Governor Gibbons Is Wagging The Dog

Posted by Myrna the Minx on June 16, 2008 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

So why, after promising not to call a special session of the state legislator, has Governor Gibbons changed his mind and called a special session that will cost the citizens of Nevada around half a million dollars? From what Democratic legislators Barbara Buckley, Sheila Leslie, Steve Horsford, and David Bobzien are saying, legislators were very close to finding the cuts needed to take care of the budget shortfall without calling a special session. And now we are hearing from LV Sun reporters Coolican and Schwartz that Gibbons’ advisers told him that calling a special session would help Gibbons “‘change the subject’ from the divorce” From the Sun:

Buckley said a governor generally identifies the problem, develops a solution, works with legislators to reach consensus and then calls the session. This saves both time and money. Buckley said that hasn’t happened in this case and it could be a long special session that is limited to 20 days.

Leslie said the legislative leaders met with Gibbons Thursday and there was an agreement to work together to solve the problem. She feels it can be taken care of without a special session. She pitched a plan to convince the federal government to back off a Medicaid regulation that would save Nevada $32 million.
She said state officials should work hard to reverse the government and that would save half the deficit.

Leslie said the governor showed no respect for the lawmakers by not notifying them first.

It certainly sounds like Gibbons has not been negotiating in good faith with the legislature, and by calling a special session when the legislature doesn’t think one is necessary is downright weird for Gibbons given the lip service he’s payed to opposing the idea, not to mention all his speechifying about ending government waste, improving efficiency, etc. Of course, calling a special session now doesn’t seem like such a bad idea after two weeks of bad press about Gibbons’ divorce, alleged mistresses and girlfriends, and using government property to communicate with them on a frequent basis.

The citizens of Nevada deserve better from our Governor. We deserve a governor who communicates with and works honestly with the legislature, and who does not put his own political needs to “change the subject” in front of managing our state. And we definitely deserve better than a governor who, for all accounts and purposes, has trouble just making it in to work at a reasonable hour these days.