MUTH’S TRUTHS

I watched Gov. Jim Gibbons as he signed an Executive Order (EO) in his office this morning establishing the Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission and introduced to reporters his choice to head that commission, Bruce James. As the U.S. Public Printer in Washington, DC, for a number of years, Mr. James has extensive experience in just this sort of exercise.

In his EO, the governor states that “a careful examination of state expenditures by an objective, neutral and bi-partisan body will help provide increased government efficiency and accountability and ensure that state government operates within its means and in a responsible manner.”

Now, who other than a big-government liberal or Assemblywoman Francis Allen (but I repeat myself) could argue with that?

The commission’s mission as spelled out in the EO will be as follows:

“The SAGE Commission shall make recommendations that will: identify areas of government spending where savings can be found; identify areas where increased efficiencies in state government operations can be found; and identify means to improve state governmental services to citizens. The specific areas of state government reviewed shall be within the discretion of the SAGE Commission.”

The criteria for being selected to serve on the 12-member commission is also spelled out in the EO: “The members of the SAGE Commission shall be recognized, established business leaders, either active or retired, with expertise or experience required to carry out the mission of the SAGE Commission.” That would certainly seem to rule out anyone from the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada or the teachers union.

Additionally, members will serve at the pleasure of the governor and will be asked to put in about 20-30 hours a month over a two-year period. The commission will be privately funded - no tax dollars will be harmed in the process - and commission members will receive absolutely no compensation whatsoever and will pay for their own expenses. And although this will be a private commission funded with private money, the governor has decreed that it will comply with Nevada’s open meeting law.

I’m going to support this commission and its mission. I believe Bruce James was an inspired choice to head it up. And I think a lot of good will come from it. Recall that a similar effort was undertaken by Gov. Kenny Guinn in his first term which resulted in the privatization of the workers’ comp system and a commensurate savings for both taxpayers and businesses.

That being said, I also have some reservations. The stated mission of the commission is to look for ways to make government more efficient. It does not indicate whether or not the commission will look at various government departments, services and functions and determine if they are something the government should be doing in the first place. Or as the late great Barry Goldwater famously put it, “I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size.”

Personally, I want to reduce the size of Nevada’s government. But even if this is not the overriding objective of the James Commission, I believe it can still find ways reform state government so that Nevadans a bigger bang for their tax buck without asking them for more tax bucks. So we congratulate and applaud the governor for taking this important step toward more fiscal responsibility and wish Mr. James the greatest of success in his new endeavor.

Posted on May 7th, 2008 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: Nevada