Jon Ralston notes with hope Gibbons’ absence from the real state budget process

Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009 | 2 a.m.

In 2008, when it came to the budget crisis, it was the Year of the Olive Branch. A governor whose vision consisted of a mindless mantra and a calculator with only a minus key made rote cuts and co-opted lawmakers, who were afraid of the political consequences and gave Jim Gibbons a rubber stamp.

But 2009 will be different. Monday is the beginning of an unprecedented event in Nevada history, a Legislature during which the governor will be utterly irrelevant, a spectacular achievement. Every session needs a moniker and I hereby dub the 75th: The One Branch Session.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers are saying the governor’s budget “plan” is unworkable, and they essentially will start from scratch. This is unheard of in a state with such a potent executive branch that only the governor presents a budget and the Gang of 63 chatters and wails for a few months but does little more than tinker. Not this year, a year in which a de facto legislative budget will supplant the de minimis gubernatorial spending package.

Gibbons thinks people are so clueless that all they can see is a choice between taxes and cuts, because that is his narrow view of the world. The challenge for legislative leaders is to not adopt the same patronizing attitude by hiding from their conclusion that more revenue is needed.

I still fear they may have waited too long — and they won’t present a “revenue plan” until April. Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley and Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford continue to dance around the T-word, a rhetorical waltz that fools no one who understands most Democrats have two left feet.

What polling indicates — and what common sense, a rare capital commodity, tells us — is that people are crying out for leadership. As November showed, the public is ever-hopeful, willing to set aside old stereotypes and hardened cynicism to believe that change has come.

But even if change has come to America, can it make its way to Carson City, where bold strokes occur as often as lawmakers turn down dinners at Adele’s? With Gibbons on the sidelines, where he belongs, there are reasons for hope to have the long-awaited conversation about how the state spends and raises money and what policy should guide each side of the budget equation.

Gibbons has never wanted a conversation, only a monologue, and a numbingly repetitive one. From the Democrats so far, we have only promises, and the man who holds the job formerly known as governor seized on that last week.

“I find it incredibly disappointing that some members of the Legislature would suggest that they have not had the resources, the opportunity or the time to find solutions to our budget situation,” Gibbons said in a news release. “I will not stand by quietly while Speaker Buckley and Sen. Horsford besmirch the hard work performed by me and my staff in assembling the budget.”

Yes, legislative leaders should have been preparing a plan because they should not have had any expectation the governor would fulfill his duties as chief executive. But for Gibbons, who barely participated in key decisions on his own budget and spends carefree time in Reno as the state burns, to feign outrage about his “hard work” is not just offensive — it is unconscionable. (Yes, his staff worked tirelessly without guidance. But the party boy who sometimes lives in the mansion has besmirched the title voters bestowed upon him.)

As Gibbons’ approval rating reaches its inevitable intersection with the state’s unemployment rate, any hopes reside with Buckley, Horsford and open-minded state Senate Republicans. Yes, public employee benefits reform may be the key to opening that GOP door. But the Republicans have handed Horsford and Buckley that key; they just need the will to use it.

The larger issue is breaking a familiar cycle. “In good times we spend a little bit of money on a lot of things, getting good at nothing,” Buckley said. “And in bad times we destroy everything we’ve just built.”

Buckley and Horsford have miles to go before they tax — yes, I can use the word. So far, all they have is a timeline. But they seem willing to have a conversation with those who do not necessarily embrace all they might want to do, quietly establishing a dialogue that must be sustained with GOP leaders and private-sector captains.

Gibbons, through his State of the State and continued petulance and sloth, has made his choice. It’s time for the grown-ups in both parties to fill the vacuum created by the man who holds the job formerly known as governor.

Let the One Branch Session begin.

Discussion: 3 comments so far…

By Future2012

2/1/09 at 9:21 a.m.

Suggest removal

Jon stop giving Buckley and Horsford a free pass.

"Buckley and Horsford have miles to go before they tax"

Counting federal and other funds such as highway collections, Gibbons is presenting the 2009 Legislature with a $17.3 billion biennial budget or just 0.9 percent lower than the 2007-2009 fiscal year spending program.

Of the $17.3 billion $6.17 billion is for the Nevada executive budget and Gibbon's executive or general fund budget included $546 billion in revenue increases like room taxes.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley and Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford have yet to provide a spending plan or a revenue plan.

Why not?

The obvious answer is twofold. First unlike Gov. Gibbons they can wait until the Obama Stimulus II bailout to the states is approved mid-February to see what we get. This will clearly diminish the funding gap. Secondly by waiting until May to identify the new taxes (in addition to Gibbons') they hope that there is insufficient time for those affected to provide counter-argument.

The Legislature can be expected to move funds to different accounts within the $6.2 Billion other whys why have them.

Question is which accounts are Democrats reducing to increase their pet areas?

Which state activities are Democrats cutting to fund their pet areas?

Then where will they target the bailout money from Obama.

We are spending 6 billion during the current cycle is the a real reason we have to spend a Democrat projection of 8 billion in the next cycle.
By Fccfirstclass

2/3/09 at 4:30 a.m.

Suggest removal

Great article Jon.

Please keep up the outstanding reporting.
By NoNevJim

2/4/09 at 9:54 p.m.

Suggest removal

Gibbons of all people should know better than to balance the budget on the backs of state employees. State employees can only wish they had the benefits that federal workers enjoy. Far from it. Check out these benefits the feds get:
Student Loan Repayment
Program -
Eligibility for the program is based on the
position and is reviewed annually.
Child Care Centers Child Care Subsidy - The
subsidy program is income based and income
eligibility guidelines apply.
Convenient Employee
Services - The U.S. State Department has an on-
site Credit Union and various bank ATMs, a
fitness facility, U.S. Post Office,
barber/beautician, dry cleaner, and gift/card
shops. Employee Consultation
Service - They have licensed
clinical social workers to provide counseling
and referrals for personal and family
concerns. Flexible work hours - Many federal
Departments offers alternative work schedules,
telecommuting and job sharing opportunities,
which varies from office to office.
IQ: INFORMATION QUEST - IQ
is a counseling, education and referral service
that helps employees manage personal and
professional responsibilities (e.g., adoption,
adult care).
MetroChek transit subsidy -
If you use public transportation, part of your
transportation costs may be subsidized.
Recruitment Bonuses and Retention
Allowances - We offer these incentives
in designated occupations.
All Federal agencies offer an
extensive array of employee benefits. A brief
summary of some of these benefits follow. For
additional information, visit www.opm.gov.
Federal Employees Health
Benefits Plans - with costs
shared by the Government.
Federal Employees Retirement System
(FERS) - which automatically covers new
employees. If you are transferring from another
Federal agency your retirement coverage will not
change.
Thrift Savings Plan - a
voluntary 401-k style plan which allows you to
make tax deferred contributions and receive
partial matching agency funds.
The Federal Employees Group Life
Insurance plan (FEGLI) - offers low
rates on premiums that are paid through payroll
deductions. The U.S. Government pays one-third
of the cost of this insurance.
Long Term Care Insurance -
is also offered and carries into your
retirement.
Annual Leave - employees
accrue annual leave based on their Federal
length of service.
Sick - Employees earn sick
leave at a rate of four hours per pay period, or
13 days per year.
Family Medical Leave -
entitles employees to take up to 12 weeks of
unpaid absence in a 12-month period for certain
purposes.
Paid federal holidays -
Employees are excused from work with pay, to
observe the holidays that fall within your
regularly scheduled tour of duty.
Working for the state of Nevada ain't lookin' nearly as good.

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