Yet the process took almost as long as if every member had had to be polled, cajoled and individually brought into line. In the end, the leaders reached a compromise that any well-functioning legislature could have worked out easily. But in New York, all other serious work has been at a standstill since last winter. The state budget is two months overdue and the Legislature has not even agreed on how much money there is to spend. Welfare reform has not been mentioned, and the state has only a few weeks until the deadline for getting into compliance with the new Federal laws.
Legislatures run by strong party leaders can be both democratic and efficient.
But New York has all the disadvantages of that system and none of the advantages. Instead of imposing a discipline that requires lawmakers to come to grips with difficult issues, New York's leaders practice a kind of brinkmanship in which the two chambers march in sterile lockstep toward a single last-minute Big Deal. The legislative committees are moribund. Floor debates are meaningless. All discussions of any import take place behind closed doors.