Columnist Jon Ralston: Study misses real political illness

Sunday, May 28, 2000 | 9:33 a.m.

Jon Ralston, who publishes the Ralston Report, writes a column for the Sun on Sundays and Wednesdays. Ralston can be reached at 870-7997 or by e-mail at ralston@vegas.com.

I've been thinking about that Center for Public Integrity study about conflicts of interest that has outraged some of the legislators who were nicked by the report.

The study pointed out that most legislatures have part-time lawmakers whose private lives often intersect with their public careers because of the breadth of bills they address. Nevada is not cited as the most egregious example of disclosure requirements -- it's in the middle. But as I pondered the lawmakers who were mentioned -- generally lawyers whose firms represent gaming clients and who vote on casino-related legislation -- I realize that the study really misses the point so far as Nevada is concerned.

Conflicts with part-timers are inevitable -- and it's not just lawyers with a gaming clientele. As one legislative insider put it, what about the "conflicted casino owners in the legislature, the teachers who serve on education committees, the labor union members who serve on labor committees, and the public employees who serve on appropriations committees."

All true. And some are good lawmakers, some are not. The quality of the legislator generally is not strained by his real-life job, although the tug surely is hard to ignore. But the quality of legislation is much less affected by those kinds of concerns than by what the real problem is in the Nevada Legislature, the same ailment that affects the entire body politic here -- legalized incest. To wit:

In Nevada, there's no backroom; it's a bedroom, with only one bed for everyone to sleep in. And, ironically, if you don't have the key to the door, you generally are going to get screwed.

What's the solution? Not easy. Any law designed to restrict the activity of lobbyists vis-a-vis campaigns will face constitutional problems. Better disclosure laws and better enforcement would help. Paying elected officials more to get a better quality thereof -- even considering the heresy of full-time legislators -- absolutely.

The sins pointed out by the Center For Public Integrity study are real and legitimate fodder for debate. But the problem there, too, is disclosure, and those sins are minor compared to the real blaspheming that occurs.

In Nevada, the question isn't so much which legislators are trying to use their positions to benefit their bottom lines. The question is which lawmakers are being manipulated or exploited by lobbyists whose power in the state's political system is nearly omnipotent. That's much harder to quantify in a neat little study. But the quality of the offense is much greater.