News of the top two Democrats in the Assembly declining to seek re-election continues a trend that is inimical to the balance of power in Carson City and destructive to the quality of lawmakers in the Legislative Building.

The evaporation of experience in Nevada’s capital has created a desert where the Legislature is becoming more of a mirage than a co-equal branch of government. People can have different views of Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) and Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) — I think they are two of the better lawmakers among the Gang of 63, but this has increasingly become a backhanded compliment.

But at the very least, Yeager and Jauregui have experience. Both were elected in 2016 and moved up the ranks. Consider that 60-plus percent of lawmakers who were there in 2019 are now gone; when the 2027 session begins, that number is likely to be upwards of 75 percent.

Having inexperienced lawmakers only benefits veteran lobbyists and the special interests they represent and governors who already have immense power in a state where the executive branch is not far from omnipotent. (Lawmakers are only in session four months of every 24, and they are forced to deal with the governor’s budget since they don’t present one of their own.)

This is not just about one party, either. Although the Assembly is losing the three most powerful Democrats — Ways and Means Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno (D-North Las Vegas) is running for mayor of North Las Vegas — and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) may be gone, too, as she runs for attorney general, some quality Republican legislators have departed in recent years. Jill Tolles, Ben Kieckhefer, Heidi Seevers Gansert and Tom Roberts, to name a few, all had bipartisan respect.

Some of these departures are not attributable to frustration with a hopelessly broken process, where mistakes are often made in haste, deadlines make little sense or are flouted and lobbyists write almost as many laws as legislators. Ambition, term limits, even a shocking death also have taken a toll on both houses.

But, no matter what some may think, these are not attractive jobs, and they are becoming less attractive all the time.

The compensation is a joke, an anachronism of the Constitution that pays a pittance for the first 60 days of the 120-day session. You can see how low the pay is in this comparison by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Yes, it’s a part-time job if you consider them working only during those 120 days every other year. But that’s hardly the case, so we have been lucky to get a few (and fewer all the time) high-quality people to run, especially in Southern Nevada where they have to leave family and jobs.

Sure, wealthy folks can do it, but what about those who are not so well off? Too many arrive in the capital, their egos inflated and pocketbooks diminished, looking for ways to enhance their bottom lines, sometimes by any means necessary. Outright corruption is rare, but incremental erosion of principles to ensure self-perpetuation is not so much.

Frankly, most people don’t care about the quality of their lawmakers or the hardships they face. They reflexively think the worst too often, and some of the decisions by the Gang of 63 reinforce their cynicism. That’s unfortunate.

This is beyond partisanship. Any “process” whereby part-time laymen are expected to vet hundreds of pieces of legislation in a ridiculously compressed time frame without enough staff or resources except lobbyists providing conflicted counsel and fundraising promises is a recipe for bad laws and … worse.

We should pay our lawmakers more, they should meet every year and we should provide them with ample staff support. Until we do, the exodus will continue unabated.

It’s actually miraculous that we have had some excellent legislators, including some of those who recently left and are departing. Some of the rookies in both houses in both parties also have some promise as future leaders.

The question for these new lawmakers: Will they still be around a few sessions from now?