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Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal
Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons answers media questions Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009, at his Capitol office in Carson City. Gibbons is considering another round of budget cuts and a possible special legislative session to deal with Nevada’s fiscal woes.
Friday, Jan. 22, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Sun Coverage
Gov. Jim Gibbons’ relationship with lawmakers reached a new nadir this week after he issued an order that state workers under his authority not speak to legislators without his approval.
“All legislative requests for information or reporting of any kind must be sent directly to the governor’s office,” Gibbons wrote in a letter last week to department heads. “My staff will determine which requests warrant responses from a Department of the Executive Branch ... Any request for information received by your department that does not come from my office is to be returned to the requestor.”
Additionally, according to Gibbons’ order, any request for an executive branch employee to testify or appear before a legislative committee must be approved by the governor’s executive staff.
The governor’s staff said the directive is necessary because legislators were asking time-consuming questions that distracted it from conducting state business.
Robin Reedy, the governor’s chief of staff, lightened the ban somewhat this week. In an interview, she said legislators calling on behalf of a constituent about issues such as problems with unemployment checks could still contact departments directly.
Still, legislators and state government observers say the order, which they described as unprecedented, threatens the ability of state government to function at a crucial moment. Nevada is confronting a widening budget deficit and is reeling from the recession.
“We communicate with the executive branch every day,” said Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, which provides research, legal and other services for lawmakers. “If we can’t get that information, it will make it impossible for us to do our jobs.”
The governor has called a meeting of the Economic Forum, a panel of five members of the business community, to issue new tax revenue projections. State sources expect that when the panel meets today in Carson City, it will determine the state is facing a $400 million to $600 million deficit. In response to those projections, Gibbons is expected to call a special session of the Legislature next month.
Democratic and Republican legislators have written letters protesting the governor’s decision, and question whether it’s legal.
“Not only is this a terribly inefficient procedure and a disservice to the people of the state whom we all represent, the failure to respond ... is quite probably illegal,” wrote Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas.
In another letter, Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno, wrote: “These difficult economic times require more communication and cooperation between the branches, not less. Further, your directive hampers the openness and transparency in government.”
Gansert noted that some state employees are required by law to provide certain information to lawmakers. “By directing executive branch employees not to respond to these requests, you are putting them in the position of either violating the law or violating your directive,” she wrote.
Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, called the policy “unfortunate and inappropriate.” “It’s essential that legislators have access to information in those departments without some difficult way to obtain it,” he said.
Bill Raggio
Gibbons’ new barrier between the branches of state government is just the latest sign of the tensions between the governor and lawmakers. During the 2009 session, he took a hands-off approach to the legislative process after submitting his budget. He then vetoed a record 45 bills, and the Legislature responded by overriding his vetoes a record 25 times.
The Democratic-controlled Legislature has proved a useful political foil for the governor as he attempts to cast himself as a conservative voice in his bid for re-election. He has railed against the tax increases lawmakers passed to balance the budget; called the Legislature’s interim committee unconstitutional; and Thursday issued a news release blaming the Legislature for the state’s bad economy. “I believe the Democrat-controlled Legislature is partly responsible for many of the economic problems our state is facing,” he said.
Before he issued the order, Gibbons had been upset that the Legislature would not grant him access to legislative lawyers to draft bills for a special session.
Reedy denied any connection between prior incidents and Gibbons’ order. Instead, she said, it had to do with legislative requests to staff that were “distracting from agencies’ core mission.”
Stacy Woodbury, Gibbons’ deputy chief of staff, said a variety of requests from legislators have consumed staff time. What spurred last week’s letter were legislators requesting information from the unemployment insurance office regarding the overpayment of benefits.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reported in early December that the state was trying to collect money it had overpaid to unemployed Nevadans. Legislators asked the Employment, Training and Rehabilitation Department for information about overpayments, including historical data.
Woodbury said the department’s director, Larry Mosley, told her around Christmas that the requests were distracting staff from getting unemployment checks out. She raised the issue with the governor and other senior staff Jan. 11, and the governor issued his letter the next day.
Woodbury emphasized that legislators dealing with constituents’ issues such as problems with unemployment payments can directly communicate with staff. “That’s OK,” she said. “That’s something that’s within agencies’ core mission.”
that little gibbons monkey...
does not play well with others...
and sadly...
he is the governor...
Gym Gibbons is a petty, vindictive jackass. And those are his good traits.
John Oceguera commenting on the legality of anything is comical.
Hello all state worker slaves,
How does it feel to lose your free speech rights?
So, basically, the department was afraid if they provided the data, the legislature might discover the incompetency.
Telling legislators that they cannot speak to members of the executive branch without the governor's permission is as clear a violation of the separation of powers as has ever been committed. Telling members of the executive branch that they cannot speak to legislators without his permission is a sure sign that Gibbons has gone off the edge and wants to establish a dictatorship. This is Hitlerian stuff.
Our legislators and state workers should either ignore this Ermachtigungsgesetz en masse or comply en masse. If they comply en masse, Gibbons would be reduced to a low-level bureaucrat reviewing requests to speak and would have no time to engage in any further mischief.
Expounding on my earlier comment. In 1933 Hitler encouraged the Reichstag (legislature) to pass a law allowing the executive branch to enact all legislation, effectively giving Hitler dictatorial power. This was known as the Ermachtigungsgesetz. If a governor can cut off communication with legislators by executive order, he doesn't even need to ask them for permission to cut themselves out of the picture. Hitler at least went through the motions.
To prevent this sort of thing is exactly why we have a constitution with separation of powers and freedom of speech.
It is also why our constitution grants the legislative branch the power of impeachment.
Gibbons' order is an impeachable offense against the legislative authority and democratic order established in the Constitution.
At this moment, the whimpier members of the executive branch will be following orders. The legislature can either shed tears until the governor relents - or doesn't - or it can establish its rightful place in a democracy by filing articles of impeachment.
This is a test. My best guess is that our legislators will fail it.
Some administrative discipline is necessary lest spurious requests from the Legislative side degrade the Executive side's ability to perform its primary function -- and providing an answer can be terribly time-consuming & disruptive. However, the Executive branch does need to respond to official queries from the Legislative side and should be made to comply with all lawful requests. Both sides simply need to take a breath, quit playing "gotcha" and trying to one up each other, and get on with the people's business!
Get rid of this loser...
NLV-Indep13,
So you are against transparent government where our legislative representatives can find out what that pesky other branch is doing if you decide the requests are spurious? What, specifically, was spurious in this case? What? You say you cannot tell with the information given in the article above? Guess you're flying blind...
I wonder if information from management within the Executive branch would ever be considered spurious and thus degrading to the ability of workers to do their job? Naw that could never happen.
So in the mean time, the folks at LCB Fiscal sit around on their thumbs unable to do their job and work with everyone to resolve the budget crisis. Jimbo, you are toast in November.
It appears the honorable governor has never read the US constitution of the United States.
John Oceguera had it right. This is a disservice to the people of this state. We need people working together to solve our problems.
The governor seems to think partisan politics are much more important than getting anything accomplished...
Hmmm... when did we elect Reedy as governor? She is the partisan pit bull here. All of these idiotic directives are coming straight from her (the Love-Gov is certainly not clever enough to come up with any of this.) She needs to be fired -- NOW.
How about charging money to talk to these guys. The state needs Monsy bad!.
BTW, Gibbons wants the AG to sue about a bill that doesn't exist yet. I guess there really is money to burn.I'm tired of typing the word hypocrite - at least as tired as everyone is reading it. But, these guys are so far gone that maybe the Federal Government really should step it and put the state into receivership.
So he has finally become a dictator... or is it dick tater?
Hey - it's such a crock. Gibbons asked state employees for their suggestions on how to tighten up their departments where they worked. He got 100's of suggestions and didn't acknowledge not one email. Didn't take one cost cutting suggestion, NOTHING!! I got news for Mr. Gibbons, if you cut corners at the DOC and any officer gets hurt, the State, YOU, Skolnick and whoever the warden is at whatever prison an incident occurs, you all will be sued by the family and we will win! Stop ignoring officer safety, Governor, or might we suggest YOU take a day or swing shift at Ely or Lovelock or Carson City for a week and then tell us you want to make more cuts.
Go ahead...make our day, Governor! Our attornies are all on standby if our husbands/boyfriends get injured or killed.
WOW this guy just gets in deeper everyday, now he's acting like HITLER barking no talk orders. Does anyone see what this guy is doing? The State Legislature needs to impeach this man as soon as possible, soley for embarrasing the State of Nevada beyond repair.