Hope for 2013

Maybe this time will be different.

Ever since I started covering the Nevada Legislature – starting in the early part of the last decade – I’ve had that thought. Driving down to Carson City from Reno for the first day, before the oaths are sworn and the speeches made, there’s always a chance that this time around, things won’t be the way they were before.

This time, when lawmakers convene Monday for the 2013 regular session, the tough issues won’t be dodged. The lingering problems will be tackled head-on, not incrementally.

But by the time I make that final drive back to the Reno airport after sine die, there’s almost always more disappointment than delight. Opportunities are missed, compromises are too severe, progress is too slow.

But maybe this time will be different?

Certainly, some of the personalities are. In the state Senate, 2011’s most obstreperous freshman – Michael Roberson – is now the Republican minority leader. The man who openly accused Democrats of allowing unions to run the Legislature and who voted against his own party’s governor on taxes has now embraced those taxes and been quoted as saying, “Moderation is not a dirty word.”

His counterpart – Majority Leader Mo Denis – is about as different as you can imagine from the previous Democratic leader, Steven Horsford. Denis is soft-spoken and conciliatory. In a house where the parties are divided by just one vote, could the new leaders work together in a way they haven’t before?

In the Assembly, Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick has received praise for her moxie in standing up to special interests seeking to ram through favorable legislation, as well as her ability to work with minority Republicans. GOP leader Pat Hickey is untested, and goes into the session having scored a sore political victory in taking out the would-be speaker, Marcus Conklin, in November’s election.

How will these new leaders work together?

It certainly won’t be easy: A delicate balance on taxation – with Gov. Brian Sandoval agreeing to extend an expiring “sunset” tax package and Democrats promising to discuss taxes early in the session – was upset Thursday. That’s when the Nevada Supreme Court said a 2 percent business margins tax initiative proposed by the Nevada State Education Association could go before the Legislature.

Now, lawmakers finally will be forced to confront the idea of a business tax. In study after study over the past five decades, a business tax has been recommended. A gross receipts tax was sought 10 years ago by then-Gov. Kenny Guinn. The primary arguments against it are easily disproved.

But it’s never happened.

Maybe this year will be different?

And that’s hardly where debate will end. Should the state (as demanded by its voter-amended constitution) provide medical marijuana for patients? Should new public employees be switched to a 401(k)-style retirement plan instead of the traditional state pension? Should Nevada do away with collective bargaining for public employees? Should lawmakers be required to report the gifts, meals and trips that may be lavished on them by lobbyists when the Legislature isn’t in session?

Should the state’s foreclosure law, which requires banks to prove legal ownership of a mortgage, be loosened? Should the funding formula for state schools – from kindergarten through higher education – be changed to put more money where the most people live, in Clark County? Shouldn’t we all be able to agree that every Nevada child should be able to read by the end of the third grade? And just what combination of funding, policy reform and plain hard work will really make our schools perform better, a mandatory step before we’ll ever see real economic development?

As with every session, the potential exists to do big things, to make big changes. The table is set for it to happen.

On that lonely drive from Carson City back to Reno, will we think this time was different?

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at (702) 387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.