Governor challenges lawmakers to offer better plan
RENO — Gov. Jim Gibbons on Tuesday challenged legislators who oppose his budget-cutting proposals to come up with a better solution, if they can.
"I am waiting for one of them to tell us their solution," Gibbons said during a speech to the Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce. "Their solution might not be more palatable than ours."
Even if lawmakers increase taxes, Gibbons said he doubts they can raise more than a quarter of what he called a more than $2 billion budget shortfall.
"I have no idea where they will find the revenue to match their rhetoric," he said of legislators who are against his budget proposals.
Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford and Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, both D-Las Vegas, have been outspoken in their opposition to Gibbons’ plan to cut state employee pay and support to higher education. They, along with Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno, also oppose his plan to reduce rates the state pays doctors and hospitals for treating Medicaid patients.
In addition, Assemblymen Tom Grady, R-Yerington, and Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, have criticized his proposals to close the Nevada State Prison.
In a joint statement, Horsford and Buckley said late Tuesday that Gibbons and his full-time staff have had six months to work on the budget while lawmakers have had four days of hearings.
"The Legislature, working in a bipartisan approach, will do the job the Governor has failed to do: provide vision and leadership during tough economic times," it read.
Horsford said in an interview that legislators soon will come up with a plan that does not reduce essential services.
He said Gibbons has chosen "mediocrity" by proposing a budget that cuts salaries of teachers who spend their own money on classroom supplies.
Gibbons told the Chamber of Commerce audience that he will not support raising taxes during the recession, called Nevada’s worst since a mining downturn in the late 1800s.
"We balanced the budget without raising your taxes," he said. "If we can do it, they (legislators) can do it. We are doing the best we can with the revenue we have."
Gibbons did not mention his support for a 3 percentage point increase in the room tax rate in Clark and Washoe counties, or the plan to take $79 million in property taxes from the two counties and an additional $31 million in taxes from the gaming industry.
The governor has said he can justify the room tax increase, which would bring in $292 million over two years, because voters in the two counties approved it as an advisory question in the November election. He also has said the counties are in a better position to absorb additional cuts than the state.
Gibbons has submitted a proposed two-year general fund budget of $6.17 billion to the Legislature, 9.3 percent less than the $6.8 billion spending plan approved in June 2007. But the administration estimates it would need to spend $8 billion to keep services at the levels as contemplated in 2007.
To cover the shortfall, Gibbons wants legislators to approve 6 percent cuts in salaries of teachers, state employees, and university and community college employees. He also wants to cut the higher education budget by 36 percent.
His speech was received politely by the business group, although a couple of members questioned parts of his budget.
Steven Laden, a Reno businessman, said bright college students will flee to universities elsewhere because of the higher education cuts. He questioned how Nevada can have the educated workforce it will need in the future.
Gibbons said higher education was chosen for a big reduction because it is run by the Board of Regents, which could increase tuitions.
Even with the big cuts, state Budget Director Andrew Clinger said, 13.7 percent of state spending will go to universities and community colleges. That compares with 11.2 percent nationally.
"The universities can adjust their revenues," Gibbons said. "The Board of Regents runs them, not me."
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.
