Finally, a Step Forward

About an hour ago, another bill passed to live another day. This time it was SB 49, the campaign finance reform bill pushed by Secretary of State Ross Miller (D). It had to endure some weakening alterations in committee, but ultimately much of what Miller wanted survived.

And just moments ago, the amended SB 49 passed the full Senate. The vote was 13-8 in favor. All Democrats voted for the bill, and Senators Joe Hardy (R-Boulder City) & Scott Hammond (R-Las Vegas) joined the Democrats to vote to approve. All the other Republicans voted against the bill.

But of course, the ones who voted against SB 49 are claiming it's actually the Democrats who oppose campaign finance reform. "Oh, Armani! Oh, the reporting requirement here isn't good enough!" To be fair, Senator Ben Kieckhefer (R-Reno) did offer an amendment. However, the others did not. So really, their excuses for voting against SB 49 sound all too familiar.

Is this bill a panacea for better transparency and ethics? Not quite. In fact, we've discussed what's really needed to clean up the hot mess that's Nevada government.

Yet with that being said, SB 49 is a good start. It finally sets real standards for campaign finance reporting. And remember, knowledge is power. So tonight, the Nevada Legislature finally took a major step in the direction of meaningful reform.

The Biggest #NVLeg Story You Haven't (Yet) Seen

I know this week has been chock full of hot Nevada Legislature stories. One in particular continues to grab headlines. However, there's one major story that saw an exciting development on Tuesday... Yet hasn't received much attention.

Let's change that.



Remember when we discussed this session's flurry of ethics & campaign finance reform related bills? One of the bills we looked at was Senator Justin Jones' (D-Enterprise) SB 203, which requires lobbyists to file quarterly activity reports.

I just happened to be on the Senate floor when SB 203 was being considered there. Senator Jones rose to speak on his bill. And there was some banter going back and forth among other Senators on the matter. And I was wondering how this would turn out. After all, ethics and campaign finance bills don't always have an easy ride in Carson City.



However, this time was different. I was stunned as the vote was called. At first, the vote looked like it was going to be painfully close. But then, this happened.



It was unanimous! How often does the Nevada Senate unanimously agree on anything? And this happened for a bill that requires lobbyists to file quarterly reports?

I know, I know, this is just a small niche of policy. Perhaps others just consider this a "baby step". But when considering how difficult it had been to pass any kind of reform in past sessions, what happened in the Senate on Tuesday may truly be huge news.

We've seen this constantly in Carson City. Corporate lobbyists run around the Legislature Building and privately cut their deals with lawmakers. So much has been so secretive. Yet this week, the Nevada Legislature made a major move in curbing this by calling for more transparency in lobbying activities.

Of course, there's still more to do. SB 203 must now go to the Assembly for approval. The fate of the other ethics & campaign finance bills is still unknown. And signs of scandal continue to loom over Carson City.

But at least on Tuesday, signs of hope emerged. Perhaps this time, the Legislature can take steps to end the rampant culture of corruption. It would be nice to see a happy ending to this kind of story for a change.

We C'n Haz Ethics?

Oh, looky here...

The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld a Nevada ethics law that governs when lawmakers should refrain from voting on official business because they might have a conflict of interest.

The court reversed a Nevada Supreme Court decision that said elected officials have a constitutional right to vote on official business that the state law violated.

The decision came in the case of Michael Carrigan, a Sparks council member who voted on a casino project even though his campaign manager served as a project consultant.

Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the court, said an elected official's vote "is not his own speech but a mechanical function of government -- the commitment of his apportioned share of the legislature's power to the passage or defeat of a particular proposal."

Almost everywhere else, this is a no-brainer. But here in Nevada, our Supreme Court thought it was simply too much to ask lawmaker to abstain from obvious conflicts of interest.

And we wonder why "outsiders" always call Nevada government corrupt?