Gibbons moves to divert more land money to schools

Suzanne Struglinski

Friday, Nov. 7, 2003 | 11:01 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., plans to introduce a bill next year that would divert more funds from public land sales in Southern Nevada to the state's schools.

Gibbons said the standing law, passed in 1998, which allocates only 5 percent of profits from public lands sales in Clark County to education "needs to be modernized."

"Yesterday the BLM auctioned off another parcel of land," Gibbons said. "I think it is shameful that more proceeds from this act aren't allocated for our children."

His idea is to allocate 35 percent of the proceeds toward education. He said the state is affected by the growth the land sales bring, which includes children in need of schools.

"We put twice as much today in our water projects," Gibbons said.

He said the land acquisition percentage of the proceeds from the fund now sits at 80 percent, but that he thought there was "adequate room" for it to have 50 percent to allow for his increase for education.

Jack Finn, spokesman for Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said the proposal had "merit" and that he would watch the issue.

Ensign created the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act when he was in the House in 1998. He and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., successfully passed legislation this year that would use some of the funds from the Act for environmental protection projects at Lake Tahoe.