Columnist Jon Ralston: An abyss of irresponsibility

Sunday, June 29, 2003 | 7:46 a.m.

Jon Ralston hosts the news discussion program Face to Face on Las Vegas ONE and publishes the Ralston Report. He can be reached at (702) 870-7997 or at ralston@vegas.com.

CARSON CITY -- If the 2003 Legislatures are remembered for anything, they marked the end of business as usual in the state capital. And only time will reveal if that is such a good thing.

Even if a resolution has been reached by the time you read this (doubtful) -- I am writing this Saturday morning, the day after the Assembly failed (again) by one vote (again) to pass a tax package -- what has occurred in the regular session and a pair of not-so-special ones represents a natural progression and confluence of disparate but inexorable developments over many years:

All of these factors, combined with last decade's passage of the two-thirds tax restraint plan, have created a situation where the real possibility exists as I pen this that a group of politicians outside the legislative and executive branch (a k a the Nevada Supreme Court) will make a decision that should have been made long ago.

Even if you want to argue that it is a salutary sign of the state's political maturation that the casinos no longer reign supreme (the anti-gaming mewling has been especially loud this year) and that the legislators took back the process from the lobbyists (I hear this every session), look what all the dithering lo these many years has wrought.

What's so distressing is that at the edge of a great philosophical divide, during a time when these folks had a chance to really argue about what kind of state they want to see and what the true role of government is, they have chosen to plunge into an abyss of irresponsibility and abdication. It is too facile to simply blame the Assembly Republicans for bringing us here -- some of them are principled, although too many are either scared, ignorant or paralyzed, or all three.

I would have loved to have seen the colloquy about where exactly the state has been wasting money and whether anything would be accomplished by pouring more cash into education and social services. Instead, we have seen only snippets of that debate, even though both Democrats and Republicans rose to the occasion Saturday night with some fine, passionate, pointed addresses to their colleagues.

And we have seen after a year of a tax policy committee and 120 days-plus of nondiscussion, an attempt to craft tax policy in a few weeks by throwing together a hodgepodge of inchoate ideas that could later prove to be a bonanza only for tax lawyers. And on the spending side, instead of a thoughtful discussion of how the state uses its general fund, we have seen arbitrary numbers thrown out -- cut $400 million, no $250 million, or is it $150 million? -- with no regard to what those cuts might mean, or even what they might be.

The real question now, even if an agreement is reached, is what happens next? What happens to the schools, colleges and social services, which will still be a joke compared to other states in how they are funded? What happens to the lawmakers who must face voters in Campaign '04? What happens to initiative-petition-seekers, who want to repeal the tax increase, raise gaming taxes or boost other business taxes? And what happens to the coalition of gamers, labor, teachers and construction types who pushed for the tax increases for self-serving but accidentally altruistic purposes -- will they seek punishment next year for bad behavior?

Even though there was a lot of talk of this being the end, it is really the beginning. No matter the deal, lawmakers will come into the 2005 session with a $200 million-plus hole in the budget because of one-shot funds used for operational costs and the disappearance of estate tax funding. It could be slightly smaller if the economy improves or larger if it worsens.

Business as usual may be gone from the capital. But the problems will return in two years. I wonder if we can expect more from the Gang of 63 or we will again see opportunities lost, expediency seized and progress denied.