Big Turnover in Nevada Legislature
CARSON CITY – Thanks to term limits and decisions by some lawmakers not to seek re-election, at least 16 members of the Nevada Legislature will not be returning in 2011, and the number could end up being even higher after Election Day in November.
Sixteen lawmakers are termed out of office in the 2010 election cycle, but three so far have filed for different legislative offices and could return to the Legislature for the 2011 session.
Five members of the Assembly not facing term limits, which take effect in this election cycle for the first time, are running for open state Senate seats where long-time lawmakers are being forced from office. Several face opponents in their races, some in primaries and some in the general election.
Two lawmakers, Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno, and Assemblywoman Bonnie Parnell, D-Carson City, are not seeking reelection for personal reasons. Sen. Stan Olsen, R-Las Vegas, who was appointed to serve in the special session in place of Sen. Warren Hardy, who resigned from the Legislature last year, has no plans to seek election to the seat.
State Sen. David Parks, D-Las Vegas, has also filed for a seat on the Clark County Commission. If he wins that race, he would have to resign from the Senate in mid-term. The Clark County Commission would have to select a replacement from the same party to serve in the 2011 session.
And a former member of the Assembly, Pat Hickey, could return if he wins the Washoe Assembly 25 seat being vacated by the retiring Gansert. Hickey served in the 1997 legislative session.
Candidate filing does not end until Friday, so the election season program remains in flux until then.
But one fact is clear: the Legislature will have many new faces when it has to tackle a budget shortfall estimated at as much as $3 billion just 11 short months from now.
Carole Vilardo, president of the Nevada Taxpayers Association, said the influx of new faces presents more questions than answers as to the effect on the 2011 session.
The loss of institutional memory on the Senate and Assembly tax and money committees could present problems, especially given the constitutional limit of a 120-day session, she said.
“Because they will be dealing with technical issues requiring some institutional memory of how we got to where we are,” she said. “It will be a steep learning curve.”
The Legislative Counsel Bureau already provides training sessions for new lawmakers, but that process might be expanded to give them a jump start on the revenue and expenditure situation, Vilardo said.
The potential for several seasoned members of the Assembly to move into the Senate may provide some stability to the process, but it is a question of whether they will be able to serve on the same committees they served on in the Assembly, she said. Seniority plays a major role in committee assignments.
“I’m not even going to attempt to guess what it will do,” Vilardo said of the influx of new faces.
Three of the seven members of the Senate Finance Committee are termed out and won’t return in 2011. Another eight of the 14 members of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee won’t be returning to the money panel, although some are vying for other legislative offices.
The taxation committees will also see significant turnover.
The other question is whether Republicans have a chance to take back either or both of the two Legislative houses this year.
Assemblyman Ty Cobb, R-Reno, who is running for the state Senate seat being vacated by term-limited Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, is not so sure about the Senate, where Democrats hold a 12-9 advantage.
“I’m not sure there are enough Senate races in play,” he said. “We don’t even have a candidate yet in Senate 1 in Washoe.”
The Washoe 1 seat is being vacated by Sen. Bernice Mathews, D-Reno, due to term limits. Term limited Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, is running for the seat, as is a Libertarian candidate.
A takeover in the Assembly would be much tougher as Democrats now have a 28-14 advantage.
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