Power tussle: Gibbons vs. legislators

By David McGrath Schwartz

Sunday, March 22, 2009 | 2 a.m.

The state constitution cares not a whit about popularity polls or political acumen in apportioning powers among the branches of government.

The governor is the governor, even if he sometimes doesn’t act like he wants to be.

The ongoing arm-wrestling match between the legislative and executive branches has been renewed this session, with lawmakers proposing bills to expand their powers and oversight of the governor.

One proposal would allow legislators to call themselves into special session, something only the governor has authority to do right now. Another would create annual budget sessions, giving the Legislature more oversight on how money is spent. Another would require many gubernatorial appointments and Cabinet members to be approved by a panel of Assembly members and senators.

Some of these proposals aren’t new. As one of the least populated and largest states geographically, with a part-time Legislature, it has made sense to have a strong executive branch.

Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, considered a protector of executive privilege, has long supported Senate oversight of the governor’s Cabinet, as the federal system allows.

But given the unpopularity of Gov. Jim Gibbons, observers say the Legislature has the best chance in years of taking more power.

Assemblyman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, sponsor of the bill to give lawmakers oversight of gubernatorial appointments, insists legislators aren’t motivated by Gibbons’ unpopularity and are taking a long view of the balance of power. Still, he said, the time has come to see whether the Legislature deserves more power.

The session is shaping up to be a particularly tense one for executive-legislative battles, as Gibbons and Democratic leaders clash over the budget and use of federal economic stimulus money.

Round 1 came this month, in a fight over who would determine how $201 million the American Recovery and Relief Act sent to Nevada for transportation projects was spent. The Nevada Transportation Department came up with the list, and the Transportation Board, headed by the governor, approved it.

The list received an informal, advisory nod from legislative leaders. But it was the executive branch in control.

Another key test will be over unemployment money in the federal economic stimulus.

Gibbons has expressed strong concerns over $70 million that the state is eligible for, but which would require a change in state law to increase the number of Nevadans eligible for unemployment benefits.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley has introduced measures that would expand Nevada’s share of the federal stimulus plan, and spoke confidently that Gibbons would not veto the legislation.

The budget is another front in the conflict.

In the past, the Legislature has merely tweaked the executive budget, basically passing 95 percent of what governors submit.

Democrats and Republicans insist this year will be different. They say that because the governor’s budget contains cuts that go too far, they will make dramatic changes.

For example, lawmakers told university officials to draw up a plan to roll back spending to 2006 levels as an alternative to Gibbons’ budget, which would slice the Nevada System for Higher Education by 37 percent.

In a way the governor has aided lawmakers in this power grab, though that has been met with mixed reactions. Gibbons last week insisted that the budget is now in legislators’ hands, that he won’t make suggestions on a growing budget hole until later.

That provoked an angry response from Democratic Assembly members who complained that unlike his predecessors, the governor wouldn’t work with them on a budget solution.

Starting this week, legislators will be publicly deciding what cuts they want to keep and which they will restore. Once they make those decisions, and the federal economic stimulus money is factored in, legislators will look at what taxes need to be raised.

That’s likely when Gibbons — regardless of his approval rating — will get out his veto pen.

As Billy Vassiliadis, a Democratic power broker said: “The governor is a player because the constitution says he’s a player.”