Four California lawmakers given Profile in Courage award

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Who says negotiating the state budget is a thankless task? Four California legislative leaders -- two Democrats and two Republicans -- were just given the prestigious John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for their work in that regard.

No kidding.

The award was given to the leaders for the spending plan they put together in February. The plan confronted a $40-billion deficit that had pushed the state toward a cash crisis with deep program cuts and temporary tax hikes.

The two Republican leaders given the award Tuesday, Assemblyman Mike Villines and Sen. Dave Cogdill, no longer in leadership positions. They were ousted from their posts for negotiating the package, the latter in a midnight coup.

“I did not take the choices before me last year lightly but the budget was truly a compromise,’ Codgill (R-Modesto) said in a written statement Tuesday.

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation gave the awards ‘in recognition of the political courage each demonstrated in standing up to the extraordinary constituent and party pressure they faced.’ The awards will be presented in Boston this May.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said the award ‘made my day.’ Steinberg said it that has become ‘easy sport now to just beat up on California’ and that the award ‘recognizes another side of the story.’ He and former Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) were the two Democrats chosen for the award.

Ultimately, the budget package lawmakers crafted fell short of balancing the books. More shortfalls emerged by summer and the state was forced to issue IOUs. California currently faces a $20-billion deficit through July 2011.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento