For all of the drama over the budget -- which still awaits its dénouement -- this year's session of the General Assembly ended well for the commonwealth. In part, that might be because of all the drama over the budget: Tight finances constrain legislative mischief.

The fiscal squeeze essentially torpedoed Gov. Tim Kaine's signature initiative, universal pre-kindergarten. Pre-K has shown demonstrable benefits for underprivileged children in a small number of limited studies; advocates of universal pre-K make an untenable leap from those specific instances to the assertion that state-funded pre-K would benefit all children everywhere. If times had not been so tight, the Assembly -- even the conservative House -- might have simply nodded and signed the check. Fortunately, the commonwealth will have more time to discuss the wisdom of another middle-class entitlement.

Even on non-fiscal matters, good sense generally prevailed. On the most urgent issue of the session -- mental health -- lawmakers passed important reform measures and made initial steps toward necessary funding of critical services. They cracked down on the deplorable practice of animal fighting. They killed, again, attempts to infringe on the rights of bar owners and restaurant owners to run their businesses as they choose by banning smoking in all such establishments. They saw through the effort to classify a private citizen who sells even one gun at a gun show as a gun "dealer." And they rightfully turned aside an overreaching bill that would have imposed onerous daily record-keeping and reporting requirements on stores that sell used CDs and the like.

It was not right reason but public outrage that spurred repeal of the abusive-driver fees, whose penalties grossly violated the principle of proportionality. That repeal combined with a Virginia Supreme Court decision striking down local-option taxing authorities to bury the Rube Goldberg roads package passed last year. Now a special session seems in the offing to address the resulting finance hole. Perhaps the Assembly should heed what essayist Henry Allen once called the First Law of American Business: When all else fails, try doing it right.

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In a similar dubious vein, the Assembly -- this time, the Republicans -- rejected proposals to inject some semblance of democracy into the democratic process and rein in gerrymandering. They somewhat hypocritically turned down local-option homestead exemptions for real-estate taxes. (Why is local autonomy good for tax hikes but bad for tax cuts? Perhaps because the homestead exemption was sought by a Democratic governor?) They chose to let illegal immigrants continue going to public colleges, but opted to impose restrictions on how private mortgage companies go about foreclosures.

Perhaps the most ambiguous result of this year's session involved the compromise on payday lending. We defy anyone -- sponsors included -- to recite the numerous and convoluted provisions of the legislation from memory, or even come close. In an industry that relies on misdirection and confusion to generate profits, adding a complex regulatory layer invites trouble. Perhaps the final bill was the best anyone could hope for. How sad.

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On a more positive note, the public should acknowledge the commendable absence of any frightful embarrassments this session. To our knowledge no state legislator accidentally shot a hole in his office door or blamed Jews for killing Jesus or ticked off colleagues with an ostensibly funny speech about menstrual cycles and nocturnal emissions. And the closest the Assembly got to a "droopy-drawers" dustup concerned a bill to outlaw the fake testicles some juvenile minds like to hang from trailer hitches. Rude the novelties might be, but banning them would invite bans on rude bumper-stickers, rude mud-flap sillhouettes, rude T-shirts, and other constitutionally protected speech. Fortunately, the measure died in committee. That, believe it or not, is progress.