If Maine had a nickel for every lawmaker who said something must be done with the state’s atrocious juvenile corrections system, the system would no longer be atrocious.

Maine does have those nickels — they’re part of the $300 million-plus revenue surplus spilling out of the state piggy bank — which makes the recent wave of cold feet sweeping through the Legislature so perplexing. Apparently, it’s easier to complain about not being able to do something for lack of money than it is to do it when the money’s there.

Months ago, when the surplus started adding up in a serious way, Gov. King observed that some of it should be used to meet long-neglected needs, that paying cash might be better than borrowing. He picked a deserving beneficiary in juvenile corrections, and his funding plan makes sense: Use $38 million of surplus to leverage another $10 million to $12 million in interest and federal funds; split the money between the crumbling, woefully understaffed Maine Youth Center in South Portland and the undersized juvenile detention center in Charleston.

The Appropriations Committee toured the Youth Center in January and came away appalled, as does everyone who sees the place, at the dilapidated, crowded buildings, at the idle kids playing cards and looking sullen while others their age were in school, at the overstressed staff too outnumbered to do anything but count heads. Later that month Chief Justice Daniel E. Wathen, in his annual address to legislators, reminded them of what they already knew — pay now for a juvenile system that provides swift, sure justice as it educates and counsels or pay more later to warehouse adult criminals.

The ball seemed to be rolling, but now it’s headed for the gutter. Some legislators are talking about funding only part of the project, leaving the rest up to a future legislature. That’s a sure recipe for a half-baked job. Others say the project, because it entails a considerable amount of construction work, should be bonded, as construction projects usually are. That would make sense if Maine did not have the cash. It would make even more sense if Maine voters did not have an established record of being unkind to corrections bonds, defeating three of the last six.

This is crunch time for the Legislature, a lot of important decisions must be made within the next few days. Still, it might be helpful for lawmakers to break away from the State House for a few hours and trot on down to the nearest district court. Watch the cattle call of young adults who have hurt somebody, stolen something or otherwise made someone’s life miserable. Realize that these miscreants did not start breaking the law on their 18th birthdays. Consider the fruit of past neglect and ask if the future should not be different.