One day in, and the newly-elected Republican legislature is already showing its true colors. They pay lip service to dealing with the budget, but the fact is that it’s not their priority.

During a discussion on the House rules, Minority Leader Paul Thissen proposed that the House should focus on the budget until it is signed into law. Thissen’s proposed rule required that the budget be signed into law before the House could move on to other business. House Republicans, though, voted it down.

I want to make sure that sinks in. In one of their very first acts, House Republicans voted against a proposal that would have required them to spend their time and the taxpayers’ money working to solve the budget crisis. Here’s a portion of Thissen’s proposed rule that they voted down:

During an odd-numbered year, a House or Senate bill that proposes a constitutional amendment must not be considered in a committee or on the calendar for the day, the fiscal calendar, or any other floor calendar until bills necessary to provide a balanced general fund budget for the biennium beginning on July 1 of that year have been enacted into law. 

Some Republicans have offered a fairly weak defense: They didn’t vote it down, they just referred it to the rules committee. Same difference. If they really cared about the budget, they would have adopted the rule then and there. Instead, they’ll quietly kill it in committee. That’s absolutely inexcusable.