Governor’s officials refuse to release agencies’ budget cut lists

CARSON CITY -- The Gibbons administration refused Wednesday to turn over to the Legislature the lists prepared by state agency directors showing where they would cut their spending by 5 percent if necessary.

Despite a declaration by Legislative Counsel Brenda Erdoes that the lists are public records, Gov. Jim Gibbons' lawyer Josh Hicks said he will not turn over the documents.

"These are not documents for public release," Hicks said. "The governor has the sole discretion to make these budget reservations (reductions). It is his decision and his alone."

State Budget Director Andrew Clinger said the documents will be released when Gibbons makes the cuts in January.

"These are working documents," Clinger said. "We need the administrators and directors of state departments to make recommendations without fear of outside pressure. They know better than anyone else what it takes to run their programs."

The state needs to cut spending by $285 million because of a drop in sales tax revenue from a 50 percent decline in home sales and steep reductions in the purchases of furniture and household goods, along with motor vehicles, Clinger said.

During an Interim Finance Committee hearing, Hicks and Democratic legislators had a sharp verbal exchange over whether the documents should be released.

"What we have here is a seesaw," said Assembly Ways and Means Chairman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas. "You say no, we say yes."

Erdoes was not ordered by the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee to go to court to secure the documents.

What the impasse might show is a widening rift between Republican Gibbons and legislative Democrats.

Republican leaders praised Gibbons in interviews Wednesday and said they did not seek the documents prepared by state agency leaders.

"This governor has gone further than any of the previous four governors in involving us in the budget reduction discussions," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno. "We can make suggestions, and we have."

He said the Democrats are the ones who want the state agency documents.

"When the time comes that he makes the cuts, he will give the documents to us," said Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno.

Gibbons ordered some state agencies on Oct. 15 to prepare lists showing where they would cut their spending by 5 percent, a combined $184 million.

In a Nov. 7 meeting with legislators and local political leaders, Gibbons said that the economic downturn has worsened and that he might need to cut state spending by more than $285 million.

The public school system, prisons and public safety agencies such as the Nevada Highway Patrol were exempted from any cuts.

In a Tuesday interview with the Review-Journal, Gibbons also said that all child welfare programs would be exempt from cuts.

But Clinger on Wednesday would not say categorically that a blanket exemption on cuts was given to all children's programs.

Even the Department of Corrections was not given a blanket exemption when the governor ordered a state government hiring freeze last month, he said.

"We have already exempted 47 percent of the budget (from cuts)," he said. "There may be some things we can cut that won't harm children."

The Legislature on Oct. 31 wrote the governor a letter requesting copies of the cut lists prepared by state agency directors.

The Reno Gazette-Journal filed a lawsuit seeking the cut lists.

Arberry and Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, said Wednesday the Legislature wants the documents prepared by agency heads, not information showing where the administration might make cuts.

Erdoes said that because legislators are not asking for "deliberative" information on where cuts might be made, they must be given the information under state law.

But Hicks said that the attorney general agreed with his interpretation that the documents are privileged information.

They are part of the deliberative process being used by the governor to make his budget cutting decisions, Hicks said.

"It is ultimately the governor's decision," Hicks said. "He has reached out to others as much as he could to get their input."

Coffin complained that when then-Gov. Bob Miller made cuts in 1992, he worked in a "collegial way" with legislators.

But Raggio later said he does not remember Miller or other previous governors involving legislators in their budget cutting decisions.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or (775) 687-3901.