Reactive Democrats
February 18, 2010 - 12:00 am
Legislative Democrats are in agreement, once again, that Gov. Jim Gibbons has put forth disastrous, unacceptable proposals for the funding of state government.
The governor has called lawmakers into special session Tuesday to balance the state’s general fund. In part because of the massive tax increases passed by Democrats last year to boost overall state spending — over the Republican governor’s veto — revenues are projected to roll in nearly $900 million short.
Gov. Gibbons wants to make cuts to public school budgets, higher education spending, welfare benefits and every state bureaucracy. Major tax increases are off the table. He took the same positions in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
The governor’s plan is “irresponsible, mean-spirited and calculated to win re-election,” said Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas. “We have a week to go before the special session, and the cuts to education would have a net effect of laying off thousands of teachers.”
So what alternatives do the Democrats in charge of the Assembly and Senate have to offer? When they can contain their outrage, they exclaim that major tax increases are … off the table.
On Wednesday, Sen. Horsford said Democrats would pull together their own budget-cutting solution to spare public schools from the 10 percent reduction Gov. Gibbons proposed. Considering K-12 education consumes most of the general fund, wouldn’t imposing an estimated $200 million in reductions on the rest of state government be “mean-spirited,” too?
Or are Democrats’ simultaneous cries of anguish and isolated fits of fiscal conservatism just “calculated to win re-election”?
Nationally, Democrats like to call the GOP the “Party of No.” But beyond increasing taxes last year — and worsening the state’s already-dismal hiring climate — what kind of vision of Nevada government have Sen. Horsford and Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley provided? And how, exactly, would they pay for it all?
Sen. Horsford and Assemblywoman Buckley need to start providing specifics on their budget plans. The only way they’ll be able to build a consensus on how to rework what was a $6.9 billion spending plan within a few weeks — let alone a few days — is to start reaching agreements right now. These talks should be conducted in the open.
Yes, some of the governor’s ideas for balancing the budget are downright silly. Installing a privately funded camera system to catch uninsured motorists? Come on.
But at least the governor has put forward a plan. It’s time majority Democrats did the same.