‘Of great interest’

Gov. Jim Gibbons is clearly conflicted about the amount of sunshine he wants to let in on the state’s pending spending reductions. On one hand, he held a budget summit, open to the press, to solicit feedback from various officials and initiate a dialogue on Nevada’s fiscal priorities amid slower-than-expected revenue growth. On the other hand, he insists that agency recommendations submitted by several department chiefs are not subject to the state’s public records law and therefore won’t be disclosed until final decisions are made on cuts sometime next month.

That decision prompted the Reno Gazette-Journal to file a lawsuit seeking the release of the agency recommendations, which outline reductions of up to 8 percent to current general fund outlays.

On Wednesday, Gov. Gibbons’ Democratic rivals in the Assembly — Speaker Barbara Buckley, Ways and Means Chairman Morse Arberry and Ways and Means Vice Chairwoman Sheila Leslie — joined the newspaper’s lawsuit.

“The release of the public records at issue is of great interest and importance to the public, the media and the Assembly leaders,” their legal brief says. A hearing in Carson City District Court is scheduled for Tuesday.

Their desire to extract a political pound of flesh notwithstanding, they are correct. These documents should be released and subject to public scrutiny.

Why Gov. Gibbons would withhold this information is a mystery. No political damage would result from releasing the recommendations of the agencies themselves — if anything, it could make his job balancing the budget easier. If administrators acknowledge that it’s possible to trim $300 million from current spending levels, why did lawmakers approve it in the first place?

The governor should drop his opposition to the lawsuit and disclose the proposed cuts.