Leadership, Gibbons-style

Wednesday, April 2, 2008 | 2:09 a.m.

Gov. Jim Gibbons is being lauded by some legislators and commentators for showing leadership as the state weathers its worst financial crisis in 16 years.

The governor, they say, met Monday with legislative leaders and listened!

For most governors, that would be routine. For Gibbons, however, that does represent an improvement.

In January, when Gibbons first announced that tax revenues were falling well short of projections, he short-circuited the Legislature and ordered across-the-board cuts.

On Monday, however, he met with legislative leaders and discussed what has grown to be an estimated shortfall of $900 million between now and the end of June 2009.

Nothing tangible came out of the discussions, but at least a bipartisan group of legislative leaders had an opportunity this time to comment on what services should or should not be cut to balance the budget.

Time will tell whether Gibbons was actually listening and whether he will invite the legislators back for follow-up discussions. Even if he does, options will be somewhat limited. He has already ruled out calling the Legislature into special session to get a broader perspective on the crisis.

And, characteristically, he has ruled out any new or increased taxes. This is unfortunate, because Nevada is highly vulnerable to roller-coaster economic times due to its near total dependence on gaming and sales taxes.

Realigning the tax base, and committing to incremental increases each biennium, would go a long way toward stabilizing the state budget. Contrasts such as sending tax rebate checks one year and slashing services two or three years later could be avoided.

Gibbons rejects tax increases in good times because he says that would inhibit investors, and he rejects tax increases in bad times because he says people can’t afford them. The result of such thinking is that services are not made solvent in the good times and they are brutalized in the bad times, such as now, with the effects of the Bush recession upon us.

And that’s leadership?