Lawmakers offer budget with 18 percent increase

Monday, June 4, 2001 | 10:29 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- After months of changes, cuts and new fees, the Legislature has unveiled its $3.78 billion general fund budget for the coming two years, with an estimated 51 percent going to education from kindergarten through college.

That's an 18 percent increase from the present biennium but still lower than the $3.84 billion recommended initially by Gov. Kenny Guinn.

In addition, the Legislature is going to spend another $285.4 million on construction projects for the next two years.

Besides the $3.78 billion general fund budget, another $6.6 billion will be spent by state agencies, school districts and the university and community college system. That money comes from the federal government, fees and other revenue sources outside state taxes.

Total spending in the coming two years will be about $10.4 billion, which is less than the $13 billion in the present biennium. Missing from this budget is spending by the State Industrial Insurance System, which had a budget in excess of $4 billion this fiscal year.

SIIS?? THIS FISCAL YEAR??----

The bills setting the general fund appropriations, the authorization act, the construction program and other parts of the budget were introduced in the Legislature Sunday and are expected to receive final passage today.

Of the general fund budget, the public schools will capture about 33 percent, down from the 35 percent share in the present budget.

The University and Community College System of Nevada will receive slightly more than 18 percent of the budget, less than the present 19.4 percent. But the university will also get about $78 million in estate taxes that are not included in the general fund.

Higher education funding includes enough money to start the proposed Nevada State College at Henderson and to start planning for a dental school at UNLV.

Included in the overall spending program is a 3 percent bonus for schoolteachers this year and a 2 percent pay raise next fiscal year. The second-year increase would be raised to 4 percent if tax revenues come in higher than expected.

It also introduces a $2,000 signing bonus for new teachers in Nevada. Another $13 million is set aside to help pay for the rising cost of health insurance premiums for teachers and other district employees.

State workers and university faculty are due for 4 percent cost-of-living raises in each of the coming two years. The bills permit longtime employees who are capped in the pay schedule to move up one additional step, or a raise of about 4 percent to 5 percent.

The budget sets aside $11 million for the Interim Finance Committee to take care of emergencies if they arise before the 2003 Legislature. And $23 million was put into a pot for state agencies, the University and Community College System of Nevada and public schools to tap for unexpected increases in energy costs.

If the state's bank balance falls below $50 million in the interim, the bills give the governor the authority to withhold 15 percent from each state agency with the approval of the Interim Finance Committee. And he can ask the university system to reserve some money.

When the state faced a budget crisis in the early 1990s, then-Gov. Bob Miller asked the university system to reduce its spending. The system did, but only after some regents expressed great reluctance.

The budget includes $4 million to fight Yucca Mountain from being designated as a nuclear dump.

One of Guinn's priorities also was funded. The state's more than 800 foster parents will get an average 47 percent increase in payments.

The budget also calls for the start of combining state child welfare services with Clark and Washoe counties eventually assuming full control.