Legislature approves state funding bills, await Sandoval’s signature
CARSON CITY — The five budget bills that fund state government and education for the next two years received final approval Sunday in the Legislature and will be forwarded to Gov. Brian Sandoval to be signed into law.
Sandoval is certain to sign the bills since they represent the state budget compromise he reached Wednesday with legislative leaders.
Final legislative approval of these bills comes on day 119 of the 120-day legislative session. Under a voter-approved constitutional amendment, legislators must finish business by 1 a.m. Tuesday.
But before the Legislature can adjourn, the state Senate still must act on critical Assembly Bill 561. It will bring in $620 million by extending for two more years payroll, sales and car registration taxes that were set to expire June 30.
Without passage of the bill, the state budget is not balanced.
"We’d still like to see more reforms before the tax vote," said Assembly Minority Leader Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, before the Assembly voted 36-6 at 11:47 p.m. Sunday to extend the taxes, without any discussion.
Goicoechea declined to specify what reforms Republicans sought. But earlier Sunday, GOP legislators were angry over the Assembly’s 26-16 approval of AB401. Democrats said the bill would reform construction defect laws, while Republicans insisted it did nothing of consequence.
"This is a bill for the lawyers, for trial lawyers," said Assemblyman Cresent Hardy, R-Mesquite.
Hardy contended the bill would lead to lawyers being rewarded attorney fees in cases where judges awarded only $1 to homeowners.
But Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, said the bill makes it clear that only the lawyer for the prevailing party in a construction defect lawsuit would be awarded attorney fees.
"This compromise is in no way perfect and will not satisfy everyone, but it makes significant changes to the construction defect statutes," Oceguera said.
In a fiery Sunday night speech, state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, criticized the six Republicans who broke ranks with Sandoval and voted against AB579 and AB580, bills that fund public schools and state agencies for the next two years.
"I am happy to vote yes to keep the promises we made to Nevada families to avoid deep cuts to education," Horsford said. "I am proud of the governor. He did what a good governor should do: bring us together to resolve the state’s problems."
State Sen. Michael Roberson, R-Las Vegas, declined to engage in a debate with Horsford over the spending bills, saying he would wait until the tax bill is before the state Senate. But he added the spending bills depend on tax increases and he could not vote for them unless he supported tax increases.
"These bills are tied together," Roberson said. "There are people just as passionate about this as you."
In a matter of minutes and with no debate, the Assembly on consecutive 36-6 votes Sunday afternoon approved three major budget bills that had been backed 15-6 Saturday in the state Senate. The Senate followed after 9 p.m. by passing the two remaining budget bills that earlier had been approved in the Assembly.
State government spending from all sources over the next two years will be $17.4 billion, or $500 million less than spending approved for the current budget in 2009. Most of the reduction is because of the end of federal stimulus funding programs that boosted the budget by $700 million in the last two years.
What most legislators concentrate on, however, is the general fund budget, approved at $6.2 billion for the 2011-13 period. These are funds that come solely from state taxes. The new general fund spending plan is almost the same as the current budget.
All 12 legislative no votes on the three major budget bills were cast by Republicans who vowed to keep the no-new-taxes pledges they made with voters, even though Sandoval broke his own no-tax promise in the wake of a shattering May 26 state Supreme Court decision.
That decision prevented Sandoval from using $657 million in local government and school district funds to balance his budget and forced him to agree to extend the expiring or "sunset" taxes.
Assemblyman John Hambrick, R-Las Vegas, insisted his no vote wasn’t a sign he does not support the Republican governor.
"It would be disingenuous on my part to vote for these spending bills when they are dependent on taxes and I am voting against taxes," Hambrick said. "The governor had to think like a business executive. I am not going to fault him, but I disagree with tax increases."
Joining him in voting no in the Assembly were Richard McArthur, R-Las Vegas; Pete Livermore, R-Carson City; Ed Goedhart, R-Amargosa Valley; John Ellison, R-Elko, and Hardy.
In the state Senate, Barbara Cegavske, Roberson and Elizabeth Halseth, all R-Las Vegas, cast no votes as did Don Gustavson, R-Sparks; Greg Brower, R-Reno; and James Settelmeyer, R-Minden.
Like their Republican counterparts in the Assembly, they refused to support the bills because of their no-new-taxes pledges.
Also unresolved are a couple of minor funding bills needed to balance the budget. Under Senate Bill 219, the state would receive about $10 million a year in unredeemed slot machine winnings. Typically, many casino customers neglect to turn in winning slot machine tickets for a few dollars.
Legislators appear ready to take 75 percent of the winnings on those tickets, while leaving the casinos with the remaining 25 percent. The state could secure about $10 million a year from the tickets, although the state treasurer would be obligated to pay customers if they try to redeem their tickets.
Review-Journal writers Laura Myers and Benjamin Spillman contributed to this report. Contact reporter Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.
