Gibbons proposes land sale to help offset schools’ deficit

Monday, July 14, 2003 | 10:56 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., was a strong proponent of repealing the federal estate tax that has resulted in a $90 million hole in the budget for public schools and the University and Community College System of Nevada.

That means the state will have to step in and make up the loss. Gibbons says he has a plan to fill that hole, and it involves the sale of public lands in the state.

"We're going to take the issue of selling public lands in Nevada and we're going to increase the percentage share that comes out of the sale of public land and then we will replace the estate tax with the increased share going to public education," Gibbons said Saturday.

His comment came after he announced his intention to start a constitutional amendment to require the Legislature to pass the public school aid budget first, rather than holding it to the end.

"It is a disgrace how Nevada's children and educational system have been treated by state and local government," he said in a prepared statement.

But Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, the vice chairwoman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, said such a plan has already been announced by Sens. Harry Reid, a Democrat, and John Ensign, a Republican.

She said the state was going to face close to a $200 million shortfall in 2005 because the budget now is spending one-shot money that won't be available in the next biennium.

Giunchigliani suggested the federal government pay for special education, which it has required. And she said the federal No Child Left Behind law forces the state to spend extra money to comply.

"That's where he (Gibbons) ought to focus," said Giunchigliani, a former schoolteacher.

About 150 people including senators and Assembly members who have refused to vote for the tax increase showed up for Gibbon's announcement, made on the steps of the Nevada Supreme Court Saturday.

He was asked if he was using this new initiative petition as a springboard to run for the U.S. Senate.

He replied: "Today is about Nevada. I still have a decision to make. That's down the road."

Some people in the crowd yelled "Gibbons for Governor," during pauses in his speech.

At one point after the speech, Gibbons joked he may run for the Nevada Supreme Court.

Gibbons was the author of the amendment in the state constitution that requires a two-thirds vote for any tax increase that became effective in 1996. It has resulted in a deadlock in the Legislature over the $1.6 billion school funding bill.

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday the two-thirds tax requirement must give way to the constitutional provision that the public schools must be funded.

Gibbons blasted the Supreme Court's decision Saturday.

"For six members of the Supreme Court to casually take that right away by invalidating our votes is unconscionable," he said.

Ranking Republican Assemblyman John Marvel, R-Battle Mountain, applauded Gibbons' plan.

"If we have another fiasco as we have now, it gets education out of the way. It can't be used as a political ploy," said Marvel, a member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Assemblyman Walter Andonov, R-Henderson, said: "Forcing the Legislature to fund education first is exactly what the people of Nevada demand, and it will make sure that our children will never be shortchanged again."

Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, the chairman of the Assembly Education Committee, said Gibbons' proposal was more trouble than it would be worth.

But then Williams made some surprising comments. He said he served in the Legislature with Gibbons and he "was a good legislator." He said he has heard many people comment that Gibbons might be using this for political purposes.

Gibbons' proposal would require about 51,243 signatures of registered voters on a petition that would be submitted to the voters in 2004 and again in 2006 before it would become part of the constitution.