Gov. Kenny Guinn fares well in his first session

Brendan Riley

Monday, May 31, 1999 | 10:24 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Gov. Kenny Guinn says he had a win-win first session in dealing with state lawmakers.

Top lawmakers - even Democrats - agree that the state's first GOP governor in 16 years has done well after a rocky start with lawmakers in January and February.

"Overall, it's been a very successful legislative session," said Guinn, praising his staff for a team effort in successfully proposing a $14 billion budget and pushing an admittedly ambitious agenda.

"On a scale of 10, I'd give him a 7 1/2 ," said Assemblyman Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, Speaker Joe Dini's majority floor leader.

Perkins and other key Democratic lawmakers said Guinn's relative inexperience - he has never held elective office before - showed early on. But as the session continued, Guinn showed a willingness to negotiate.

Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said negotiating was vital to salvaging a mental health parity bill in the final hours of the session, and Guinn had a major role in working out a compromise.

Even what looked like losses worked out OK, Guinn told The Associated Press in an interview hours before the close of the 1999 legislative session Monday night.

Guinn, a former educator-turned businessman-turned politician, wanted to privatize medical services in Nevada's prison system, but that was rejected by lawmakers. Still, Guinn sees a silver lining around that cloud.

"That certainly wasn't passed, but it wasn't defeated," says Guinn, adding that he met with prison medical staffers and got assurances from them that they'd hold down costs. He had figured on saving several million dollars with the privatization.

"If they can do it, then why should we go outside and privatize it?" he said.

The biggest deal for Guinn, who touted education as his top priority, is his "Millennium Scholarship" proposal to use part of Nevada's tobacco settlement funds to help send students to state universities and community colleges.

While Guinn wanted half the money for the scholarships, that was negotiated down to 40 percent. No real loss, he said, adding that the real goal was to make sure any Nevada high school student with a B average or better could try for one of the scholarships.

"In my mind, it's the most profound thing we could have done," he said. "To me, it's absolutely the biggest thing since statehood."

A 2 percent pay hike for state workers, drafted in the final days of the session, also was a highlight. No one was expecting it, although Guinn had said early on that he'd try for a raise if the money was available.

Key lawmakers went along with the governor to provide the $8.6 million for the raises, rather than let the extra funding go for end-of-session "pork" projects.

The governor also cited privatizing the state's industrial insurance system as a major accomplishment.

"The template that overlays that is how we would do it in business," said Guinn, a former banker and utility executive. "I've bought and sold companies before and that's the way we handled it."

The governor also says he succeeded in getting through an ethics reform law that will speed up what has been a drawn-out process for public officials facing complaints filed with the state Ethics Commission.

Other Guinn wins include:

-Sticking with his promise to not permit any new taxes or fees this session. To make his point, Guinn even vetoed one bill providing for a slight fee hike on a real estate test.

-Getting state lawmakers to give him more leeway in setting salaries of his own staffers. The governor cautioned lawmakers against micromanaging his administration, and promised a top-to-bottom accountability review of all agencies.

-"Creative financing" in refinancing existing bonds to help set up a $16 million fund for outlying school districts trying to cover building repair and improvement costs.

-Getting the authority to take over and run a health insurance benefits program for state employees.

-Working with lawmakers to continue upgrading a controversial Welfare Division computer that's being set up to find deadbeat parents who are behind on support payments. The system is far over budget, but legislators agreed to another $9 million to complete the project.