Guinn wastes no time after taking oath

Tuesday, Jan. 5, 1999 | 11:05 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn won't propose any pay raises for state employees, including schoolteachers, and will be trimming some of the social programs of his predecessor, Bob Miller.

The scaling back of state spending reflects the new governor's policy of proposing no new taxes and as well the $140 million budget shortfall perceived by his administration.

Pete Ernaut, chief of staff for Guinn, said Monday there will be "painful, painful" cuts in the budget to be presented to the 1999 Legislature on Jan. 18.

In another insight into the coming policies of the Guinn administration, Ernaut also said that Guinn views growth in Southern Nevada and elsewhere in the state as a local issue, not a state issue.

His comments came minutes after Guinn was sworn in as Nevada's 28th governor. Guinn told a crowd estimated at 450 that he knows some people have doubts about what can be accomplished.

"I know that with just a little give-and-take the 21st century can bring an era of success beyond our wildest imaginations and our fondest dreams," Guinn proclaimed.

Before his inauguration, Guinn said most of the budget cuts have been completed in what promises to be a tight spending program for the next two years.

Ernaut later fleshed out some of the decisions, saying there would not be any new taxes proposed. He added that there won't be any pay raises for state employees, including faculty at the universities and community colleges and for public schoolteachers.

He specifically cited former Gov. Bob Miller's "Family-to-Family" program as one that will be scaled back. The program, which helps parents of newborns, is in some ways duplicative of county efforts, Ernault said.

Another program Ernaut specifically cited for a cutback is Miller's much-heralded "Nevada Check-Up." This program, offering low-cost health insurance for working poor families, has only 3,000 children enrolled and Ernaut predicted that the anticipated 60,000 would never be reached.

Christopher Thompson, administrator for the state Division of Health Care Financing and Policy, said he anticipates 10,000 children will be enrolled by the end of the year.

The 60,000 children at first estimated to need health care has since been revised to between 20,000 and 25,000 statewide, Thompson said. Under the agreement with the federal government, the state will receive $65 for every $35 it puts toward the Nevada Check-up program.

If the state signs up 10,000 children, Thompson said, the Legislature will need to earmark $4.6 million in order to receive $8.5 million in federal funding.

"I suspect the program will be maintained," Thompson said Monday. "I believe the check-up program is an excellent program for Nevada."

Asked if the governor might support pay raises for state legislators, Ernaut replied, "I don't know. There are arguments for it. But right now there's no money for anything."

The administration, he said, will be looking to April when new economic forecasts are made of tax revenues for the next two years. If there's a predicted upturn, then those programs that are cut will receive relief.

There is an expected increase in tax revenue of $238 million over the next two years. But student growth in the public schools and university system will take up $200 million of that, state financial officials say. And it will take $28 million, Ernaut said, to fund the state employees health insurance program, which has fallen into the red.

"We're at the end of seven years of the greatest revenue the state has ever seen," Ernaut said. "We're still almost $140 million short in the budget.

"This is a time for Nevada to understand that we have to tighten the belt and we have to live a lot leaner than we have been.

"The problem in state government today is that it's easier to get a new position than to give somebody a raise. It's easier to create a new program than to figure out how you are going to fix the original program. We get new programs to fix old programs."

On handling the growth in the Las Vegas area, Ernaut said, "The governor is very definitive that growth issues and management of growth are local issues. What's good for Clark County is not the same as Lincoln County."

Ernaut did say, however, that the state would monitor growth to ensure that localities fulfilled their responsibilities.

"If the community at large doesn't hold itself to those responsibilities, will the state aggressively push to make that happen? Absolutely," Ernaut said.

Guinn supports the "Strategic Management Plan" for Southern Nevada that was written by the Southern Nevada Strategic Authority, a study group that came about as the result of a 1997 bill by Sen. Jon Porter, R-Boulder City. Ernaut said the recommendations in the plan will be presented to the Legislature.

The plan has been attacked by some officials in Southern Nevada, including Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, and state Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, as being long on generalities and short on specific solutions.

But Ernaut said: "They had to study to see what legislative authority they needed. I think it's unfair to call it a 'paper tiger' until they have a chance to pass some statutes that gives it the ability to do something."

City of Las Vegas Planning Director Theresa O'Donnell said she agrees in part with Guinn.

"(Former U.S. Speaker of the House) Tip O'Neil once said all politics is local. All planning is local. It involves individual cities and neighborhoods. ... But there are times when there is a role for the state to play too."

An example of where the state could help provide direction, she said, is when neighboring jurisdictions have conflicting plans for the development of an area. One may want to see commercial development, while another prefers residential development.

A regional planning board could act act as the final arbitrator of these type of disputes. But legislative approval would be needed to create such a powerful board, she said.

Instead, Boulder City, Las Vegas, Clark County, Henderson and North Las Vegas opted to form an advisory group called the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition.

O'Donnell said she is concerned about how effective a mere advisory group will be.

"They were supposed to have their first meeting last month. But hardly anyone showed up," O'Donnell said. "There were not enough people to even have a quorum."

Asked if Guinn will support funding for the state Nuclear Waste Project Office, Ernaut said negotiations are going on with the federal government "to pick up the tab."

"If the feds don't fund it, we have to fund it," Ernaut said. "We can't stop state oversight. That would be absurd."

The project office is charged with evaluating the federal studies on whether Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is a suitable site for a high-level nuclear waste repository. In the mid-1990s, Congress stopped funding the office -- it had been providing between $1 million and $1.5 million a year -- after an audit showed that about $700,000 had been spent for lobbying rather than scientific studies. For the past year, the office has been operating on emergency state funds only, and its staff is now five from a high of 20 at its peak.

In his inaugural address, Guinn, wearing a black overcoat to fend off the 30-degree temperature, thanked those who backed him and said he was proud to be chosen to lead Nevada into the next century. He added that he would cherish the trust the voters placed in him.

"I've witnessed what only a handful of spirited supporters can do," Guinn said. "It's as the great writer Margaret Mead once said, 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.' "

Chief Justice Bob Rose administered the oath of office to Miller, Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, Secretary of State Dean Heller, Controller Kathy Augustine, Treasurer Brian Krolicki and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa.

Guinn's speech drew applause from both Republicans and Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said it was "very appropriate and to the point."

"It showed a strong commitment to working together and overlooking a lot of difference," Raggio said.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, called it a "nice from the heart" speech. He said he did not think he would have any trouble working with the Republican chief executive.

"We may have disagreements," Coffin said. "But he has a past record as a conciliator. That will hold true as governor."

There was a public reception following the inauguration in the old Assembly chambers on the second floor of the Capitol, followed by a luncheon for more than 200 invited guests -- most of them old friends, public officials and supporters of Guinn.

Throughout the day, Guinn, the first Republican governor in 16 years, was center stage and accompanied by his wife of 42 years, Dema. Other notables on the stage were former governors Bob List and Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev.,; Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.; former lieutenant governors Bob Cashell and Lonnie Hammagren and leaders of the Legislature.

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