The Senate skips

The Maine Senate voted for a $345 million majority budget Monday by a vote of 16-9. While the first number got all the attention, the second pair should raise some eyebrows.

A total of 25 votes were cast. The Senate consists of 35 members. Do the math: 10 were missing, not present for the vote that is, after all, the primary reason for the second session of the biennial process.

One, Sen. Mary Small, Republican of Bath, arranged to be excused well ahead of time for a thoroughly valid reason. The other nine, five Democrats and four Republicans, all no doubt had excuses. Valid reasons are another matter.

Democrats missing roll call were: Carey, Richard; Cathcart, Mary; Douglass, Neria; Paradis, Judy; Pendleton, Peggy. Republicans: Benoit, John; Keiffer, Leo; MacKinnon, Bruce; Mitchell, Betty Lou. Three — Sens. Carey, Keiffer and Paradis — are leaving office due to term limits. Sens. Benoit and MacKinnon are not running for re-election.

The explanations offered by the two parties’ Senate offices suggest that revenues aren’t the only thing of which Maine has a surplus — alibis are in abundance as well. Not to mention irony: Two senators spent Monday giving a school presentation on the legislative process; several leaving office thought the time would be better spent traveling around their districts thanking constituents for the opportunity to serve. How about this: The law says the second session ends no later than the third Wednesday of April (the 19th this year) — never mind the part about it being extended by a vote of the Senate or the vote taken on the 14th to do just that. Or this: It was obvious the budget vote would go along party lines, so why travel all the way back to Augusta just to run up the expense account?

There’s lots of reasons why. Look at legislating as just a job, and the public has reason to wonder about that vaunted Maine work ethic. The second, three-month, session pays $7,500. There’s health and dental insurance (covered at 100 percent), retirement and reasonable reimbursement for mileage, food and lodging. Lawmaking won’t make one rich, but it’s not selfless sacrifice, either.

But the real reason is, of course, commitment. Legislators know going in that sessions often get extended, that lawmaking is not for clock-watchers. This extension was agreed to before a week break — there was time to reschedule other activities. And unless Democrats and Republicans talk to each more about their vacation plans than they do about the future of the state, they had no way of knowing there would be an equal number of absences on both sides to cancel each other out.

Certainly, part of the fault here lies with party leadership. From the absurd number of bills submitted to the inordinate amount of time spent on irrelevancies to the Senate’s inability to reach compromise on a budget, this session was marred by a lack of focus and discipline. Still, it’s hard to lead when the rank-and-file’s skipping.