Regents slice budget almost in half

Jennifer Knight

Friday, June 21, 2002 | 9:58 a.m.

The state's budget crunch had the Board of Regents worried enough to cut a list of proposed enhancements nearly in half Thursday so it would have a better chance of passing the governor's approval.

The regents were presented with $104 million worth of "one-shot" funding requests but voted 10-1 to pare it to $55 million at a board meeting in Elko. Regent Steve Sisolak dissented.

"I thought that (original dollar amount) was absolutely ridiculous," Regent Dorothy Gallagher said. "The legislators are going to ask us what rock we've been living under."

Regents felt they would have a better chance of getting their budget request passed if they carefully chose the projects they wanted rather than having the governor decide for them, Gallagher said.

On the list of enhancements is $5 million for dental equipment at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, $9 million for part-time faculty raises, $15 million for work force development and $11 million to double the state's nursing capacity enrollment.

The regents also unanimously passed a $1.26 billion operating budget to submit to the governor. That is a 23 percent hike from the 2001-2003 biennium when the budget was $1.02 billion.

The operating budget is largely paid for out of revenues generated from tuition, fees and other sources. The $1.26 billion will pay for salaries and facilities.

Regents will come back for a final vote on the $55 million list of enhancements at their meeting in August.