Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Laws with bad results

Saturday, Dec. 2, 2000 | 10:22 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

THIRTY YEARS have passed since then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan was sold a bill of goods by party members wanting lower taxes. They came up with the very humane proposition that would close several state mental health facilities and push the patients out into community care. The argument used was the healthy community atmosphere for helping the mentally ill as compared to those expensive mental hospitals and institutions.

What could be better than a move that helped the mentally ill and also lowered taxes? The move by California initially saved some tax dollars, but in the long run it cost more dollars and ruined thousands of fragile lives. It also was the biggest step ever taken by a state which resulted in rapidly multiplying the number of homeless people. It not only wasn't humane but rather was brutal in every sense of the word.

The reason I bring this up is because Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore is now moving to close state mental health facilities for the elderly and acute care units for the mentally ill. It all sounds like some of the same humane and loving noises made by Reagan three decades ago.

Gilmore is the popular candidate who was elected to the statehouse with a "no car tax" plan back in 1997. He told voters that by 2002 he would eliminate the tax on automobiles. His plan is at about the halfway mark and phases out the tax on the first $20,000 auto value. Ooops, Virginia is now looking at a $1 billion annual hit on its state treasury if Gilmore's plan goes ahead. The governor is scrambling to make ends meet and what could be easier than doing something nice for the elderly and mentally ill. Of course, the end results will be doing something to them and not for them.

Gilmore's state public affairs voice sounds like he is reading from the script Reagan's tools prepared three decades ago. He is quoted by a reporter saying the "focus is to get more of this care provided at the community level." This will allow patients to "maintain the connections with family and friends and to the community; they won't be isolated." Sounds great, but unless the sun shines in every community and real mental health needs are met, this will be one more unnecessary sad chapter in state government.

All executives, even governors, make mistakes. It's the nature of the beast, but what isn't necessary is the repetition of these errors every generation or two. The National Governors Association now has the research capabilities to provide chief executives with a list of pitfalls experienced by past governors.

Before leaving this subject, every governor should take a close look at Gilmore's promise and Arizona Gov. Jane Hull's lack of research before signing a bill into law. Both of them have shown concern about the desires of taxpayers and have been burned.

Today the Arizona state legislature is dodging bullets coming from constituents because of an alternative-fuel rebate program it passed 77-13 and was signed into law by the governor. The combination of a House speaker being contaminated by special interests, and a governor's staff that failed to do adequate research, have resulted in an unexpected taxpayer cost of someplace between $100 million and $483 million with only a small number of Arizonans benefitting.

Making taxpayers happy is just plain good grassroots politics. Elected officials trying to spread this joy have to be challenged by other branches of government and the watchdog press to keep them from doing more harm than good. Research capabilities of today make the repetition of these errors inexcusable.