Editorial: Division of power must remain clear

Friday, Feb. 14, 2003 | 9:27 a.m.

For many years now the Nevada Legislature has viewed the state Transportation Department as a runaway train. Legislators have complained bitterly that managers of the department seem indifferent to accountability and run their programs according to their own free will. The issue came to a head in 2001, when the Legislature unanimously voted to create a Transportation Department oversight committee from among its own ranks. The committee would have had equal footing with the Transportation Department's board of directors, chaired by Gov. Kenny Guinn. The governor correctly vetoed the bill.

Because Guinn's veto came after the session, an override vote could not be held until the 2003 session. This week the Republican-controlled state Senate, voting along party lines, sustained the governor's veto. It would be a shame, however, for the vote to be interpreted only as a political victory for the Republican governor. The vote is best interpreted as a victory for good government.

The Legislature's job is to vote on policy, budgets and laws. Oversight of departments is an executive task, properly falling to the governor. Only a weak governor would stand by and allow encroachment upon his responsibilities by the Legislature. The Legislature has the ability within its rightful sphere of influence to place pressure on any state department, without assuming executive authority.