Cut state spending? Start with the Ethics Commission

The Spending and Government Efficiency Commission -- or SAGE -- is intended to root out government waste and "change the way the state of Nevada conducts business."

But whether you consider the Northern Nevada-packed group to be sage or simply an excuse to cut state government to the bone is probably a matter of your political persuasion.

However, if Gov. Kenny Guinn's previous examination of state spending is any indication, Nevada is a pretty lean government machine. Then-Gov. Guinn's fundamental review found inefficiencies and some duplication of services. Gov. Jim Gibbons' SAGE Commission will undoubtedly find the same.

But unless the panel decides to kill entire programs, the amount of cost savings won't help the state much, as tax revenues continue to fall short of expectations and the growing difference between what was budgeted and what we have continues to grow.

There are some parts of state government that the average Southern Nevada would willingly put on the chopping block. How about the Alfalfa Seed Advisory Board? Maybe the Board for the Education and Counseling of Displaced Homemakers or the Nevada State High School Rodeo Association?

Of course, one person's agricultural promotion is another's Yucca Mountain fight.

Even a cursory look at state government through its Web site would get the average person frustrated. There is, for example, no valid link to the Nevada Literacy Coalition of the state Cultural Affairs Division.

And the signature senior prescription drug program, paid for largely with tobacco settlement funds, doesn't even have a waiting list in these horrendous economic times. Some conservatives, who have never liked the program, may wonder whether Senior Rx should be covering those who aren't seniors, for example. Of the roughly 5,500 people currently enrolled, about 480 are younger Nevadans suffering from a disability.

I've looked at the budget for ways to cut. You can argue there are certain consumer protection divisions that have duplicative services. And you could find some places to cut -- maybe the legislative travel budget for lawmakers who earn a salary that makes the word "paltry" seem generous. (That's $3,900 a year.)

Hey, we get what we pay for in Nevada. And the SAGE Commission will probably suggest we pay too much in some places.

I take a different approach. Because we pay so little in so many areas, why not just get rid of them?

Case in point: the Nevada Commission on Ethics.

There's little doubt Nevada officials need a solid sounding board for ethical issues. But this is a commission which over the years has enabled more unethical behavior than it has curtailed.

Erin Kenny? The former Clark County commissioner may be in prison for corruption, but she was never unethical in the eyes of the panel.

The Ethics Commission is a classic case of Nevada doing something because it should, without paying mind to doing something properly.

With an average annual budget of $700,000, the commission is the state clearinghouse for financial disclosure forms and the key enforcement agency for complaints about ethical transgressions by public officials or candidates for office. Most of the budget is used to pay for the commission's five staffers. There's a director, a general counsel and investigator, in addition to two office managers.

It's clear the commission can't really handle the magnitude of the problem in Nevada. Common sense would say a legislator should not also serve as a lobbyist. And it shouldn't take a few lawyers and a year-long investigation to determine it's risky business for a city councilman to take a ob that requires him to lobby for a construction trade with plenty of business before the city.

Finally, nearly a year after Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Ross asked for an opinion and went ahead and took the union job, the commission released its opinion, essentially saying Ross is fraught with conflict.

"Although abstention may be a safe harbor, the commission cautions Ross that frequent abstention deprives his constituents of a voice in matters which come before the council," the opinion reads.

A strong commission would have suggested Ross choose between his elected job and his vocation. Wearing two hats will create problems, even when the councilman abstains. It's this kind of milquetoast blather that enables so much unethical behavior.

But if the commission is going to get tough, it would have to first train people to be ethical. And that would require more money.

So because we're not throwing money at ethics, why not just scrap the commission and let the voters be the watchdogs? If the unethical behavior can be proved to violate law, then the attorney general's office should prosecute.

Those are the kind of decisions SAGE will be making. When you're talking about an $800 million shortfall, some might argue the $1.5 million is so small they may as well keep it.

And that's how we get back to square one -- just about everyone doing as best we can with the funds we have.

Just imagine what Nevada will look like after across-the-board cuts to everything from Southern Nevada road projects to health care and education.

Contact Erin Neff at (702) 387-2906, or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.com.