Fixing a broken system

Sunday, April 19, 2009 | 2:09 a.m.

Anyone who spends time watching the political theater that unfolds in Carson City has to come away thinking that Nevada’s legislative process is broken.

Nevada is a state with complex problems — a tax system that doesn’t work, education and health care services on life support, woefully inadequate transportation and an economy too reliant on one industry — yet it is saddled with a Legislature designed to meet the needs of a frontier population.

The Legislature cannot respond effectively enough to the challenges of the 21st century because it is permitted to pass laws in only four of every 24 months , except for special sessions. But the Legislature cannot even call a special session, having to rely instead on the governor to make that decision.

Legislators are also supposed to approve the state budget, yet the governor can find ways to make drastic changes when the Legislature is not in session.

UNLV law professor Tuan Samahon recognizes that something should change.

As reported Tuesday by J. Patrick Coolican in the Las Vegas Sun, Samahon is proposing that Nevada conduct a constitutional convention to perform a major reworking of state government. Such a convention would be a high-risk affair, especially if powerful lobbies exert their influence and make the situation even worse.

But there is merit to the idea of repairing the structural flaws in state government, and Samahon’s suggestion should be taken seriously.

Nevada for the past several elections has fallen into the trap of allowing the ballot initiative process — driven by special interests — to become the primary vehicle for constitutional amendments. But this has had the effect of diminishing our representative democracy and making a weak legislative branch even weaker.

Lawmakers’ hands aren’t completely tied, though. They can make at least one major structural repair this session by approving legislation that would allow them to meet annually instead of every other year.

One such bill, Assembly Joint Resolution 6, was approved Tuesday by the Assembly and forwarded to the Senate. If approved this year and in 2011 by the Legislature, AJR6 would go to a vote of the people in 2012.

If the state does nothing, it will be stuck with a broken legislative system that will make it more difficult in the future to address Nevada’s most pressing issues.