Focus on matter at hand

"The Governor may on extraordinary occasions, convene the Legislature by Proclamation and shall state to both houses when organized, the purpose for which they have been convened, and the Legislature shall transact no legislative business, except that for which they were specially convened, or such other legislative business as the Governor may call to the attention of the Legislature while in Session."

The Nevada Constitution

In two weeks the Nevada Legislature will arrive in Carson City for a special session. Gov. Jim Gibbons is calling the session to help make up for a $1 billion shortfall in the state's $6 billion budget.

Under the Nevada Constitution, the governor gets to call the tune at a special session. That means much of what the Legislature did in developing their own state budget and overriding the governor's vetoes during the regular 2009 session will be off the table.

The interaction between the executive and legislative branches of Nevada government during the regular session didn't quite rise to the level of open warfare, but the conflict was palpable.

A year later, with every economic indicator's nose in the dirt, lawmakers are facing a different world. We've heard the Board of Regents and the state school superintendents warn of dire consequences from the governor's budget. Don't think that folks who work for other state departments aren't facing similar choices.

If the university system is looking at closing a campus, you can bet that the state parks department is looking at how to limit expenses. If the governor's calling to close Nevada State Prison, you know another shoe is going to fall somewhere.

As a state, we can't afford the kind of fighting that characterized the 2009 regular session. We need our leaders, both executive and legislative, to work together to produce a plan that will get the state through the rest of the Great Recession with the least amount of damage.