At least Nevada has a budget to criticize

Sunday, July 12, 2009 | 2 a.m.

California’s state government is writing IOUs.

Connecticut’s governor and Legislature are meeting “off site” to resolve their differences over a budget.

And New York’s Legislature has been paralyzed for almost a month, as two Democratic senators defected to the Republican side, creating a 31-31 split that led to dueling Pledges of Allegiance and debates over whether senators getting a cup of coffee could be counted toward a quorum.

More than a week after 46 states began their fiscal years, on July 1, a number of them still haven’t passed spending plans. Listen to California’s governor point out the widespread impasses:

“No one can point fingers, because as you can see, there are 30 states right now that have their fiscal year starting today that also don’t have a budget,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said July 1. “So I mean let’s not get carried away and just look at California as we are the only state that cannot manage the budget.”

Nevada’s Legislature, meanwhile, is in its usual state — hibernation.

For all the criticism that can be fairly lobbed at Nevada’s citizen legislators, give them credit for this — they finished their work on time.

It’s not that their task was any easier. The Nevada Legislature faced the largest budget deficit in the nation — a 44 percent drop in revenue compared with what state officials said was needed to fund existing services. Two-thirds of each house had to approve tax increases. And lawmakers had to deal with an intractable governor who was a rare sight in the halls of the Legislative Building and hardly spoke with legislative leadership during the session.

Not that Gov. Jim Gibbons doesn’t deserve some credit — his mere existence helped focus lawmakers. In carrying out their budget work, legislators had to account for anticipated Gibbons vetoes and allow time for override votes before the 1 a.m. June 2 deadline.

Despite its punctuality, the Legislature has endured plenty of criticism.

Lawmakers’ major budget decisions came in so-called “core group meetings,” with key Republicans and Democrats huddled behind closed doors. The tax plan to balance spending was introduced after midnight in the final weeks of the 120-day session and passed with few hearings.

The legislation itself found few fans. Liberals called it a Band-Aid. Conservatives decried the tax increases and said the full effect on the state’s battered economy was never vetted.

Yet the budget’s moderateness might have been the key to its success. Legislative leaders, including Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, noted Nevadans’ pragmatic streak — they want things done.

Other factors may have contributed to the fast and efficient work of the Nevada Legislature. A delayed budget would have dealt a blow to Buckley’s gubernatorial hopes, as she was a leading voice for an alternative to Gibbons’ proposed budget. An impasse would have also led to questions about the leadership of rookie Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas.

Blowing the constitutionally mandated 120-day deadline would have likely led to a showdown before the Nevada Supreme Court over a special session to finish the budget.

Gibbons, who has authority to call and set the agenda for special sessions, would have likely declared that the Legislature could not consider a tax increase. The Legislature would have fought that stance.

Lawmakers, of course, avoided all that by finishing on time — for only the second time in a decade.

That’s not to say the state’s problems are solved. There will be another gaping budget gap next legislative session. And there’s the possibility a special session will be needed in the coming months if tax revenue doesn’t match the spending called for in the Legislature’s newly passed budget.

But at least the legislative train left the station on time.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.