Meanwhile …

As noted above, state spending skyrocketed 17 percent in the two-year budget plan recently wrapped in Carson City. But Nevada isn’t alone when it comes to its burgeoning public sector.

“States spent freely this year, though worry about tighter times ahead are resulting in more modest plans for the new fiscal year that starts this summer,” The Associated Press noted this week.

As usual, spending increases outpaced growth — states boosted budgets an average of 8.6 percent for the upcoming fiscal year, while growth averaged 6.5 percent, The AP reported.

The AP survey of the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers also found, however, that states expect slower spending growth during the 2009 fiscal year, around 4 percent — less than half the 2008 rate.

That means Nevada, with a spending increase of close to 10 percent set for fiscal year 2009, remains near the head of the class when it comes to budget growth.

Remember that fact the next time the state’s many special pleaders lament the reluctance of lawmakers to dig even deeper into the wallets of state taxpayers to meet an endless list of “needs.”