Wednesday, June 25, 2003 | 11:26 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Earlier this year Republican Assembly members from rural Nevada pleaded for the restoration of 39 law enforcement positions that Gov. Kenny Guinn cut from the budget.
Many of those same Assembly members also begged the legislative money committee to reinstate funds, cut from the budget by Guinn, to help school districts in counties where the student population is declining.
In both cases the Legislature agreed to restore funding.
But now -- as the Legislature reconvenes for an 11th-hour, second special session to try to finish business that was supposed to have been wrapped up by June 2 -- those same Republican Assembly members are united in urging the governor to reopen the budget for big reductions before they consider any tax increases.
Guinn recommended nearly $1 billion in new taxes over the next two years. The Senate and Assembly Democrats whittled that down to $869 million, but GOP Assembly members are suggesting the tax increase should only be $704 million, an amount that would effectively be a budget with no discretionary increases.
GOP members in the Assembly have enough votes to block the two-thirds required for any tax plan. And they say they won't budge until there are negotiations to slice into some of the new or expanded programs approved by the regular session.
During the regular session the Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee approved a $4.8 billion general operating budget for the state for the next two years, an increase of 25 percent over the present biennium.
All of the budget to fund general government was passed by the full Legislature except the $1.6 billion school aid budget. Democrats forced that portion of the budget to be linked to the tax increases necessary to fund it.
The dilemma facing lawmakers is that some programs considered essential to many may be viewed as pork to others. And some lawmakers don't want to change any items in the budget.
About 53 percent of the $4.8 billion budget goes to public schools and the University and Community College System of Nevada.
Both Republicans and Democrats say they don't want to cut the money going to classrooms. The GOP members also make it clear they don't want to cut existing programs but want to scale back some of the increases or new programs that were approved.
Under the approved budget, the university system is due to get $890.7 million in state money, a 24.2 percent increase over the next two years. Under an approved formula, the number of students in the system is expected to grow 6.9 percent this coming fiscal year and 7 percent in fiscal 2005.
Those who are looking at reducing state government say the projections on new students at the university system may be high. But for the current biennium, the projections of new students were underestimated.
Some Republicans are recommending closing the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Dental School and the Nevada State College at Henderson, moves that could save more than $17 million in state funds.
The state's approximately 16,000 employees will get a 2 percent pay raise starting in July 2004. That wasn't in the governor's budget. Neither was the boost in the longevity pay of state workers.
So far, the Republican holdouts have not suggested taking back those raises.
But there is a dispute over how many new state jobs are in the budget. The state budget director said last week that it works out to 567 new jobs, but Republican lawmakers contend that the Legislative Counsel Bureau had shown them the breakdown of 917 new positions over the biennium.
One area of staffing increase is expected to be on the chopping block. The state Welfare Division got 129 new workers to help shorten the lines for those applying for public assistance, Medicaid and food stamps. Republican lawmakers say the growth in welfare has stalled and the division doesn't need all those extra workers.
The budget estimates that the number of people receiving welfare benefits will grow from its current 29,132 to 32,984 next fiscal year and 36,143 in the following year. Welfare officials say the extra workers are needed to take care of Medicaid and food stamp recipients and applicants.
The cost of medical care for Medicaid patients is expected to rise too. The state Human Resources Department tried to reduce rates paid to pediatric specialists who treat Medicaid children. The move would have saved an estimated $11 million.
But 25 of those specialists resigned from the program, leaving some needy children without medical care in Southern Nevada. Plans now call for the rates to be partially reinstated, at a cost of $5 million to $6 million.
The Legislature had approved several other increases, which, like the rest of the budget, may be subject to change beginning today, if the Assembly conservatives get their way. Among them:
The present staffing at the Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services is to be increased to handle 103 patients, up from 77 patients. There will be five employees in a crisis unit to visit the hospital emergency rooms and direct mentally ill patients to the state's mental health facilities or to outpatient treatment programs.
Another seven new employees will be hired to provide mental health services to those patients living in the community.
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