CARSON CITY: WEEK IN REVIEW

By J. Patrick Coolican (contact)

Sunday, March 18, 2007 | 7:24 a.m.

It seems Nevada politics is changing to resemble the national capital

CARSON CITY - The allegations were fierce and dramatic. In an Assembly Ways and Means hearing Kate Marshall, the Democratic state treasurer, said she couldn't figure out what happened to some state money that was once in the hands of Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki. And she said there was a "lack of historical documents" to help her find it.

Krolicki replied in kind: Marshall's comments were reckless and politically motivated.

This, during the same week that Gov. Jim Gibbons and Secretary of State Ross Miller continued their battle over questions about Gibbons' legal defense fund, which he set up to defend himself from his troika of legal challenges, including an FBI investigation of his relationship with his friend Warren Trepp, a defense contractor .

A Republican Party official slammed Miller for getting on Gibbons, and Gibbons banged away on the media.

What is this - Washington, D.C.?

Nevada state government has long prided itself on its cozy deal-making and lack of partisan warfare. Republicans who weren't too conservative, and Democrats who weren't too liberal, always kept the interests of the people in mind (or at least the people's leading special interests - railroads, then mining, then gaming). This is what the nostalgic types say.

There have been tough sessions before: The "tax session" of 2003; and Sen. Dina Titus v. Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, who were both jockeying to run for governor in 2006. Note, however, that these are the last two sessions.

In other words, politics and government here are changing, becoming more like everywhere else, as the state grows and becomes more economically diverse.

Nevada historian Mike Green said legislators talk about the old days, when they would pile into a car on Friday and drive back to Las Vegas. "It didn't matter if you were Democrat or Republican - you needed a ride. Seven hours together in a car, you have to get along," he said.

The two parties are now firmly on opposite sides of all-day kindergarten, as Democrats held a rally and passed a bill out of committee on a party-line vote.

Republican lobbyists say a significant expansion of all-day kindergarten, which is currently in at-risk schools, is inevitable. They hope the governor doesn't spill too much political goodwill opposing it.

Opponents called it taxpayer-funded day care.

The two parties also have competing proposals for merit pay for teachers and empowerment schools. Empowerment is a term used to describe a school that is given more control over decision-making about education policy and budgeting.

Assembly Democrats also proposed a bill to make massive high schools less monolithic. They want to create schools-within-schools for more intimate learning environments.

Senate Republicans proposed breaking up the Clark County School District, which they say is bloated with bureaucracy.

Also last week, despite the objection of some gaming lobbyists, an Assembly committee passed a bill to create a state lottery. Gaming companies don't want competition from the state. The money would go for schools.

As one liberal blogger quipped: "If it's one thing this state needs, it's more gambling."

Assembly Democrats continue to move at a swifter pace than the Senate. They moved ahead on a bill that would require pharmacists to provide clearer labels on drug bottles and another that would more closely regulate gifts that pharmaceutical companies give to doctors. Both bills will likely get out of the Assembly before facing skepticism from Senate Republicans.