Party in power’s tension heating up

Chris Morris

By J. Patrick Coolican (contact), David McGrath Schwartz (contact)

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 | 2 a.m.

CATHLEEN ALLISON / NEVADA APPEAL

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford and Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, both Democrats, discuss the budget in Carson City earlier this session.

CARSON CITY — Maybe it’s the stress and the long hours, or the lonely meals away from home, or seeing the same mugs every week.

Whatever it is, recent days have laid bare some tension between Barbara Buckley, the two-term Assembly speaker and veteran legislator from Las Vegas, and Steven Horsford, the new and youngest Senate majority leader in state history.

They are confronting a budget crisis that will require a painful blend of tax increases and spending cuts totaling more than $3 billion.

Monday, as legislative leaders tried to agree on a final piece of the budget — higher education — they reached an impasse, with Horsford and Buckley on opposite sides.

Buckley somewhat curiously voiced her disagreement publicly, as Assembly Democrats told reporters that Republicans and Assembly Democrats were OK with 13 percent in cuts, while Horsford was holding out for 12 percent in cuts.

Horsford appeared to be alone, with Buckley subtly pointing a finger at him for the delay.

The need for agreement is urgent, lest legislators run out of time and are forced to live with the budget of Gov. Jim Gibbons, which is viewed as draconian and unrealistic by legislators of both parties.

“It was an attempt to put public pressure on Horsford,” said one lobbyist who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

Horsford wanted more money. Buckley wanted to close the deal. They each left the meeting in something of a huff.

Tuesday, they split the difference.

No doubt, the stress must be overwhelming.

Buckley is in her last term, watching a legacy of support for education and health care get hacked away by the cleaver of the Great Recession.

Horsford, first elected in 2004, is in his first session in the majority and first session as leader. His housewarming gift: a series of awful choices between taxes on struggling businesses and still more cuts in a struggling education system.

The tension seems to have boiled over this week, as the two camps are not pleased with each other, according to sources close to both.

Horsford “underestimates how close we are to utter failure. We have nine days left,” said one Assembly Democrat, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

This legislator questioned Horsford’s legislative experience: “He’s never even been on Finance before,” a reference to the powerful Senate money committee.

But those close to Horsford say Buckley, who is believed to be a candidate for governor in 2010, has been politically motivated and, thus, overly cautious and moderate.

These accounts were confirmed by a Republican participant in high-level budget talks with inside knowledge of the process.

“The speaker’s office has observed him making freshman mistakes,” the source said. “The majority leader feels the speaker’s agenda is too rigid and narrow. There’s also a feeling that because he’s the new guy, they’re not giving him a chance to lead.”

Some conflict was inevitable, as the two Democrats, both viewed as rising stars in the party, entered the session with different ambitions and, thus, agendas. Although they both come from modest beginnings and have risen through the ranks of Nevada politics quickly, they also have had different approaches to politics and policy with different styles.

Buckley is a master inside player, a legislative operator who has always been deliberate. She long ago mapped out how she wanted the pieces to fit in place. She appears to have dropped a call for fundamental change — a new tax structure or big change in operations of government or schools — in favor of a pragmatic approach, of getting an alternative to Gibbons’ budget passed.

Not finishing on time while Nevada’s crisis continues could be viewed as dithering by the public as she’s beginning a run for governor.

Horsford, serving in just his third session, came into the process fresh from the campaign of President Barack Obama, with all its grass-roots energy, and he hoped to fundamentally change the way things are done in Carson City.

He’ll be back in 2011, and no doubt wants to return as majority — not minority — leader. That means balancing the needs of competing interest groups, including his longtime business allies on the Strip, but also traditional Democratic interest groups such as organized labor.

He had promised an open and transparent process before falling back to “core group meetings” — negotiations among a small group of top legislators to hammer out final deals.

But he’s still pushing for major reform of the state’s tax structure, including a corporate income tax, which could prevent future fiscal debacles. Without a new tax in place, legislators could very well be back to enact more tax increases in 2011.

Without the consent of Buckley, however, it’s unlikely that proposal will go anywhere.

Of course, nothing eases tension more than an agreement and meeting a deadline.

Monday, after closed-door meetings to reach a deal, a legislative subcommittee on which Buckley and Horsford sit approved the higher education budget. The Legislature would spend “just south of $7 billion,” according to Horsford, including a cut of 12.5 percent in higher education instead of the 36 percent Gibbons proposed.

Horsford gave a speech at the end of the committee meeting, in which he thanked staff, Raggio and, finally, Buckley.

“There are those who would find the differences,” he said. “I would say without equivocation that the process has helped unite us.”

Buckley agreed.

“Tempers have grown a little heated. But I look forward to the next step,” she said, referring to the passage of a tax increase. That, she said, “will be even harder.”