Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003 | 11:22 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Government employees who serve in the Legislature should be required to take a leave of absence without pay and should not be permitted to gain credit in two retirement systems during the session, Gov. Kenny Guinn said today.
"I don't want to take action so that no public employee can serve, but the circumstances should be set forth if somebody serves," Guinn said.
The whole picture of public employees in the Legislature should be examined since there are different rules between school districts, cities, counties and the University and Community College System of Nevada, Guinn said. Guinn said the Legislature should take a look at the issue and come up with some rules to guide lawmakers.
His statement came as a group calling itself Nevadans For Sound Government this morning filed an initiative petition to bar public employees from serving in the Legislature. Group leader George Harris and six others filed the proposed constitutional amendment in Las Vegas. They will need 51,243 signatures to get it on the 2004 election ballot.
Guinn said before action is taken on public employees being barred from the Legislature, there should be an examination of whether lawmakers should be on boards of directors of gaming companies or banks or other businesses.
"Take the private sector. Does that mean they should get off boards?" he said. When he ran for governor, he removed himself from all private boards of directors, even though there were no rules forcing him to do so.
"I did it in terms of perception," he said. "But everybody has to make their own decision."
Greg Bortolin, the governor's spokesman, said Guinn is suggesting that as part of the review of the issue, lawmakers look at colleagues who who work in the private sector and have potential conflicts of interest. He said the lawmakers should look at whether those legislators be required to give up their salary during the legislative session.
While the Legislature should look at the whole issue, Guinn said, the minimum requirements should be that any public employee should take a leave without pay during the session, should not be enrolled in both the Public Employees Retirement System and the legislative retirement system and should be required to pay premiums for his insurance if he or she continued to be covered by the government where they are employed.
"We need rules to guide people," he said.
If, for example, a fireman returns home from the Legislature for a break of several days, the issue is whether he can go to work, even if there is an emergency, Guinn said.
He referred to the case of Assemblyman Ron Knecht, R-Carson City, who took a leave of absence without pay from his job as an economist for the state Public Utilities Commission. But Knecht continued to teach a class at the Western Nevada Community College, which is supported by state dollars, and received $1,700 for the course.
He said Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, is asking for a bill to clarify the rules. "We should not rush to judgment," he said.
Asked about the Clark County's firing of Assembly members Kathy McClain and Kelvin Atkinson for drawing pay from the county and the Legislature, Guinn said, "I believe they (Clark County) had to take action."
The governor said the state took action when employees in the Department of Information Technology said they worked but never showed up for the job.
He was referring to a legislative audit that found employees recorded they worked overtime when they never showed up. Terry Savage, director of the Department of Information Technology, said today disciplinary action was taken in these cases, and "they no longer work for the state."
Secretary of State Dean Heller Tuesday asked Attorney General Brian Sandoval for an opinion on whether public employees were barred from serving in the Legislature because of a separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.
The federal Hatch Act prohibits employees working in the executive branch of a state or local government that receives federal money from engaging in political activity, including running for legislative office.
The attorney general's office has issued conflicting opinions through the years on the issue.
A 1952 opinion said a member of the Legislature may not hold office in the executive department in the case of an employee of the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
A 1974 opinion said an employee of the Nevada Highway Patrol would have to resign his employment if he was elected to the Legislature or the judiciary.
A 2002 legal opinion said it would stand by the two prior opinions that a state worker could not be a member of the Legislature.
A 2002 opinion from the Legislative Counsel Bureau said a classified employee of the state Department of Transportation could become a candidate and serve in the Legislature as long as he or she gets approval from the superior and abides by certain conditions.
The opinion by Kevin C. Powers, principal deputy legislative counsel, also recommended that before a state employee enters the political race, he or she obtain a legal opinion from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to see if there is a potential violation the Hatch Act.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has said it would be a violation of the Hatch Act if Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, ran for re-election, because the Henderson Police Department receives some federal money. Perkins is deputy chief.
Perkins said he is asking the federal agency to reconsider its ruling.
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