A now-retired lobbyist who observed the legislature for many years offers this take on the current session:

The revelation that the General Assembly needs more time to agree to a state budget is not startling and, frankly, shouldn’t be troubling.

Sure, the school systems are in a knot about drivers’ ed and teachers assistants, and citizens are exasperated with their do-nothing political leaders at the federal and state levels.

This means the system is working. It’s happened many times before, and will happen again. Our government is brilliantly designed to be frustrating and hard to get things done. It’s a mighty struggle to pass new legislation, and good ideas are often compromised into bland pabulum. In a bicameral system, even the most mighty of legislators is at the whim of a nut in the opposite legislative body.

The ship of state sails with many hands on the rudder, all trying to steer it in the direction of their philosophy. The beauty of our process prevents zealots or crazies from seizing the rudder completely, thus preventing a dramatic and dangerous change of course.

So, let’s urge legislators to take all the time they need to fight and cuss and grandstand. This is how it’s supposed to work, and the end result will be better with debate, scrutiny and the passage of time.