Editorial: Power play by legislators is costly, unwise

Friday, Jan. 16, 1998 | 9:50 a.m.

STATE legislators often come up with innovative ideas on how to make government work better, but it seems for every good idea that emerges, another surfaces that is just plain goofy. A suggestion that deserves inclusion in the goofy category was resurrected this week by legislators who mistakenly believe the legislative branch should submit its own state government budget, in addition to the one already submitted by the governor.

With the likelihood that voters will pass a constitutional amendment in November mandating that the Legislature can meet no longer than 120 days, legislators are looking at ways to make the legislative process more efficient. Traditionally, the governor prepares the two-year budget and submits it to the Legislature in the first week of the session. Instead of waiting for the governor's budget, the Legislature would have its staff prepare a budget before the start of the session.

There are a number of reasons why this proposal is wrong and won't work. First, it would duplicate the work already done by the governor's budget office. Having a second budget prepared is simply a waste of time and taxpayer money.

The second issue involves accountability. The governor is directly elected by the people and serves full time as chief executive of state government. The Legislature is a part-time institution and only meets once every two years. If the Legislature prepared the budget, it would have to be done by bureaucrats who were never elected by the people. On the other hand, the governor is directly elected by the people, which ensures accountability to the citizens of Nevada.

Gov. Bob Miller denounced the legislators' trial balloon, noting that a second budget prepared by the Legislature would be a "radical and dangerous departure" from the way the state's most important business is conducted. "The prospect of a legislative staff usurping the budget would mean that the people who decide how to spend the taxpayers' money will be distant from, and far less accountable to, the voters."

Having the Legislature prepare its own budget has nothing to do with streamlining state government to make it run more efficiently; it has everything to do with a power play on the part of some legislators. Miller has a year left in his term, but it's good to see that he is being aggressive in meeting these legislators head on with their foolish ideas. But the legislators' shot across the bow should come as a warning to whoever is elected in November as the state's next governor: the legislative branch promises to attack an already weakened executive branch.