Lawmakers just hate term limits

There's never really been any doubt that the term-limits overwhelmingly approved by Nevada voters would someday get a test in the courts.

It's just been a matter of when -- and by whom.

Nothing says bipartisan support in Nevada like an effort under way by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to quietly stoke that challenge.

Elected officials of both parties hate the looming term limits. The 2010 impact on the Legislature would be demonstrable, with Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, out of a job. And the only thing that could pry the nameplate from Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, is term limits, a measure he also opposes.

It's already highly evident where much of the power of the legislative process resides -- and it isn't in the 63 seats of the two chambers.

Beyond stellar leaders such as Buckley and Raggio and a few outspoken legislators who know how to play the system inside and out of the building, the preponderance of power in Carson City is already "behind the glass" partition separating the gallery from the elected officials.

Lobbyists representing a host of interests from gaming, mining, business, local government and social welfare organizations build their own alliances and try to game the system as best they can.

Sometimes, a veteran lawmaker such as Raggio or his Senate Democratic leader Dina Titus, will preface a vote on a bill with a history lesson. Usually that history was culled from somewhere in the recesses of their memory from sessions long ago.

But if Raggio, Titus, Buckley and company are gone, so too, are the memories.

Just about one-third of lawmakers will lose their seats when the first round of term limits takes hold in 2010. A fair chunk of them would be sorely missed.

But if reform is ever going to come to Carson City, it is going to have to include real, transparent lobbying reform.

Under term limits, a lobbyist who has 20 years experience under his belt becomes more than just a powerful special interest. He is able to craft language, build political alliances and commandeer a measure for his client with relative ease.

If you think the lobbyists already largely run the show, you're right. But it's always been the experienced lawmaker, from Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, to Bernice Mathews, D-Sparks, who has at times been able to put the lobbyists in check.

At times.

Reid of course is already hyper-focused on his re-election in 2010. Having loyal Democrats down ticket will help generate buzz, if not outright turnout, that spills up if his numbers continue to sag.

Term limits may have passed twice here in 1994 and 1996, but voters tend to have short attention spans. And with both Republican nominee John McCain talking trash about special interests and likely Democratic nominee Barack Obama building an entire campaign around reform in Washington, voters will probably begin to focus more on lobbyists.

Secretary of State Ross Miller has already shown he's a different kind of chief elections officer. He's already issued rules on recall petition gathering.

He's also one of thoroughbreds in the Democratic stable being groomed for who knows what race.

A more likely 2010 governor's candidate is Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto. Now, while her office may technically have jurisdiction to consider the legality of term limits, any such ruling would be controversial and could impact her as she runs statewide.

What's more, she was chief of staff for Gov. Bob Miller (10 years in office), who knows a thing or two about challenging term limits.

Voters generally have a throw-the-bums-out mentality when it comes to elected officials and term limit legislation is typically quite popular. And while there's little that engenders popular hatred more than runaway spending of tax dollars, some of the biggest bums in Carson City can't be thrown out even with term limits.

Reid understands the political winds better than most politicians. What he sees currently in Nevada is a populist push to raise the gaming tax. That's the closest thing to a lock this election cycle (if it appears on the ballot).

The same emotions that fuel that kind of momentum can easily be translated into a campaign against special interests.

And if the valiant defenders of the public's interest just happen to be term-limited lawmakers, voters may not mind having their will usurped again.

I mean, it's not as if the Legislature pays much attention to that other popular initiative that created the 120-day session.

Nevada's part-time Legislature seems very antiquated when real crises arise, forcing lawmakers to take up critical issues in interim committees.

The Legislative Committee on Health Care, for example, held special meetings and a community forum for those impacted by the hepatitis outbreak in Las Vegas. Legislative leaders are also working with the governor on the pressing $900 million shortfall in anticipated revenue.

But not all interim work is as vital.

Consider a meeting scheduled for tomorrow in Carson City.

The Commission on Special License Plates will hold a hearing to determine whether conservation group Nevada Ducks Unlimited, Inc. "is or is not in compliance" with certain filing requirements.

It's long past time for the whole special license plate racket in Nevada to have its swan song.

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