Monday, August 15, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Just $700 kicked off Buckley's LV gamble

Almost 25 years later, legislator eyes top Assembly post

Barbara Buckley, left, appears on the Assembly floor in June. She says her work with Clark County Legal Services, which provides legal aid to abused children and victims of domestic violence, offers insights that often induce her to write bills. Photo by John Locher.

CARSON CITY -- As a 20-year-old, Barbara Buckley took a trip from her Philadelphia home to Las Vegas to visit her best friend, who had just had a baby.

She quickly fell in love with the city and Nevada's wide-open spaces and decided to move West.

"Instead of staying for two weeks, I stayed a few months and got a job as a maid with the Culinary union," she remembers. "Hardest job in my life. Then I went back to Philadelphia, saved $700 over the next year and moved to Las Vegas."

Now, nearly a quarter-century later, Buckley, 44, has completed her third session as the majority leader of the state Assembly and her 11th year as the Democratic legislator representing District 8 in Las Vegas.

With Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, relinquishing his seat to run for governor next year, Buckley is the overwhelming favorite to replace him as speaker in 2007.

Nevada has never had a female speaker of the Assembly.

"I would be honored to be speaker if I am fortunate enough to be re-elected and we are fortunate enough to retain the majority," Buckley said. "I believe I will be the only nomination from our (Democratic) caucus."

Buckley says she might someday run for statewide office, perhaps attorney general or governor in 2010. Unless voters repeal the state's term limit constitutional amendment, the Assembly careers of Buckley and several other veteran legislators will end that year.

It's been a pretty heady career for someone who arrived in Las Vegas with no interest in politics and who doubted she would ever go to college.

But she found a job as a legal secretary and a friend and mentor in her boss, Las Vegas lawyer Richard Myers. She earned her bachelor's degree going to night classes at UNLV. Then she headed off to law school at the University of Arizona.

Buckley's parents were Democrats, but they weren't the kind of people who talked politics at the dinner table.

Her mother refused to drop quarters into coin slots in unmanned booths when they drove on toll roads. Instead, she would hand money to attendants at manned booths. She figured the attendants would lose their jobs if everybody bypassed them for the unmanned booths.

"They believed this country should be a place where people leave a better life for children," Buckley said.

Outside the Legislature, Buckley is a lawyer and mother of a 6-year-old boy and a teenage stepson. Her husband, Chan Kendrick, prefers to stay out of the public eye.

Buckley has served since 1996 as executive director of Clark County Legal Services, an agency that provides legal assistance to the poor. The organization offers help for abused children and victims of domestic violence. It also offers classes that teach people to represent themselves in small claims court.

"We work for people getting the raw end of the deal," Buckley said. "I love the job today as much as the day I began."

The work offers her insight into problems people experience. What she learns often induces her to write bills.

Buckley's imprint was on virtually all bills that concerned average people at the 2005 Legislature. She and Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, worked out a compromise that limits property tax increases on owner-occupied residential property to 3 percent a year and 8 percent on commercial property.

She and Perkins spearheaded changes in Gov. Kenny Guinn's proposed $300 million car registration rebate plan so that senior citizens who do not drive will receive $75 checks.

In addition, Buckley wrote a bill that reduces fees that can be charged to people who secure loans from payday loan companies. And she sponsored a bill that will help Nevadans secure lower-cost prescription drugs from approved Canadian pharmacies.

Guinn and Buckley have a friendly relationship.

"Barbara is a proud Democrat, and I'm a proud Republican," Guinn said. "That being said, we've worked well together during the past four sessions. She's very smart, very focused and works very hard. We've had a lot of give and take on a lot of important issues like Senior Rx, mental health, Canadian drugs and the DMV rebate, but we always seem to find common ground. I'm not at all surprised she's in line to be the next Assembly speaker."

Assemblyman Scott Sibley, R-Henderson, said Buckley is "a hard worker who knows her stuff. It isn't going to be a case of 'Let's have our first woman speaker.' She has worked well with me and other Republicans. She doesn't play games. She is honest. I don't know what more you can ask of a legislator."

With Democrats holding a 26-16 advantage in the Assembly, Sibley concedes it is unlikely that Republicans can win the majority and install their own speaker.

What has made Buckley effective, according to Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, is her willingness to assist other legislators in passing their bills.

"She has done things to help every member of the caucus," Leslie said. "She listens. She encourages dissenting opinions. She is a great leader."

Buckley does have her detractors.

During the session, Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, complained that Buckley and Perkins were taking her initiatives, revising them slightly and coming up with legislation that Perkins could use to tout his candidacy in the governor's race. Titus also is running for governor.

"In my mind, she (Titus) does deserve a lot of credit," Buckley said. "When people are running for higher office, they naturally become focused on the higher office. Once the race is over, I see us continuing to work together."

Buckley did not always support Perkins. They disagreed on a bill that some legislators thought would make it easier for Station Casinos to place casinos in neighborhoods. Buckley said the bill came late in the session and there wasn't enough time to discuss the ramifications of the bill. Perkins ultimately killed it.

"I disagreed maybe three times with Rich over the last 10 years," she said. "I didn't think we had enough time to examine the neighborhood casino bill. Rich has given me the opportunity to succeed. I thank him."

Steven Miller, policy director for the Nevada Public Research Institute, considers Buckley a big spender who is "part of the problem at the Legislature."

In particular, Miller and others, like Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, favor a constitutional amendment to limit state spending to the combined rate of inflation and population. Legislators approved a $5.9 billion spending plan that was nearly twice that rate.

"She has been working the liberal orchards for a while now," Miller said. "They are going to spend as long as they can get away with it."

Buckley said the rate of spending growth will drop in 2007. Budgets soared in recent years because legislators were making up for years of neglect in areas like mental health, she said. A mental health increase of 48 percent was approved by the Legislature.

Without such a large increase, Buckley said, the state could not have taken steps to reduce the number of mentally ill people who fill emergency rooms.

"We can't just kick them out," she said. "I think the Legislature does need to control spending. When we must spend at high rates, we need to explain why it is necessary."