Jon Ralston lauds Gibbons’ spending commission, with a few conditions

By Jon Ralston

Friday, May 2, 2008 | 2:01 a.m.

Call it what you like. Call it by its cutesy official name — the Spending and Government Efficiency commission, or SAGE. Or call it what it may be — starting up the Gov. Jim Gibbons Reelection Vehicle, or REV.

But whether this proves to be a sage idea or merely a way to rev the Gibbons reelection machine is not nearly so important as this ineluctable truth: This is the best initiative of the short, unhappy Gibbons governorship.

I know: This is a low bar to hurdle with this Lack of Administration. But this new panel, which will be created next week, should have a long-term effect on the state’s fiscal future, perhaps once and for all duct-taping the mouths of those who either declare the state has voluminous waste or insist the needs dwarf any inefficiencies.

Once and for all, let’s settle this question: Are we, the fastest-growing state in the country, leaving tangible and intangible infrastructure behind, or has that growth created a bloated government that has lost all sense of priorities? Or some combination thereof?

So kudos to Gibbons, no matter his motivation — and I had no idea my word processor would allow me to type “kudos” and “Gibbons” in the same sentence. Permit me a Pollyanna moment by suggesting this could be one of the more significant panels in state history if — you knew that proviso was coming — three things occur:

• Beyond SAGE Chairman Bruce James, who has the requisite bona fides after ferreting out all manner of waste and inefficiency during his tenure as U.S. public printer, the commission needs a scintillating membership. None of the other appointees, to be divided between Gibbons and legislative leaders, can have the odor of cronyism. They have to be experts willing to put aside any political considerations to engage in the task at hand: Folks such as tax watchdog Carole Vilardo, who has lamented the lack of attention to spending for decades, and her erstwhile Carson City roommate, ex-Sen. Ann O’Connell, the one-time audit queen of the capital, seem like naturals.

And the state has a few ex-governors who know the budget, if any of them can spare a minute from their busy post-public lives. If any behavior of the panel is seen as politically motivated — wonder who will be first to cynically suggest James is using this as a springboard to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (again)? — it will be tainted.

• Democrats must embrace the SAGE panel with unvarnished enthusiasm. They should not only want to see what waste they might have missed in state government. But, politically, if they believe what they say — benefit of doubt here — they should see this as a way to ratify that the state can’t afford to cut any more and needs to start looking at how it raises money and where it should go. This could be the fulcrum to refocus the debate, no matter who is governor or who controls the Legislature.

• The results of the panel’s investigation of how the state spends money must be virtually unanimous and possess a bipartisan imprimatur. If there is a slew of split votes or if the findings are assailed by one party after the commission completes its mandate, the public will not take it seriously. That doesn’t mean everyone need be thrilled with every finding. But if there is consensus that this is the definitive report on waste in government spending, this study won’t, as so many have said and which Gibbons has insisted will not happen again, be “another study that sits on a shelf and collects dust.”

If it does meet all those conditions, the SAGE commission could have a seminal place in Nevada history. It might even give Gibbons the opening to break his no-tax pledge if the results show the needs outweigh the cuts. Clearly, after writing that, I need to curb my enthusiasm.

But everyone should be happy about this development and credit Gibbons with an idea that could revolutionize state spending, even if not in the direction he has in mind. Republicans who have longed for cover to cut should be ecstatic; Democrats who have dreamed of justification to spend more should be joyful.

Come to think of it, perhaps not everyone should be smiling. If the SAGE commission does its job well, the members may be asked for an encore that could leave some people unhappy in the long run:

If it works for state government, why not examine local governments next?

Jon Ralston hosts the news discussion program “Face to Face With Jon Ralston” on Las Vegas ONE and publishes the daily e-mail newsletter “RalstonFlash.com.” His column for the Las Vegas Sun appears Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.