CARSON CITY: THE WEEK IN REVIEW

By J. Patrick Coolican (contact)

Sunday, March 4, 2007 | 7:31 a.m.

On the 103rd anniversary of the birth of Dr. Seuss, Assemblyman Bernie Anderson read "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!" to some children on the floor of the Assembly.

And when I keep them open, I can read with much more speed.

You have to be a speedy reader

'cause there's so, so much to read!

It was a lesson as much for the Legislature as for the children. The clock is ticking on the 120-day session, and there's much to read, or at least get the Cliffs Notes version from the legislators and lobbyists who do their reading.

Gov. Jim Gibbons played a slightly more active role last week. He was in Washington, D.C., with the National Governors Association, and while there, got some decent response to proposals made in Nevada. He called for tightening up sex offender registration laws, and teamed up with Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller to propose more campaign finance disclosure.

Gibbons' task force on methamphetamine addiction, which is first lady Dawn Gibbons' cause, met for the first time. Its leader, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, is an interesting pairing for the first lady, with some Democrats in Carson City getting wide-eyed about her running against Gibbons in 2010, barring some event that might prevent him from running for reelection.

Speaking of which, the governor hired a D.C. criminal lawyer, and one of the best, in the FBI investigation into whether he accepted improper gifts from his friend Warren Trepp, a defense contractor. Attorney Abbe Lowell negotiated the plea agreement of convicted superlobbyist Jack Abramoff and once represented Gary Condit, the former California congressman whose one-time lady friend disappeared.

Republicans and their friends in the business lobby are concerned about Gibbons' travails, and are also worried about Democrats getting all the ink and organizational benefits from their early presidential caucus.

With that in mind, Republicans are trying to move up their own caucus. But that effort, so far, has turned into a debacle. State party figures scoffed at the idea, then reversed course. And then the governor's chief of staff, Mike Dayton, said the White House had urged Nevada Republicans to push ahead on the idea.

The White House denied it.

Democrats were giddy, watching Republicans act like Democrats with their tomfoolery and backbiting.

With the other party in disarray, Assembly Democrats continue to push ahead: They unveiled a modest health care package at their weekly press conference last week, as part of an ongoing series related to key issues.

Republicans responded with a media strategy of their own: podcasts. Come again?

Ranchers and conservationists appeared together to oppose the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plan to ship water from White Pine County south to Las Vegas. File under: politics, strange bedfellows.

On the Senate side: the Judiciary Committee grappled with how to punish minors caught smoking. The proposed penalties ranged from taking away driver's licenses to levying a $10 fine - what's the Camel Cash exchange rate these days? No decision was made.

Law enforcement appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, arguing that car thieves should not get probation on their second offense. With 19,000 vehicles stolen in Clark County last year, maybe we do have a problem?

The state Parole Board told a Senate-Assembly Budget Committee that complying with the open meeting law, as ordered by the Nevada Supreme Court, would cost $3 million. The board said it would have to hire people, take minutes of the meetings and send personal notices to all inmates.

The Supreme Court ruled last October the board must follow the open meeting law.

Where will that money come from?

It's a question heard hour after hour, day after day, a question that just won't go away.