Titus rips Bush plan to take land sales funds

Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 | 8:40 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Improvements to Lake Mead and Red Rock Canyon would be threatened under a money recapture plan by President Bush that would siphon an annual $700 million out of Nevada.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, accused the Bush administration Tuesday of a "money grab" with its plan to take 70 percent of the funds generated from the sale of federal lands in Clark County to help pay down the national debt.

"If the Bush budget proposal is adopted, it will be devastating for Nevada," she told the Senate.

After her remarks, the Senate, in an emergency action, unanimously approved Senate Joint Resolution 2, calling on the president to reverse his stance or for Congress to reject the plan.

The resolution goes to the Assembly that may schedule a vote on it today.

Under the federal law, 5 percent of the profit from the land sales goes into education in Nevada, 10 percent goes for water and airport projects and the remaining 85 percent is used to acquire environmentally sensitive land and to develop parks and trails.

If the Bush proposal is successful, Titus said, projects such as the Clark County Shooting Range, the Spring Mountains Information Center and purchase of 770 acres at Lake Tahoe will be jeopardized.

Nevada now receives 70 cents for every $1 it sends back to the federal government, ranking 46th in the nation for the return of tax dollars. In addition, Titus noted, the federal government owns 86 percent of the land and that remains off the property tax rolls.

She said Nevada has done its share for the nation, but this Bush plan "is just too much."

"The money from the sale of land in Nevada should stay in Nevada, preserving Nevada's natural treasures, building Nevada's infrastructure, educating Nevada's children," Titus said.