Perkins had bumpy ride in first session as speaker

Erin Neff

Monday, June 25, 2001 | 11:03 a.m.

The 2001 Legislature began with more hope to meet Southern Nevada's needs than any recent session, thanks to a new leader in the Assembly.

Thus 70 percent of the state's population looked to Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, as their spokesman.

But as the session wound to a troubling halt amid partisan bickering and a reapportionment impasse, some questioned whether Clark County got all it could have out of the first speaker from Southern Nevada since 1983.

"I think a lot of the problems were the result of a new speaker," Assemblywoman Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, said. "It was his first time, and he had a lot to prove."

Perkins, a deputy chief in the Henderson Police Department, admits his rookie session as speaker had some bumps, the biggest one being his Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Bill Raggio.

"The person who was going to throw the most challenges at me was Bill Raggio," Perkins said.

Many believe Perkins' greatest success was standing up to the powerful Reno Republican, who sought to expand the Legislature during redistricting as a way to protect Northern and rural seats.

"I think the way the session ended would have happened regardless of who was speaker because Bill Raggio wanted to expand the Legislature and was infuriated that he was not able to capture more seats for Northern Nevada," Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said.

"If he would have capitulated to Raggio, it would have been a smooth ending," Buckley added. "But that wouldn't have been the best move for Southern Nevada."

As it turned out several redistricting deals fell apart on June 4 -- the last day of this year's 120-day session. When that issue couldn't be settled, other bills kept aside as negotiating pieces also ran into jeopardy, forcing lawmakers to work past the midnight deadline and leading to a special session to finish the work.

Perkins said he is certain his first session as speaker would have gone more smoothly without reapportionment on the table.

"But you don't shun the work that's put in front of you," Perkins said.

Assemblyman David Goldwater, D-Las Vegas, said the end-of-session troubles were partly the result of two leadership styles butting heads.

"Raggio's strategy is a war of attrition," Goldwater said. "Perkins was patient to a fault.

"I don't think we had a road map" to bring the session to a close, he said.

Numerous attempts to reach Raggio after the special session ended June 15 were unsuccessful.

Cegavske placed the blame for the session's failures indirectly on Perkins, lamenting a lack of communication between the Assembly's Republican and Democratic leaders.

"Near the end there were times when we couldn't see maps when we asked about them," said Cegavske, assistant minority leader. "Part of the overall problem is that we just wasted so much time.

"The committee chairs were often late in starting meetings and then on the last day there was a six-hour stretch when we didn't even work," she said.

Perkins was surprised to hear Cegavske's concerns because, he said, both he and Buckley met routinely with Cegavske and Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, throughout the session.

"They never brought anything up about committee meetings being late or specific communication problems," Perkins said. "I still think my biggest strengths are knowledge of the rules and process and the relationships I have with people on both sides of the aisle and in the governor's office."

At one point in early May, Perkins said if anyone could fault his efforts it might be those in his own caucus, "because I'm passing so many Republican bills."

As a leader, Perkins may be questioned for stumbling over reapportionment, but as an assemblyman, he proved his worth to his district.

Perkins sponsored a controversial measure to shift tax revenue from slow-growing areas such as Las Vegas and Clark County to fast-growing cities such as his hometown of Henderson. That same measure included a $4 million payment to Henderson for past inequity.

That measure ran into staunch opposition from Las Vegas and Clark County, but ended up passing with the $4 million payment and a tax formula change intact.

Perkins also successfully pushed the proposed Nevada State College at Henderson from pipe dream to inclusion in the governor's budget. And although the Legislature adjourned without approving startup money for the college, the project received millions in capital construction costs and operation money for the first planned year of classes, 2002-03.

Buckley said Perkins also sponsored good legislation this session, such as a bill prohibiting child work crews on highways, and helped ensure a senior prescription program would serve as many residents as possible.

"I just think that this was a watershed session because of the North losing control," Buckley said. "They weren't going to lose control without a fight."