The good, the bad and the unforgivable

Once again, thankfully, the Nevada Legislature has concluded its business. Once again, lawmakers were too busy serving pork and frivolous legislation to special interests to adjourn on time. Once again, the governor had to call a special session to resuscitate a few important, neglected bills.

But while the 2007 Legislature wasn't all bad, some of its work (or lack thereof) was downright unforgivable.

First, the good:

-- Gov. Jim Gibbons' pledge to veto any tax increases forestalled another legislative raid on Nevadans' pocketbooks, at least for another two years. The number of lawmakers distraught that state spending increased by only 17 percent, to about $6.9 billion over the coming biennium, should frighten taxpayers.

-- Abiding by the governor's mandate, lawmakers tapped existing revenues to fund $1 billion worth of needed highway improvements in Southern Nevada. The Department of Transportation's unfulfilled $5 billion wish list included a few projects that won't be needed for at least a decade. By giving the department just enough to get started on some Interstate 15 upgrades, lawmakers ensured the state's most important projects will be completed first.

-- Lawmakers rejected some efforts to expand the Nanny State, killing bills that would have allowed police to cite motorists solely for not wearing their seat belts and parents whose minor children are caught riding bicycles without wearing helmets.

-- The public won a more open government, thanks to the passage of bills that require child welfare agencies to release more information on minors who die under foster care or state custody; prevent the state Tax Commission from handing out refunds in closed-door meetings; and force governments to make public records available for review or copying within five days of a citizen's information request. The public must have access to public business to ensure that governments are putting tax dollars to their most productive use.

-- In their charge to combat methamphetamine addiction, the Legislature wisely abandoned a proposal to require cold and allergy sufferers to obtain a doctor's prescription for common, over-the-counter decongestants. The measure would have significantly increased the state's health care costs and made simple remedies unaffordable for the uninsured.

The bad:

-- In the final hours of the regular session, lawmakers passed massive, unjustified pay raises for state judges and Supreme Court justices. Starting in 2009, district judges will see their base pay rise from $130,000 per year to $160,000 per year, and Supreme Court justices will make at least $170,000 per year instead of $140,000.

Lured by the prospect of lighter workloads, generous pensions and lifetime health-care benefits, dozens of qualified attorneys apply for appointment to each vacant judgeship. New departments draw a similar flood of interest each election cycle. There is no exodus of judges over pay, and there never will be -- they already receive annual "longevity" pay raises. Nonetheless, the Legislature granted them raises of greater than 20 percent, thus further enriching the political class.

-- No matter how close to the deadline for adjournment, lawmakers always have time for pork. On the final day of the session, they rushed to pass $20 million worth of it, despite disingenuous complaints that the state was broke. Oink, oink.

And the unforgivable:

-- The Senate Judiciary Committee killed a bill that would have prevented judges from sealing cases in secret, solely at their discretion. A Review-Journal investigation revealed that between 2000 and 2006, Clark County judges sealed 115 civil cases, primarily to spare wealthy or powerful parties from embarrassment. Although a Supreme Court committee is examining the issue and will soon issue recommendations on the issue, the Legislature had the imperative to declare, by force of law, that public courtrooms are no place for privilege.

-- Finally, the Legislature again refused to address the state's single greatest fiscal crisis: the $10 billion in unfunded retirement benefits promised to former and current public employees. There is no Band-Aid solution for this monstrous long-term liability -- requiring government employees to work more years, pushing back early retirements or scaling back benefits won't spare the state treasury from implosion down the road.

The benefits paid to current retirees and promised to current workers alone will require a combination of massive spending cuts and tax increases down the road. To avert the destruction of Nevada's economy, the least lawmakers can do is mandate that all future government hires be moved to a 401(k)-style, defined-contribution retirement plan and eliminate the health-care subsides that currently come on top of pension payments.

Pensions and retirement health care have all but vanished from the private sector because they bankrupt companies. Taxpayers, already strained to save for their own retirements and confronted with the imminent death of Social Security, cannot be expected to continue to pay for benefits that are unavailable to themselves.