A recent survey of legislators by Common Cause of North Carolina indicates they don’t want to talk about the changes. Only 21 percent of House members and 14 percent of Senators returned the survey.)
The state employee health care plan is expected to cost more next year. It may reach as much as $200 million, according to Sen. Tony Rand, D-Fayetteville. Health care advocates and those concerned about a balanced budget want to increase the cigarette excise tax, now the second lowest in the country at five cents per pack.
These are just a few of the issues that legislators must deal with in the coming months. Former UNC Vice Chancellor D. G. Martin in a recent essay noted of our elected officials, “If their campaign materials, their debates and their TV ads are any indication, these folks have no idea about what they are getting into.”
He then told them what they were getting into. Second on his list: “Only three states have lower high school completion rates than North Carolina.” He counted off 26 other pressing matters awaiting the attention of the General Assembly.
Then, as Senator Reeves learned, there’s mental health reform.
Barlow Herget is a former Raleigh city councilman and writes the Follow the Money column for N.C. Center for Voter Education.
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