Aide: Miller giving priority to Family to Family

Tuesday, May 20, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Jim Mulhall, Miller's chief of staff, also confirmed Tuesday he talked with Jarvis, head of the University and Community College System of Nevada, about getting him to approach lawmakers to back the Family to Family program.

Asked if he told Jarvis that Miller's support for the UNLV law school hinged on the chancellor's support for Family to Family, Mulhall replied, "I can't remember the exact words but that quote capsulates our meeting."

"There is no doubt I drew a vivid picture where the governor's priorities were," Mulhall added.

Jarvis said he didn't view Mulhall's statements as pressure. He said he will lobby for Family to Family, but it will be "a personal thing" rather than a position taken by university regents.

Mulhall said he told Jarvis that the Family to Family program is a top priority for the governor and that the law school is down the list.

"If it Family to Family didn't get funded, we would ask important questions about what other priorities were funded," he said. "But I don't think it will come to that."

Family to Family would cost about $11.3 million, with 58 new staff members to provide help to families of newborns. But the proposed support system has drawn sharp criticism from some legislators.

Miller has recommended $3 million in challenge grant money for starting a law school at UNLV. The school would have to raise about $700,000 on its own to open the school.

But lawmakers have indicated they favor giving UNLV the full appropriation rather than forcing it to seek private donations.