Nevada lawmakers question $6.2 billion budget plan

CARSON CITY, Nev. - Skeptical Nevada legislators barraged Gov. Jim Gibbons' top aides on Thursday with questions about the governor's $6.2 billion, two-year state spending plan that calls for big cuts in funding for public education and other government programs and services.

The lawmakers repeatedly demanded more details from Gibbons' budget chief, Andrew Clinger, and his chief of staff, Josh Hicks, at the first of several review meetings scheduled in advance of the Feb. 2 start of the 2009 legislative session.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike joined in the questioning about the spending plan, which is more than $2 billion short of what's needed to maintain government services at current levels and handle increased demand. Gibbons has said repeatedly that in most cases he won't support tax increases that would meet that need without the deep cuts he has proposed.

Clinger said the budget plan represented "a lot of really tough choices" mandated by the impact of a global economic slump on Nevada's tourism-dependent economy, such as declining casino and sales taxes and visitor volume and rising jobless claims and payments.

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, noted the governor's plan would temporarily cut pay of state workers, K-12 teachers and state college and university staff by 6 percent, for a savings of more than $435 million, and questioned whether such cuts could face legal challenges.

Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, added that since teachers have formal contracts setting their pay the pay cut plan "seems like a legal nightmare."

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, told that school superintendents weren't consulted in advance about the reductions, said some superintendents have said they couldn't make the cuts because of the contracts or because of the resulting damage to schools.

"They're concerned it would set education back decades because teachers are already paid so significantly below the national average," Buckley said, adding that without salary reductions the only option would be school program cuts.

Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, asked about a proposed 36 percent cut in the state's community college and university system budget — including reductions of about 50 percent for the university campuses in Reno and Las Vegas.

"That's a pretty hefty reduction," said Raggio, a longtime proponent of a properly funded public education system. "What did the budget office believe was sustainable, what could be justified, that would allow that heavy of a reduction."

Clinger said higher education has other funding options, such as possible tuition increases, but Buckley said the overall higher education plan from the governor "just won't work." She said the universities can't bank on big tuition increases that might force some students to drop plans for college or shift to out-of-state schools.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, challenged the governor's proposal to cut staffing for the state's Nuclear Projects Agency, charged with fighting federal efforts to open a high-level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, from seven to two employees.

"I'm going to need a lot more explanation before I'm comfortable on that," Leslie said, noting the state's long-standing fight against the dump is far from over. She also said funds for lawyers needed to continue the fight would be cut, and that doesn't seem prudent.

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