On
the second floor of a Carson City casino, Nevada Day celebrants are crowding into a large ballroom. Most of the tables are full. A band is playing. And at the west end of the hall, Nevada’s lieutenant governor is dishing up chili. This is a modern tradition in Nevada. The Nevada Day chili feed was begun by Nevada Attorney General Richard Bryan in 1982. He held it every year as he rose to governor, then U.S. senator. When he retired from elective office, Brian Krolicki—then state treasurer and a Republican—asked Democrat Bryan if he could take it over. He continues the tradition today as lieutenant governor. (Bryan: “Brian Krolocki was a class act in asking my permission to take over the event. This will be the 32nd year.”) Krolicki is well known in the state after two terms as treasurer and two as lieutenant governor. But it’s fair to ask whether the public knows what he does in the state’s second highest
office besides check on the health of the governor and dish up chili. Of the state’s six executive branch jobs elected statewide, five have duties that are innate to them. The governor is chief executive. Secretary of state is a record keeper. Treasurer and controller are virtually defined by their functions—one takes in the state’s money, the other pays the state’s bills. And the attorney general has powers and functions that are granted at common law—even the Legislature cannot change them except by amending the state constitution. But the lieutenant governor? Other than succeeding to the governorship and presiding over the Nevada Senate every other year, not much comes to mind. It’s been a puzzle for as long as Nevada has existed. What should be done with the job? Nevada State Journal/March 17, 1899: “Nevada has about the same need for a Lieutenant Governor as for a Board of Harbor Commissioners.” During the British colonial period, lieutenant governors were important because governors were often absent in England for long periods. With independence, they declined in importance, though the examples of the colonial experience suggested models as states entered the union. A lieutenant governorship was usually provided for
in new state constitutions. An objection was raised at the first Nevada Constitutional Convention (“like the fifth wheel of a coach”), but it did not prevent the inclusion of the office. When that constitution was defeated by Nevada voters, the second convention included the office of lieutenant governor with no objection at all. It was common for the office to be invested with a legislative presidency, as in Nevada, a trend possibly influenced by the vice president’s U.S. senate role. In recent decades, as states have acted on reorganizations or other reforms, the trend has been in favor of creation of the office. States have occasionally abolished it, but then usually brought it back. But creation of duties for the office have been a distinct afterthought to the creation of the post itself. Except in the largest states, legislative presidencies are not full time. Nevada has seen early decades of a working lieutenant governor, followed by a decline in its status and functions, then—in 1983—a new role. From 1865 to 1873, the lieutenant governor served as warden of the Nevada Prison. After that experiment, the 1875 legislature put him—it was always men in those days—into the jobs of state librarian and Nevada adjutant general. This arrangement was
“ OFFICE POLITICS” continued on page 14 OPINION
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NEWS
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GREEN
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FEATURE STORY
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ARTS&CULTURE
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ART OF THE STATE
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FOODFINDS
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FILM
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MUSICBEAT
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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS
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THIS WEEK
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MISCELLANY
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MAY 15, 2014
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RN&R
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