Gibbons plans government overhaul

Gov. Jim Gibbons said Thursday that he hopes soon to form a commission to examine the state budget and root out government inefficiency and waste.

Speaking at a presentation on the economy Thursday morning, Gibbons said it was "high time that we rethink government altogether."

Reports on Nevada's tax structure, he said, have piled up over the years, but they haven't given much insight into how the state's money is being spent.

"Each of these reports provided meaningful insights into the relative pluses and minuses of our state's structure," he said of the studies, from the 1960s to 2003. "These reports, however, provided relatively little in terms of expenditure reform or the merits of the present distribution of revenue between state and local governments."

Gibbons likened his proposal to President Reagan's Grace Commission, which Reagan commanded to "work like tireless bloodhounds" to find savings. The group's 1984 report said its recommendations, if implemented, would save the government $1.9 trillion per year by 2000.

"Some of the commission's recommendations were accepted, while others were passed over," Gibbons said. "But the process itself set into motion a new mind-set of increasing government accountability and enhancing fiscal responsibility as a matter of public policy. ... In the coming months, I intend to empower a similar commission to provide recommendations on how our state government could become more efficient."

The proposal was greeted with applause by the audience at the presentation of Las Vegas Perspective 2008, a comprehensive annual report on the area's economic situation.

Asked about the proposal later Thursday, Gibbons said he would hope to get a small-scale, piecemeal effort under way soon enough to have an effect on the current budget situation, while in the longer term undertaking a more comprehensive overhaul.

"We'll do it in a smaller sector, a few at a time, just so we can implement it and get something changed," he said. "Because if you do it in a big, robust fashion that we often see, what happens is that big, robust report sits on a shelf and never gets acted upon."

Gibbons didn't say when the commission will be formally announced. His press secretary, Ben Kieckhefer, said the governor's office was working to identify the scope of the project and potential members.

Kieckhefer didn't have a time frame for when the project would be unveiled.

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.