A graceful jackknife, ending in a belly-flop.

This about sums the legislative session, in which lawmakers leapt from a precipice of voter near-revolt, negotiated several twists and turns in their plunge, yet hit the proverbial water with an abrupt, and painful, slap.

In the beginning, Gov. John Baldacci led a ferocious charge toward reducing government spending and increasing its efficiency. His chosen vehicle was a ripe target – school administration. His aggressive consolidation plan touched off a firestorm of debate, ending in Maine’s first school reforms in 50 years.

As school debate carried the day, though, other important issues were approved, shunted or rejected in its shadow.

Like the ambitious bonding plan, which has been sullied by the revelation lawmakers borrowed an additional $50 million for highways through a non-referendum process, stemming from reasoning that a $113 million bond approved June 6 wasn’t enough.

Rightly, all borrowing should have had voter approval.

Key policy changes also failed, most notably an ethics reform bill, which was promised to return in February. Its delay is a black eye for legislative leadership, who advocated for the reforms.

Then, there was the failed tax reform plan, which delighted economists, but riled consumers. The plan’s gestation was perfect: a bipartisan committee, patiently muddling through a complex and divisive issue. Its demise should ask what Mainers really want for their tax system, because better options aren’t readily available.

And while Gov. Baldacci deserves credit for taking on the job of tax reform, as promised, he also let it twist in the legislative winds during the session’s wane.

Baldacci was a game-changing superstar on taxation’s sidelines, and his pledge at session’s end – “I will develop a governor’s bill to reduce the tax burden on Mainers” – was a fait accompli. In allowing the painstakingly crafted Taxation Committee plan to fizzle, responsibility for tax relief and reform fell onto the governor’s shoulders.

In doing so, the governor in January 2008 – when his reform bill is promised – must be the governor of January 2007, the tough-talking, no-nonsense, swaggering second-term incumbent, who surprised observers with his brimming braggadocio regarding school consolidation and reforms.

That was the governor who brazenly used the budget as his crowbar for compromise, who let everyone know the savings were booked, and reform mandated; not the governor who largely disappeared after budget approval.

Legislative foundering during tax debate illustrates the importance of gubernatorial leadership, as the executive’s silence on reform was deafening.

Taxpayer cries for relief, however, are equally as loud, as the burden that gave rise to the citizen initiatives of 2004 and 2006 hasn’t eased.

Many have opinions on how Maine can reduce its tax burden. Only one person’s, though, now matters, and we eagerly await what Gov. Baldacci has to say.

It better be good.