Letter: Legislators shouldn't have government jobs

There have been bipartisan solutions to legislative problems. But Assembly District 40 presents a bipartisan problem.

The Legislature is part of that problem. Both parties are afflicted with it. Article III of the Nevada Constitution states:

"The powers of the Government of the State of Nevada shall be divided into three separate departments - the Legislative, the Executive and the Judicial; and no persons charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments shall exercise any functions, appertaining to either of the others."

Plainly put, this Constitutional requirement says that if you work for the state or any of its subdivisions, Thou Shalt Not serve in its Legislature.

This provision was observed when Tom Batten was elected to the Assembly in 1994. He was required by the Republican leadership to resign his state job before he could serve in the Assembly. The Constitution required it. For this same reason, Dean Heller also had resigned as deputy treasurer to run for assemblyman from Carson City.

But there are instances where the Constitutional requirement has not been honored. And it extends to both parties. Just last session, a bill was lobbied through the legislature by a Democrat and a Republican, neither of whom should have been serving because of this Constitutional provision. They both worked for the State of Nevada or its political subdivisions outside the Legislature.

So the problem is bipartisan. Apparently neither party is willing to sacrifice "their" members who violate the Constitution because the other party is doing the same.

This leaves to the voters the job of insisting that laws be made by those who do not violate the law.

In Assembly District 40, the incumbent advertises in her campaign literature how much she has done for teachers, of whom she is one. No doubt she has worked hard. But this is not the point.

The point is that she draws a paycheck from the State of Nevada or one of its political subdivisions when the legislature is not in session. She could much better teach her students by setting a good example. And that example would be not to break the law by serving in the Legislature even for what she considers laudable purposes.

Failing that, the voters can replace her with someone who does not have a Constitutional disability to serve - Jeanne Simons.

HELEN H. GLENN

Carson City