Rogers to pay Porter as lobbyist for colleges

Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004 | 9:50 a.m.

Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers has hired former Nevada assemblyman and former Clark County district judge Gene Porter to serve as a third lobbyist for the state's higher education system during the 2005 Legislature.

Rogers, a millionaire media mogul, said he will personally pay for Porter's $120,000 contract. The University and Community College System of Nevada is paying the lobbyist firm of Josh Griffin and Tim Crowley $120,000 for its services this year as well.

Rogers said he believed the system needed the extra support but didn't think the public would support paying for two separate lobbyist contracts. Rogers said he is "more than willing to pay for it myself."

"He's (Porter) been in the Legislature for a long time, and I think he really understands the mechanisms of the Legislature very well," Rogers said.

Porter will "work hand in glove" with Griffin and Crowley in supporting the legislative initiatives backed by the state Board of Regents, Rogers said, including a controversial request for an additional $13 million in capital budget money for Nevada State College at Henderson.

Rogers said he thought the three would work well together and that their different perspectives would benefit the system.

All three will report directly to Rogers, and he said he will be the final decision maker on any disagreements. The Board of Regents gave the chancellor complete authority in hiring system lobbyists and in organizing the system's Legislative efforts at a meeting in March.

Rogers has made pledges to Nevada institutions to the tune of nearly $34 million and has regularly made in-kind donations to the state system as the interim chancellor, including flying Southern Nevada regents to out-of-town meetings on his personal plane.