EDITORIAL: Sandoval, Legislature earn round of applause

For years and years, the Nevada Legislature never failed to disappoint the citizens it serves. And so, being conditioned to expect the worst from the state’s most powerful body, it’s shocking to look at the work of the just-completed 2015 session and say … “Bravo.”

Bravo to lawmakers. Bravo to Gov. Brian Sandoval. Bravo to everyone who shaped and championed a transformative agenda and passed policies that never, ever would have had a chance of approval going back decades.

Was the work of the 2015 Legislature perfect? Of course not. Many worthy bills were killed, and some bad ones were passed. People of every political persuasion had something to celebrate and something to complain about. But in just 120 days of work, lawmakers passed the most significant education reform agenda of any state in the country — ever.

Yes, there were tax increases. Record tax increases, in fact. And the state’s tax policy still could be much better and much broader. But that new revenue will flow into a K-12 system that will be more accountable and will give all parents more choices than they’ve ever had before. Education headlines the best work of the 2015 session.

The good

— School choice: Lawmakers passed the country’s first universal Education Savings Accounts, which will allow parents to remove their children from public schools, control the state funding that would have supported enrollment and spend it on private school tuition, tutoring or anything else that supports their education. Additionally, legislators created scholarships funded by business donations to support private school tuition for middle- and lower-class families. Businesses that contribute to the scholarships will receive a payroll tax credit. Several years ago, Nevada was among the worst states in the country for school choice. Now it’s the runaway leader.

— School accountability: Soon students who lack third-grade reading proficiency will not be allowed to advance to the fourth grade, breaking the cycle of advancing functionally illiterate students into middle and high school, where they fail or drop out. The state will take over persistently failing schools and turn some of them into charter schools.

— Clark County School District deconsolidation: The country’s fifth-largest public school system and Southern Nevada’s education monopoly could be split into smaller precincts under a bill passed in the last hours of the session and awaiting Gov. Sandoval’s signature. The system has long been too large to be responsive to parent concerns. Separate systems would give parents even more choices in where to send their children to school.

— Targeted education spending: If all students must be proficient in reading by the third grade, then all students must have equal instructional opportunities. This coming school year, all Nevada schools will have full-day kindergarten, not just schools in low-income neighborhoods. The Legislature also beefed up instruction for students who aren’t proficient in English — the demographic that has long dragged down the state’s test scores and graduation rates — and for the gifted and talented. And programs were created to develop and retain the teachers the state will need as its population grows and more current teachers retire.

— UNLV medical school: An allopathic medical school, coupled with improved medical residency programs, will develop and keep needed doctors in the valley, and expand and improve the region’s health care sector.

— Gun reforms: The Metropolitan Police Department’s expensive handgun registration program was abolished, with the support of the department, because the burdens it imposed weren’t offset by benefits in criminal investigations. And state law was strengthened to preempt any local gun laws, erasing conflicting ordinances in Clark County.

— Uber: The Legislature authorized smartphone-based transportation network companies, such as Uber and Lyft, to operate in Nevada. Clark County’s protectionist taxi and limousine regulations had kept them out of the Las Vegas Valley. The embrace of the country’s ride-sharing revolution, which is generally faster and cheaper than typical taxi service, shows the state welcomes competition and change.

— Public records: Lawmakers rejected legislation that would have trashed the state’s public records law and made government documents less accessible to the citizens who paid for their production. Without transparency, there is no accountability in government.

— Ethics: Lawmakers will have to report campaign contributions and expenses more frequently, they and their family members cannot accept gifts from lobbyists, and lobbyists and lawmakers must disclose spending that allows lawmakers to attend educational or informational meetings. Additionally, lawmakers who leave office will be subject to a one-session “cooling off” period during which they cannot lobby their former colleagues. A more ethical, transparent government betters serves the interests of the people instead of government itself.

Of course, lawmakers didn’t do such a great job on other matters.

The bad

— Marijuana: Lawmakers should have approved an initiative to legalize recreational use of marijuana, a step that would have created jobs and investment, brought new tax revenue to the state and provided much-needed relief to the criminal justice system. Instead, they punted the petition to the 2016 ballot, where voters are likely to approve it.

— A bill that would have discouraged carpetbagging and imposed stiffer penalties on candidates who lie about where they live to seek elected office failed to pass. Our representatives should live among those they represent.

— Legislation to allow concealed weapons permit holders to carry their firearms on college campuses failed. Denying well-trained gun owners the ability to defend themselves across large institutions is terrible public safety policy. Bad guys don’t follow gun laws.

— Ambitious collective bargaining and pension reforms, which held the promise of savings taxpayers billions of dollars in the decades ahead, didn’t pass.

Still, the good of the 2015 session far, far outweighed the bad. Bravo.