Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Guinn details final budget

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn's $3.85 billion budget includes help for the working poor to get health care and for low-income families to pay their escalating fuel bills and it doubles the rebates to senior citizens in the property tax relief program.

The budget allocates nearly $23 million to start a state college in Henderson, gives state workers a 4 percent a year cost-of-living raise and puts $10 million into a program to make sure every third grader in Nevada is able to read at that level.

Services in Medicaid are expanded to help children, seniors, the disabled and pregnant women. There is $6 million for coverage for women for breast and cervical cancer.

And the state will spend added money in fighting Yucca Mountain, the site of a proposed nuclear dump.

Guinn says he can start all these programs without any new taxes and still have $106.8 million in the bank on June 30, 2003.

In his last budget before he comes up for re-election, he has stressed social programs, boosting spending for human services from 24 percent to 28.4 percent of the money pie.

Last year Guinn was warning businessmen the state could be $1 billion in the hole in eight years if it kept on its present spending and taxing path. But that didn't dissuade Guinn from beginning some new social programs and expanding others.

He said that with "the potential slowing of the national economy, now is not a time for new taxes, and my budget does not contain a single tax increase. Now is the time for moderation and restraint."

The governor, in a budget presented Monday to a joint session of the Nevada Legislature, proposed $5 million for a program designed to help the working poor either buy insurance policies or have their medical bills picked up. This program would be for those who make too much money so they don't qualify for Medicaid or whose employer doesn't provide health insurance coverage.

Nevada has one of the highest numbers of uninsured people in the nation. In addition, Guinn has increased the number of children to be covered by"Nevada Check Up" from 15,000 to 25,000. This program provides coverage for children of low-income families who pay a small part of the premium.

Another $5 million is being put into a fund to help needy Nevadans to pay their escalating fuel bills. That will be added to the $3 million grant the state Welfare Division is receiving this year from the federal government.

There is no money in the budget to increase the average public assistance grant of $348 a month for a family of three. But he has raised grants to foster parents. For children up to 11, the rate is going from $13.28 to $19.50 a day. For older children, the parent will receive $22.50 a day, up from the present $16.33.

As he promised in his 1998 campaign, Guinn is doubling the rebates given to seniors in the property tax program. The average annual rebate is about $274 and 12,600 senior citizens over 62 and with incomes below $23,000 receive the rebates. The state paid out $3.4 million last year. Guinn is putting in an extra $8 million to cover doubling the rebate.

An extra $11.5 million is included to expand services for Medicaid, the federal-state program for medical care for the needy. The governor wants to add services for children, group care, physically disabled and mentally retarded. He asks that the asset tests for children and pregnant women be eliminated. He is calling for a speed-up of the case load processing for pregnant women.

The Medicaid budget also includes increased payments for doctors, hospitals and nursing home who care for these patients.

In his office, Guinn wants to have a family resource coordinator to direct families to where they can receive services either from state or local governments.

The governor also is recommending the consolidation of the family resource centers with the family-to-family programs around the state. There has been some opposition to this by critics who say the types of families being served are different.

He has also agreed to a legislative suggestion to combine the state's child welfare programs in Clark and Washoe counties. That will initially cost the state $8 million.

His budget doubles the funding that helps physically disabled stay in their homes with their families. He said he has increased his budget for the developmentally disabled to eliminate all waiting lists for community based services for these citizens.

Not included in the budget is a suggestion by Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, for $6 million for a demonstration assisted living project for senior citizens in Las Vegas.

Guinn plans to spent $57 million to give schoolteachers a one-time 5 percent bonus this year. If tax revenue comes in higher than expected in the future, Guinn will call a special session of the Legislature to allocate the extra money toward teachers' salaries.

He is obviously trying to head off the profits tax initiative by the Nevada State Education Association, the union of schoolteachers that wants to impose a 4 percent tax on profits above $50,000 of Nevada businesses. The association released a statement Monday that a poll shows 61 percent of those questioned favor the profits tax.

The governor is creating a $10 million fund to ensure all students read at grade level by third grade. And an extra $4 million is being provided for early childhood education programs.

In a project dear to the heart of Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, the governor has allocated $16 million for the building of classrooms at the proposed state college in Henderson, $1 million for startup costs and $5.8 million to handle an estimated 1,000 students when classes open next year.

He has not allocated any money for a dental school as proposed by Sen. Ray Rawson, D-Las Vegas. But there is money for a $25 million Health Sciences-Biotech Building at the Community College of Southern Nevada and $19 million for additions and renovations to Wright Hall at UNLV.

Included in the budget is enough money for a 2 percent a year pay raise for faculty at the universities and community colleges. Guinn is asking the Board of Regents to come up with a matching amount so the professors will get the same pay raise as state workers.

Besides the 4 percent per year for state employees, Guinn is adding an extra 10 percent for engineers and 5 percent each for correctional officers and parole and probation officers. Staff at the state Gaming Control Board will be getting extra pay also under the governor's plan. The money for the raises in gaming will come from higher fees the state will charge for investigation of those who want a license.

The budget includes $5 million for Nevada to file suit to stop the federal government from locating the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. It also will be used for a public relations campaign to convince other states to back Nevada because this radioactive materials will be hauled through their population centers.

There's a $41 million fund to help the state pay for expected increases in electric and natural gas rates over the next two years. Instead of a proposed $33 million state office building in Carson City, the governor is recommending the state buy buildings in Las Vegas and Carson City that now belong to Employers Insurance Co. of Nevada.

All of the changes, the governor said, can be accomplished by adding a net 48 new employees to the state's 15,700 workforce.

Of the total general fund, 90 percent will be spent to continue existing state programs, 4.7 percent will be for maintenance for such things as growth in school children or prison inmates and 5 percent for new programs.

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