Gov. Guinn readies state-of-state speech, budget for Legislature

Brendan Riley

Thursday, Jan. 18, 2001 | 11:40 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn is proposing an ambitious agenda - requiring no new taxes - in the $3.74 billion, two-year budget he outlines Monday in his state-of-the-state address to Nevada legislators.

The basic spending plan focuses on education, health care and benefits for state workers. Guinn has said he won't propose any new taxes to fund the budget, although it could be affected by others' efforts to establish a tax on business profits or to raise casino taxes.

In recent weeks and months, the governor has revealed some of his priorities in public pronouncements and in meetings with legislative leaders.

Nevada's expenditures must match a revenue estimate made earlier by the state Economic Forum, so there's no mystery about the total spending that Guinn envisions.

The only mysteries - until Monday's speech before the state Assembly and Senate - are the exact percentages and dollar amounts for major spending categories.

Based on the current two-year budget approved by the 1999 Legislature, Guinn will propose spending 55 percent or more of the money for education; roughly a quarter of the budget on human services programs; and about 12 percent for public safety - mainly Nevada's prison system.

Combined, the three categories account for more than 90 percent of all state general fund spending. The fund gets three-quarters of its revenue from sales and casino-related taxes.

The day after the governor's speech is delivered and copies of his spending plan are handed to lawmakers, members of the Senate and Assembly money committees will start pre-session meetings to review the proposals.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, who also chairs Senate Finance, said the money committee members hope to have reviewed all major elements of the budget by the time the 2001 session convenes on Feb. 5.

"This fast-tracks us," Raggio said. "We go over all the major budgets and have a clear understanding of the budget before the formal session begins. We hit the ground running now."

Expected highlights in Guinn's state-of-the-state speech, his second since winning the governor's race in 1998, include:

-No new taxes. Guinn says the goals outlined in his state-of-the-state speech and in his proposed budget can be met by reallocating anticipated revenues rather than by seeking new funding sources.

-Funding requests for the state's public schools, community colleges and universities that could exceed the 55 percent allocated for education in the current two-year budget.

-A call to shrink or restructure the state's bureaucracy. The governor's proposals stem from a major review of state government operations that was conducted in the interim between the 1999 and 2001 sessions.

-Enhancements in state programs to help senior citizens, children, low-income families and the handicapped. That includes a plan to improve payments to foster parents and to enable grandparents to qualify for the payments.

-Continued opposition to a federal, high-level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. Guinn's state Commission on Nuclear Projects wants a legislative resolution urging a veto of any federal-level decision for Yucca Mountain. That would set the stage for Gov. Guinn to veto the dump if the federal Department of Energy recommends the site.

-Pay raises for state workers. The governor has been urged by workers' groups to raise their pay by 5 percent in 2001 and 3 percent more in 2002. Pay increases for teachers, who are trying to fund a raise through a proposed business profits tax, are lower down on the priority list.

-A proposed state construction budget that includes some funding to start construction of the proposed Nevada State College at Henderson. The college was added to an earlier public works list that didn't list Henderson as a priority.

-A call to avert a potential energy crisis of the sort that has occurred in California because of an electric utility deregulation debacle.

And legislators might expect to hear something unexpected from the governor, who won't release the contents of his address until shortly before he speaks to them in the Assembly chambers.