End of session canbe confusing time in the capital

Michael J. Mishak

Monday, May 21, 2007 | 7:53 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Sheila Leslie doesn't have time to talk.

The assemblywoman from Reno is late. So she strides through the hallway, charges down three flights of stairs and makes a beeline for the Democratic caucus room.

"Send me an e-mail later," she tells a reporter. "I need some time to gather my thoughts."

She finally responded, at 10 p.m. And, of course, there's good reason.

Nevada lawmakers are down to the wire, with just two weeks remaining in the legislative session, and things are looking ugly. Some lobbyists are taking bets not on the possibility of a special session, but on how long their extended stay will last.

Transportation, a priority at the outset, has fallen to the wayside. Democrats and Republicans are engaged in a game of political chicken over education funding, which by state law must be settled before the Legislature can tackle other items. And, the controversy over a set of huge tax breaks for companies that are building environmentally friendly, or "green," buildings threatens to eclipse everything.

All of this in a week that included yet another deadline, this one killing legislation, with the exception of a few dozen spending bills, that hadn't received committee passage in both houses by end of business Friday.

At a moment like this, Carson City can be bewildering. Part-time legislators are considering big-time laws - education, transportation, health - but they get bogged down, as any part-timer would, as the scope and complexity of their subjects dawn. Some are capable of discussing education on the same level as dedicated career educators. But on par with Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes or university system Chancellor Jim Rogers?

Who really knows what's going on in weeks like these? Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio has a handle on the big items, for sure. Same goes for Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley. But ask a question, as a new capital reporter would, about what's happening with something like the "green" legislation, and be ready for a dozen different answers, a few of which are informed.

It's the political equivalent of "Choose Your Own Adventure."

That's not to mention the labyrinthine scale of the Legislative Building. Fourth floor? Where's the fourth floor?

With so many moving parts and so few repositories of solid information, keeping the proceedings on track is a challenge, lawmakers say. Making sense of them is even harder.

Uncertain?

Ask a lobbyist.

They're everywhere. In Carson City, where legislators don't have their own administrative staffs, lobbyists double as policy advisers - and some legislators even double as lobbyists. Don't think too hard about the implications of that one.

Still, lots of new blood in Carson City.

"There are too many rookies up here," one lobbyist lamented. "I try to help some of these guys, but I might as well be speaking Spanish."

Another lobbyist said term limits, which kick in after 2010, will only make things worse.

The sense of frustration was palpable Thursday, as the deadline neared. And the seemingly endless train of schoolchildren streaming through the hallways on legislative tours surely was no help.

Asked about what he hoped to accomplish this session, Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera, himself darting between committee hearings, simply said: "I want to get out of here alive."

That was felt by other lawmakers as well as they moved hundreds of bills through the committee process in time for Friday's deadline.

Earlier in the week, Assemblyman Morse Arberry, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, massaged his head methodically as he listened to testimony on a bill that would allocate $175,000 to build a statewide database on affordable housing. As one witness strayed from the topic, Arberry interrupted. "We're supposed to be talking about the money," he said. "We only want to hear about the money."

Then there's the language: bill draft requests, amendments, first reprints, second reprints, fiscal notes. Glossary, please.

On the executive side, Gov. Jim Gibbons' advisory committee on climate change met for the first time last week. Despite concerns that the group would largely focus on the science behind the problem, members seemed committed to finding solutions to curb and reduce carbon emissions in Nevada. (No screening of "An Inconvenient Truth" though, and the lone energy office staffer present was overheard joking about paying for the coffee and doughnuts out of pocket.)

The meeting wasn't without a sour note. One avenue that members said they favored was tax credits for "green" buildings, the same ones lawmakers had sought to curtail this month.

Back to you, Legislature. Gotta find that fourth floor.