Lawmakers like Guinn’s increases in human services - but still cautious

Brendan Riley

Friday, Jan. 26, 2001 | 8:38 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Lawmakers had high praise for Gov. Kenny Guinn when he unveiled a $1.1 billion human services spending plan on Monday. But some grew cautious as they began scrutinizing the plan on Thursday.

The Republican governor's proposed budget for such services in the coming two years takes up 28 percent of all state general funds. That compares with a 24.4 percent slice of the current two-year budget.

In his state-of-the-state speech, Guinn said the state's low ranking in some human services areas was an embarrassment, and it's time to catch up. He went on to describe proposed improvements in programs for children, the elderly and disabled, low-income families and others.

The increases in such services caught some lawmakers by surprise, and prompted Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, to say, "You may find the Republicans more upset with his spending plans than Democrats."

But on Thursday, as the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committees took a closer look at the human services budget, lawmakers learned that $1 million in current funding for an adolescent substance abuse program had been erased.

The funding had been sought in 1999 by the late Jan Evans, an assemblywoman who crusaded for many social service programs. She died of cancer last year.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said the cut showed that "the devil is in the details. On the surface, the human services budget looks good. But we have to pay close attention."

"The governor does deserve some credit," added Leslie, who's part of Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins' leadership team. "But we can't forget there are some tremendous needs."

Others with mixed views on the human services budget included Barbara Buckley, the Democrats' majority floor leader in the Assembly.

After Guinn's speech Monday night, Buckley praised his plans for health care, disabled and child welfare programs - but noted the governor left out a $6 million for a Las Vegas-area senior citizen housing project that she had pushed. She'll introduce a separate bill for the funding.

Veteran Assemblyman Joe Dini, D-Yerington, noted Thursday that the Guinn budget also slashes funding for a "family-to-family" program that provides parenting education and other assistance to young families. It was started by Guinn's predecessor, Democrat Bob Miller.

But Dini said Guinn has to get credit for proposed enhancements in other human service areas, and said the fact that he came up the hard way - the son of poor field workers - probably made him sensitive to the need for such services.

Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, long an advocate of expanded mental health programs, said Guinn has come through with proposed improvements in mental health and other areas. He credited efforts by various advocacy groups - and Guinn's strong business background.

The former utility and banking executive "is a chief executive officer who fully understands that an investment in human services has all kinds of returns for the state," Townsend said.

Highlights of Guinn's social services plans include:

-A transfer certain child welfare services from the state to Clark and Washoe counties, Nevada's most populous.

-Increases in the monthly cash benefit for welfare or Temporary Assistance for Nevada Family recipients.

-Increased payments to people who provide foster care.

-Expanded Nevada Check-Up health care benefits. The coverage goes generally to children of the working poor who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.

-A $5 million allocation to provide medical benefits for working poor adults; and $6 million for cervical and breast cancer coverage for uninsured women who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.

-Eliminating an asset test under which people who have $2,000 or more in assets can't qualify for Medicaid.

-Allocating $12 million over two years to expand the child care program for welfare recipients moving into jobs or into job training.