Thursday, March 20, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren, declining to voice an opinion on the issue, said he'll wait for the voters to decide next year whether to strip his office of the job of president of the Senate.
By a unanimous vote, the Assembly Wednesday approved the constitutional amendment that would take the mostly ceremonial position in the Senate away from the lieutenant governor.
Assembly Joint Resolution 14, approved by the Legislature in 1995, goes to the Senate and then to the voters in 1998 for ratification.
"I think the bill should be passed to bring it to the voters," Hammargren said when pressed for his opinion.
How will he vote in 1998 at the polls?
"I will reserve that judgment because the privilege of the voting booth is never a fair question," he answered.
Hammargren did say the experience of presiding over the Senate has "been very valuable to me to learn the legislative process, and it could be of value to other lieutenant governors if they haven't been in the Legislature."
"But I think it's a good time at the time of the general election to discuss it and let the voters decide."
Hammargren said he's now writing a bill that would give more voice to the lieutenant governor, and he wants the governor and the lieutenant governor to be elected on the same party ticket. Hammargren is a Republican and Miller is a Democrat.
He would like to see the lieutenant governor have more of a say in appointments to the tourism and economic development commissions, which he currently chairs. He also wants the lieutenant governor's role expanded in the areas of music, cultural and entertainment issues.
One potentially important role the lieutenant governor can play has been closed to Hammargren. He is supposed to run the executive branch when the governor is absent from the state, but Miller has been reluctant to give up that authority.
Hammargren, while Miller was on one of his frequent trips to Washington, D. C., took it upon himself to try to appoint a Lincoln County commissioner, a job reserved for the governor. That move was blocked and it prompted an angry letter from Miller to Hammargren, telling him to keep his hands off.
Miller says he's always in contact with his office and can handle the duties, even though he's out of state.
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