“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
–Wendell Phillips, Public Opinion (1852)
When the 2001 Legislative Session begins on February 5, your elected representatives will have 120 days to consider, debate and enact legislation that will affect us all in the future. You may believe that your role as a citizen ends in the voting booth. Now that you have elected a slate of honest and well-meaning public servants, you can turn things over to them while you attend to your business and family. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Founding Fathers intended for this country to be a participatory democracy, and it is in everyone’s best interest to make sure that citizens take as active a role in lawmaking as they are able.
Important issues are being decided during this session. Legislators will decide how your tax dollars will be spent and what they will be spent on. Reapportionment of the state’s legislative districts will re-draw the lines according to new population figures. How will your town be affected? If you want to make sure your voice is heard in future legislatures, it may be time to make it heard now.
The Governor’s Steering Committee to Conduct a Fundamental Review of State Government will be presenting its report on measures designed to increase government efficiency by cutting waste and privatizing some public functions. This may improve the bottom line for the state’s budget and help stave off what some people say is an inevitable tax increase. However, it is human nature, and certainly the nature of government agencies, to resist change. If a roomful of bureaucrats is complaining that their jobs will be lost because of privatization, it is up to citizens to balance out the scales and let their representatives know there is broad-based support for these measures.
Although the teachers’ union plan to create a slush fund for themselves at the expense of taxpayers would appear to be discredited, it would be unwise to ignore the power of this union and its lobbyists. If you want to avoid a 4 percent tax on your company’s earnings, let your representative know how you feel.
Do you think a new university in Henderson is a great idea or a financially-irresponsible project? It’s something legislators will be deciding this term – you have a chance to either nip it in the bud, or help give it the funding to make a proper start. Should sales tax be collected from Internet companies to level the playing field between dot-com and traditional retailers? Or do you believe that high-tech firms are an important part of Nevada’s economic diversification initiative that should be encouraged to grow, thrive and sell here? Maybe you believe Gov. Guinn’s argument that state employees are long overdue for a pay raise, and are being stolen away by higher-paying local governments as soon as they are trained. On the other hand, you may think government employees are overpaid compared to working stiffs in the private sector. How are your elected officials going to know what you think unless you tell them? Remember, they are legislators, not psychics.
Since you can’t contact them on the Psychic Friends Network, here’s a better idea – call, write or e-mail them, and encourage others to do the same thing. A senator’s e-mail address consists of his or her first initial and last name at sen.state.nv.us. For example, to contact Majority Leader William Raggio, send a message to wraggio@sen.state.nv.us. Assemblymen can be reached through the same method, at asm.state.nv.us.
The best source of up-to-date information on what’s happening in the Legislature is its Web site (leg.state.nv.us), which also contains a complete list of all legislators’ addresses, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses. High-tech is making it easier than ever to get information from Carson City, no matter what part of the state you live in. Meetings are broadcast in live RealAudio from all hearing rooms. You can view the status of a Bill Draft Request or a bill as it moves through the legislative process by going to “Session Information” on the home page. This information is all free and available to anyone. For a hefty fee, you can even sign up for Selected Bill Tracking, allowing you to create a list of bills that are of interest to you and receive a daily status update on them, as well as daily notification of all new bill introductions.
There’s no excuse not to get involved in what’s going on in Carson City during the 71st session. Remember, for better or worse, it will all be over in June, and we’ll have to live with the consequences, in addition to footing the bill. Do some research on the issues, make an informed decision, and let your voice be heard.
