CAN'T THEY all get along? No, they can't.
The executive and legislative branches of state government are at war. Massachusetts lawmakers ignored Governor Deval Patrick's call to increase the gas tax, opting instead to increase the sales tax. Senate President Therese Murray recently referred to Patrick as "irrelevant" and suggested the governor needs to be more "conciliatory."
House Speaker Robert DeLeo is less confrontational, but he is also unhappy over Patrick's method of dealing with the Legislature.
Things started falling apart shortly after Patrick asked Murray and DeLeo to meet with him one Sunday afternoon.
On April 26, the three leaders gathered in Patrick's State House office. They discussed pending reform proposals relating to ethics, pensions, and transportation. DeLeo told Patrick he planned to go forward with a bill to hike the state sales tax. The governor let DeLeo know he wasn't happy about his plan, but there were no fireworks. The meeting was mostly collegial.
What Patrick did the next day was seen as a betrayal of that surface cordiality.
The next morning, the governor ran into the speaker under the State House arches and reiterated his unhappiness over the sales tax hike. Later, Patrick cranked up his outrage. While DeLeo was caucusing with members, the governor's office hand-delivered a letter to the speaker's office, and to the Senate president's office. In the missive - distributed to all House and Senate members - the governor wrote, "Without final and satisfactory action on the several reform proposals before you, I cannot support a sales tax increase and will veto it if it comes to my desk."
With the House set to vote on the sales tax hike, DeLeo saw this as a surprise attack at the moment of his first major proposal as speaker. Murray also viewed it as an unwelcome challenge to her authority, and didn't like Patrick's appropriation of her earlier call for "reform before revenue."
In response, the House passed the sales tax hike by a veto-proof margin. Last week, the Senate followed suit. Patrick said he will veto it without meaningful reform bills on ethics, pensions, and transportation. He insists the fight is about principle and the best way to raise new revenue and bring about needed reform.
"The governor has decided he doesn't like us," said Murray, when asked about the breakdown.
Lawmakers say Patrick is in campaign mode, running against Beacon Hill as a way to improve his own standing with voters.
Their pique with Patrick is a small window into a Beacon Hill mentality that hardened during 16 years of Republican governors.
With a Legislature dominated by Democrats, House and Senate leaders turned themselves into virtual co-governors. For the most part, they dictated the agenda. Lawmakers went along with some of what Republican Governor Bill Weld wanted, because of the serious economic crisis that grew out of recession and the liberal fiscal policies of the 1980s. But the Democrats essentially had their way with three Republican governors who followed.
House and Senate leaders are not about to cede power to Patrick, a fellow Democrat who ran as an outsider who would change Beacon Hill. Patrick's first year in office was marked by conflict with the Legislature and he weakened his position with now well-documented symbolic missteps involving curtains and a Cadillac. His second year was easier, because then-House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi cooperated with the governor in an effort to deflect attention from assorted ethics problems. Last January, DiMasi resigned and DeLeo took over as speaker.
The current recession is hitting Massachusetts hard, causing a large dip in state revenue and a severe budget gap. The public is disgusted by general waste, cronyism, and pension abuse.
In the midst of all that, lawmakers seem driven by contempt for Patrick, rather than commitment to reforming a system that rewards each other and their friends. Patrick has political problems of his own, from controversial patronage appointments to the MBTA's systemwide power outage.
No one looks good. It's all about power, not the people, and it's a turnoff.
Joan Vennochi can be reached at vennochi@globe.com. 
