Kenny Guinn Lame-duck governor making bold budget proposals, last-minute appointments Jim Gibbons Signs for the governor-elect are pointing to a less than smooth transition

To political observers, it appears Gov. Kenny Guinn is taking major steps to make life difficult for his successor, Gov.-elect Jim Gibbons, even though both are Republicans.

With the election over and a new governor waiting in the wings, it's transition time in the Governor's Mansion. But signs are pointing less to a smooth passing of the baton and more to a last-ditch game of political chicken.

The strained relationship between the two is old news. But Guinn's actions as a lame duck, chiefly last-minute appointments and bold, public budget proposals, say more than just that he doesn't much like his successor. For example, Guinn's final acts in office could have a big effect on how history views him.

Perhaps more importantly, how Gibbons handles the awkward situation he's been put in is seen as a crucial bellwether of how he will govern going forward.

"It does look like Guinn is going out of his way to handcuff Gibbons," said University of Nevada, Las Vegas political scientist David Damore. "That's what you might expect if there were a change in party, but this is two Republicans. It's personal."

The antipathy between Guinn and Gibbons goes back more than a decade but was cemented by a speech Gibbons, then a congressman, gave to the Legislature in 2003. In the speech, Gibbons said he didn't think Guinn's plan to raise taxes was a good idea.

Guinn, in turn, conspicuously declined to be a public advocate for Gibbons' election campaign, never officially endorsing him for governor.

On top of the situation Guinn is leaving him, Gibbons will have a steep learning curve because he's spent the last 10 years in Washington, D.C., making the lack of tutelage he's getting even more of an obstacle, said former Republican Gov. Bob List. List and his successor, Democrat Richard Bryan, both served as state attorney general immediately before ascending to the Governor's Mansion.

"There's going to be a significant change here because they (Guinn and Gibbons) come from different perspectives and backgrounds," List said. "And Jim has a tougher job ahead of him getting up to speed than I did. I was already in Carson City; I was the attorney general. I knew the agencies and the state government very well."

But List predicted Gibbons will be able to handle whatever Guinn is dishing out. "He's a strong, tough guy," he said.

TESTY TRANSITION

For the most part, outgoing Nevada governors have worked with their successors, experts and three ex-governors said.

Guinn's actions "go above and beyond" the traditional outgoing governor's acts, List said. Most put together only a skeleton budget, leaving the new guy room to maneuver, whereas Guinn has put forth specific, significant new spending proposals such as expanding all-day kindergarten and putting $110 million into a university health sciences center.

List recalled that when he took over from Democratic Gov. Mike O'Callaghan in 1979, O'Callaghan gave him "a pretty blank canvas."

"Governor O'Callaghan and I worked together to formulate priorities. I kept his budget director and there was a smooth transition."

Four years later, List was defeated for re-election by Bryan, but once again, the two men from different parties found common ground for the sake of the transition, despite a tough race that drove out the incumbent.

"We turned over the apparatus of the budget preparation totally to Governor Bryan and his staff," List said.

Likewise, former Democratic Gov. Bob Miller said he asked his Republican successor, Guinn, for recommendations for high-profile appointments, including a spot on the Gaming Commission.

"I appointed his (Guinn's) people," Miller said. "I made the choices he wanted based on his requests. After all, they were going to have to serve under him."

Guinn, on the other hand, has made two appointments to the powerful state Gaming Control Board that will take effect the day Gibbons takes office, Jan. 1.

Guinn reappointed board Chairman Dennis Neilander and last week named his gubernatorial chief of staff, Keith Munro, to the open seat on the three-member panel created by the departure of Bobby Siller, who didn't seek reappointment.

Reappointing Neilander should have been a no-brainer, no matter who was making the appointment, said Frank Schreck, one of the state's top gaming lawyers. "I would hope that would be the same selection as Jim Gibbons would make," he said.

As for naming Munro, "There's a chance that might not have been Gibbons' selection because he's the current governor's chief of staff," Schreck said. "I don't want to get in the middle of that. It's clear there's a little bit of feuding. Governor Guinn has the authority to make those appointments before he leaves, and I guess he's going to exercise that authority."

Schreck said the gaming community was comfortable with both Neilander and Munro, seeing both as competent and respected.

Guinn's actions may be the exception, but they're not without precedent, state archivist Guy Rocha said.

"(Former Democratic Gov.) Grant Sawyer made a number of last-minute appointments" in 1966, as he prepared to cede the office to then-Lt. Gov. Paul Laxalt, a Republican with whom he'd had a fraught relationship, Rocha said. "They weren't major appointments, but it was unprecedented at that time to use the lame-duck (position) like that."

Guinn defended the appointments by saying he's still governor until Gibbons officially takes office.

"When do you stop (being governor)?" Guinn asked. "A month ago? Two months ago? The law is very clear that you're still responsible."

GUINN'S LEGACY

The last-minute moves put Guinn at risk of appearing petty by putting his personal agenda ahead of the traditional imperative of political succession, Damore said.

Although part of Guinn's plan seems to be merely to hurt Gibbons, that's not his principle objective, Damore said. Guinn genuinely believes in the things he's proposing and doesn't trust Gibbons to implement them.

"These are things that he definitely cares about," he said. "Kenny Guinn sees the state as needing to go into a certain direction, and he doesn't necessarily see Jim Gibbons going in that direction."

On Nov. 6, the day before the election, Guinn presented some specific budget recommendations that were widely seen as a deliberate finger in Gibbons' eye, especially a proposal to make all-day kindergarten available to all Nevada children, not just the high-risk schools where a pilot program is in place.

Universal all-day kindergarten was a central plank in the election platform of Dina Titus, Gibbons' Democratic opponent. Gibbons never took a firm position on the issue, saying he needed to see more evidence of the program's effectiveness and was worried it would add too much in recurring costs to the state budget.

Guinn on Nov. 6 proposed adding $25 million in 2008-09 to the $22 million per year already being spent on all-day kindergarten, saying it would take $80 million to $100 million in the next biennium budget to keep the program going.

Guinn also proposed putting $110 million toward a health sciences center for the state's university system, about half the funds the university regents had sought for that purpose, and $170 million to widen Interstate 15 in Las Vegas. He said he didn't consult either gubernatorial nominee in making his recommendations.

During the campaign, Gibbons mentioned higher education and transportation infrastructure as worthy "one-shot" funding items, but didn't make any firm commitments. That is still the case, Gibbons' spokesman, Brent Boynton, said last week. Boynton said Gibbons was not available to comment personally and had not yet formulated his priorities going forward.

Gibbons will make the budget he submits to the Legislature reflect his own desires, Boynton said.

"Something the transition team is going to do is look over everything that has happened, including looking at the budget and making sure it is his (Gibbons') budget when he submits it to the Legislature," he said. "It's going to be his head on the line, his reputation, his belief to act in the best interest of the people of this state."

GIBBONS' NEXT MOVES

To political watchers, Gibbons has appeared to move forward sluggishly, making only a few staff picks in the 21/2 weeks since the election: a chief and deputy chief of staff, and Boynton as his press secretary.

Bryan said it was important for a new governor to create public confidence early on by making the right key staff picks as soon as possible. His first move after being elected, he said, was to get Bill Bible to agree to be his budget director. Bryan described Bible, a longtime major political player who now heads the Nevada Resort Association, as "remarkably intelligent," "politically savvy," "incredibly experienced," "highly respected" and "a genius."

"I wanted to announce his appointment literally the day after the election," Bryan said. "It gave me instant credibility. I wanted to have my own person in that key role, I wanted to get to work right away. ... I was unknown in a gubernatorial sense; Bible was my lighthouse of fiscal responsibility. His appointment was widely acclaimed. It made people say, 'Jesus, maybe this guy's got more than a room-temperature IQ.'"

Bryan said he and Bible worked to create a budget out of the gate that overhauled the state's finances at a time of recession and fiscal crisis, raising taxes judiciously while implementing major new economic development programs and shoring up education.

"The new governor needs to lay out his priorities and say what needs to be done within the budget to change those priorities," Bryan said. "There may be some differences (from Guinn) in budget philosophies. We don't know, because the new governor hasn't expressed himself."

Gibbons has two choices. He can accept Guinn's budget proposals for the most part or he could ignore Guinn and chart his own course.

Guinn's proposals, especially all-day kindergarten, are thought to be popular with voters, and the Democrats in the majority in the Assembly have indicated they plan to push all-day kindergarten aggressively, Damore noted.

"Guinn's setting up Gibbons to either do this or be the bad guy," he said. "He either goes with the flow, or he's picking a fight with something that most people probably think is a good idea. Gibbons has a reputation as a noncompromiser, but if this is the fight he wants to pick, it's a loser. Guinn is putting him in a tough spot, and it's obviously intentional."

Republican political consultant Steve Wark, who worked on Guinn's campaign, said it's never been Guinn's style "to drop-kick to somebody else, regardless of what you think of his political philosophy.

"One of the things we haven't found out in the course of the campaign is what Jim Gibbons plans to do. He hasn't set forth a legislative agenda," Wark said. "At this point, we don't know what his priorities are going forward. His next steps will tell us a lot about what kind of governor he's going to be."