Amendment requiring common sense

A constitutional amendment to bar the Nevada Legislature from handing unfunded mandates to local governments would be a nice thought.

Nicer still would be if the Legislature simply followed state law, which already prohibits legislators from handing down costs to cities and counties without specifying a revenue source.

An advisory question being promoted for the Nov. 2 ballot by the Nevada Association of Counties, with the support of Carson City supervisors, will likely win popular support among voters. We don't like costs being pushed through to local taxpayers by the state any more than state lawmakers like the federal government shoving unfunded programs onto them.

A constitutional amendment would close the loophole that allows the Legislature to simply ignore NRS 354.599, which prohibits unfunded mandates. Nevada legislators too frequently exempt themselves from the law as a matter of routine business.

The example being cited from the 2003 legislative session is a law requiring counties to pay health-insurance subsidies for retired county employees who are members of the state's retirement plan. It's costing Carson City about $43,000, although it's hitting Washoe and Clark counties much harder.

Like many unfunded mandates, the law is probably a good idea - but it forces the counties to come up with money they don't have. Lawmakers knew that last summer when the approved it.

Amending the constitution is a serious proposition. As we said earlier, we'd prefer it wasn't necessary.

But as the late Dick Murray, who used to write columns for the Appeal and was instrumental in getting the unfunded-mandate law passed in 1993, was fond of saying: "It shouldn't be necessary to enact a law that says government is required to use common sense."

What is necessary, apparently, is a law that forces the Legislature to follow its own laws. The problem is bigger than unfunded mandates; it also applies to open meetings and collective bargaining and a host of other issues. The Nevada Legislature winks at laws it has imposed on others.

That's the constitutional amendment we'd like to see: Any law approved by the Legislature must also apply to the Legislature. That would take care of unfunded mandates and a whole lot more.