Winners, losers stand out after the legislative session

By J. Patrick Coolican (contact)

Sunday, June 10, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

"I'm not sure we couldn't have done the whole thing in a really long conference call," one lobbyist said, looking back at the 2007 Legislature.

Certainly, it could have been much simpler, and much shorter. Still, state government made some big decisions, including approval of a two-year, $7 billion budget, and the session produced clear winners and losers in both policy and politics.

A Sun review:

Gov. Jim Gibbons

Conventional wisdom now has the new Republican governor as a big winner this session, having approved $1 billion in new highway funding and winning some money for his education policy of empowerment, which gives more autonomy to schools while making them more accountable. He also managed to fend off calls for a tax increase.

"Without a doubt, the governor is a winner," said Robert Uithoven, Gibbons' campaign manager and now a lobbyist. "He went through tumultuous times, but once he ... got his feet under him, he's clearly the winner."

Others, including Republicans and Democrats, agreed.

But this end-of-session winning streak may serve to mask two significant problems. First, what Uithoven politely called "tumultuous times." The string of gaffes and embarrassments - from the photos of him partying on a cruise ship to the first lady's $10,000 inaugural dress to his claim that Democrats had paid off a Wall Street Journal reporter - have damaged his reputation. Repairing it will take time and care. Moreover, the FBI is still investigating Gibbons ' relationship with defense contractor Warren Trepp.

The second issue for Gibbons is more substantive. In two or three years, the status of Nevada's health care, education and transportation systems won't have improved much, if at all. Although Gibbons and the Legislature managed to find $1 billion for transportation, that won't have any effect on traffic for some time, and the money is well short of the $3.7 billion to $5 billion needed before 2015, according to transportation experts.

On the education front, Gibbons' empowerment program is really just a pilot program. Eight campuses will try it in Clark County, a district wrestling with dire problems. It is expected to have 3,000 teacher vacancies by August, and early applicant interest is down sharply from last year.

Although Gibbons supported the University Sciences Center, which would help address the state's doctor and nursing shortage, exploding costs and the state's large number of uninsured will continue to affect the quality and cost of health care for average people.

In short, Gibbons is certainly a winner with most of the 49 percent of voters who supported him.

But Nevadans will judge him not just on his skill at holding the line on taxes, but also on the quality of their children's schools, their commute times and their wait for an ambulance.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas

Buckley, the first female leader of the Assembly, gets good marks from legislative observers, even those in another ideological galaxy from her.

"Buckley helped herself," said Chuck Muth, conservative political consultant. "She kept her caucus together, and when push came to shove, she showed she was able to work with the other party."

Uithoven, another conservative, agreed: "Buckley deserves credit. She ran a disciplined Assembly. Much of the agenda she outlined she achieved."

Buckley's leadership skills showed in her ability to effectively delegate to other Democrats in her caucus. She gave significant responsibility to lieutenants, who ran with it. By doing so, she nurtured legislative leadership while engendering loyalty, though she was still closely involved in the issues.

Majority Leader John Oceguera showed leadership on commerce and public safety issues; Sheila Leslie on fiscal, health and human services issues; Marcus Conklin helped manage the caucus; Debbie Smith and Marilyn Kirkpatrick came to dominate the issue of tax breaks for environmentally friendly building; Bonnie Parnell became a point person on education; Kelvin Atkinson pushed transportation policy; and David Parks advocated reform of prison policy.

On policy issues, the fiscal outlook - plus the impossibility of a tax increase - largely tied Buckley's hands. She won a bit more for all-day kindergarten, though she came up well short of what she wanted.

In other areas, she made a few small gains in health care and social services, though Nevada will likely remain well behind other states for another two years.

One of Buckley's favorite issues is cracking down on predatory payday lenders. She successfully closed a loophole, and one of the minor entertainments of the session was watching some of the lenders struggle to retain a high-paid lobbyist to represent them.

This may be the true measure of Buckley's influence: More than a few lobbyists said, "No thanks."

Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno

No one will say so on the record, but most people blame the majority leader for allowing the session to end without the Senate having finished its business. (That in turn required a one-day special session.)

Raggio was unable to keep his caucus together, constantly being upended by Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, and his mini-caucus of conservatives. Raggio did successfully defend higher education, a priority for him, and he successfully pushed a measure to end the direct election of judges, though that won't become law unless it passes several more hurdles.

Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas

Titus has always been a proud partisan, but this session the minority leader used her narrow 10-11 minority to be a more influential player. She won on legislation to track sex offenders , require insurance companies to cover the vaccine for the human papilloma virus , protect credit card consumers , and eliminate heavy trucks from the road through Red Rock Canyon.

Sen. Bob Beers R-Las Vegas

Beers is focused on two things: beating back taxes, and free media. Check, and check.

Sen. Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas

He's a Democrat liked and respected by colleagues in both parties, with ties to labor and business. As a champion of empowerment schools, he's at the forefront of the governor's key education initiative. He's talked about as a potential leader of Senate Democrats, and even as the first black governor of Nevada.

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki

A legislative audit said the first-term Republican lieutenant governor violated state statutes while running the state's College Savings Program when he was state treasurer. The attorney general is also investigating.

Assemblyman Ty Cobb, R-Reno

Although widely derided by establishment types for casting the only "nay" vote in the election of Buckley to become speaker, Cobb drew a significant following among conservative Republicans, Uithoven said.

Look for Cobb to lead efforts by Assembly Republicans to make some gains in 2008 to narrow the Democrats' 27-15 majority. In 2010 nearly 40 percent of Democrats will face term limits, which will lead to a wide-open election, and, who knows? Speaker Cobb? Probably not, but surely he's fantasized.

Teachers

Although teachers also receive raises as they progress through their careers, known as "step increases," they surely aren't happy with the overall 2 percent raise they'll receive next year. Given cost of living increases in Clark County, that will hardly keep up with inflation. It was this frustration that has led teachers to consider going straight to the voters to ask for more money for education.

Local government

Billy Vassiliadis, lobbyist and head of R&R Partners, the advertising and public affairs firm, called local governments a big loser of the session. Clark County will lose money intended for its capital projects and take a hit on "green" building tax breaks.

Special interests

None was complaining too loudly at the end of the session. From gaming to mining to health care to retail to the big unions, they all held their own, which surprised exactly no one.

Vassiliadis noted dryly that a number of interest groups wound up winners. "All of the industries that didn't have to participate in transportation were winners," he said.

It was an oblique reference. Tourism and car rental businesses ended up being forced to contribute to new road projects while all other industries skated, including trucking. It was seen as a big winner considering how much trucks use the roads, and the maintenance that use makes necessary.

But there was also a sense that the trucking industry overplayed its hand.

In the words of one lobbyist, who asked to remain anonymous because he'll probably have to negotiate with it in the future: "From a reputation standpoint, it comes back to haunt you. You can't dig in on every issue and not expect to get hit back eventually."