Gov. Miller the man lawmakers love to hate

CARSON CITY -- As the 1989 Nevada Legislature drew to a close, Gov. Bob Miller was the man most lawmakers loved to hate.

His leadership skills and resolve under pressure were tested early in his rookie year as governor when he vetoed a 300 percent pension hike lawmakers had voted for themselves.

Outraged, legislators overrode that veto and took back their pension money, despite mounting public opposition.

"A lot of them liked to think of me not as a governor, but an asterisk," Miller says, looking back at his first legislative session.

"I stood on what I felt was principle. And as a result, they decided to teach me a lesson. But it didn't work out that way because public sentiment was so strong."

Opposition to the pension grab became so intense that lawmakers were forced to call a special session in 1990 to repeal it.

The majority of the members of the 1989 Legislature no longer are here.

But Miller, having been governor longer than anyone in Nevada, remains on the scene after serving the remaining two years of former Gov. Richard Bryan's term and being elected to two four-year terms.

Miller, who leaves office in January 1999, has another record to claim: He now has his fifth legislative session, the most in history, under his belt.

And unlike the stormy finish in 1989, the 52-year-old Democrat has wrapped up his last session on a high note.

Still immensely popular with the voters -- his approval rating consistently remains at 70 percent -- few of his political adversaries in the Republican Party are willing to criticize him.

"I think he's done a good job," says Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, the governor's most notable political foe. "He's obviously had more time at it than any other governor.

"He's matured in the job. I was particularly pleased with this session in that after a rocky start, we were able to get together and do something meaningful in education."

Miller and Raggio worked out an education package that includes computers in the classrooms, class-size reduction in third-grade and new procedures to assess and address school performance.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Mark James, R-Las Vegas, calls Miller a "good chief executive."

"He's able to forge consensus with people," James says. "He sees issues that are important to the constituencies of the state, and he's able to deliver on them.

"I know that when I had an issue this session that was an important issue, and I wanted the governor's support, he came and supported me."

James says Miller got behind his crime bills early in the session, and later backed his bill to restrict neighborhood casinos.

Miller also publicly supported a controversial measure by Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, to set a growth boundary around Las Vegas.

"He's willing to take tough stands and be out front on issues that sometimes aren't popular," says Titus, a close Miller ally. "I think the public sees him as standing up for the things that are right, and yet he's viewed as moderate and able to compromise."

Miller says he understands the legislative process much better after five sessions.

"I've tried to strike the appropriate balance between my informal style and the formality of being governor," he says. "I'm not trying to be in that building every day. On the other hand, I've tried not to be so aloof that I'm never there."

"People criticize him for not being in the process enough," says Assembly Minority Leader Pete Ernaut, R-Reno. "But if I were governor, that's exactly what I'd do."

At the 1995 Legislature, Miller's lobbying team, headed by then newly appointed Chief of Staff Jim Mulhall, did not earn rave reviews.

This year, however, Mulhall and a beefed-up lobbying team are drawing praise from Democratic and Republican lawmakers for their insight and assistance.

Miller says he's "very pleased" with their efforts.

Miller says the thing he's learned through his five sessions is to take as bipartisan an approach as possible.

He's had to travel that road by necessity in the past nine years. Miller has seen just about every conceivable mix of power at the Legislature.

At various times, Republicans have controlled both houses. So have the Democrats. Then there were times, as in this session, when each party had the reins of one house.

In 1995, there was an even split between Democrats and Republicans in the Assembly. The parties shared the leadership duties.

Miller's prediction that the Assembly would pull together in the end came true when an economic crisis was averted with a bipartisan compromise in the waning days of the session.

"Throughout it all, I've learned that you need to reach middle ground," Miller says.

Billy Vassiliadis, a gaming lobbyist and Miller political adviser, says he has seen the governor get stronger and more comfortable with the legislative process with each session.

Miller has learned to communicate well with legislators, he says.

"I think his strongest point is his integrity and his straightforwardness," Vassiliadis adds. "They know he says what he means, and he means what he says. They know that they don't have to worry about where Bob Miller's coming from."

If Miller got off to a rocky start with lawmakers in 1989, the 1991 Legislature presented a different challenge.

Faced with a recession, Miller took some heat for making deep spending cuts to balance the budget without raising taxes. Some social programs, such as mental health care, took some heavy hits.

Miller describes the economic crisis as his most difficult time in office.

"People were leaving coffins on my front lawn," he says.

But the state came out of the recession fiscally stronger and went on to enjoy one of its biggest growth spurts.

"It could be that I'm in a very fortunate time to be governor," Miller says. "On the other hand, at least I can probably say that I haven't stood in the way of growth. And I haven't raised taxes."

Two of Miller's biggest accomplishments came out of the 1993 Legislature, when he shepherded through sweeping reforms in the near-bankrupt State Industrial Insurance System and a massive reorganization to streamline state government.

In 1995, Miller received much of the credit for the Legislature's crime reform package that made it tougher on criminals.

But it is education that Miller is most noted for during his tenure. Ask anyone here what they believe will be Miller's legacy, and they'll say education.

Miller acknowledges that education "clearly has been my primary emphasis."

Aides say he has pushed for a couple hundred million dollars since 1989 for class-size reduction from first- through third-grades.

This session, the Legislature scaled down Miller's ambitious $35 million program to install computers in schools by several million dollars. But Miller considers it a victory that lawmakers chose to give him most of what he had proposed.

Miller describes this session as "somewhat lackluster" but "productive."

"It was the quietest and slowest session I've seen," he says. "But they did some good things."

Miller says education, mental health care and the state's ability to imprison criminals all were enhanced.

The Legislature also dealt with welfare reform, campaign finance reform, energy deregulation and Southern Nevada's infrastructure needs, he adds.

"All of those things are very substantive," he says. "They're just not very glamorous."

Miller has been criticized by some for not taking a stronger lead in trying to solve Southern Nevada's enormous growth problems.

His philosophy, he says, is not to impose his will on local governments. But at the same time, he says he went out of his way to be as supportive as he could.

Miller says he found the 1997 Legislature, with many new faces, to be "more independent and "less experienced" than previous ones.

He regrets that he wasn't able to spend more time individually with lawmakers this session.

The demands of his job and his duties as chairman of the National Governors' Association seemed to keep him away more this time.

Overall, Miller says he believes he has left Nevada in sound fiscal shape.

"It's been a great time to be governor," he says. "But then any time would have been great for me."

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