Gibbons: State should keep more land-sale money

Friday, Feb. 25, 2005 | 9:36 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Rep. Jim Gibbons, a possible candidate for governor, said Thursday he wants Nevada to keep more of the money from the sale of public lands in Clark County and he opposes the Bush Administration's plan to use the money to pay down the national debt.

Gibbons, a Republican, sidestepped the issues of Social Security and raising the minimum wage in his 35-minute address to a joint session of the Legislature that was interrupted 17 times by applause.

Nevada has received approximately $80 million since 1998 in sales of about 28,000 acres of federal land in Clark County. Five percent of the sales are earmarked for Nevada's education.

Gibbons wants to increase that percentage to 35 percent and that would be an additional $350 million to $700 million by 2007 that could be poured into the public schools.

He complained that while 28,000 acres have been sold to private interests, the Bureau of Land Management has purchased more than 156 square miles of private lands elsewhere in Nevada. He said the rural counties suffer because that land comes off the property tax rolls.

"Enough is enough," he said in a statement that drew applause from lawmakers, guests and supporters of Gibbons.

He said others are trying to open "Pandora's Box" by making changes in the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act and if the Bush Administration isn't stopped, "politicians from other western states like California and Oregon will try to tap into this account for their own priorities."

University system Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers said he was eager to give his support to Gibbon's bill after the congressman approached him about it.

Rogers believes that the money should stay in Nevada because it was the state's, and particularly Clark County's, growth and economy that made the land worth so much in the first place.

"It's a windfall that the Nevada economy has created that the federal government ought not to take advantage of," Rogers said. "That's my feelings."

He wants at least one-third of the land act money, estimated at $500 million, to go to education because he sees that as the greatest need for the state. The original act had 50 percent of the money allocated for education, Rogers said.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, and a candidate for governor next year, said Gibbons' speech this session was more moderate than the one he gave in 2003.

"This year he wants to give away money and last year he was condemning the property tax hike," she said. "Looks like he wants to be more moderate in running for governor."

Two years ago, Gibbons complained about the state's tax increases. In his speech Thursday, Gibbons praised Gov. Kenny Guinn for his programs and his plans for a tax rebate of up to $300 in registration fees per vehicle. He said the proposal to give something back to the hard-working residents is a good one. "After all it is their money," he said.

Titus also noted that Gibbons "didn't address the things Nevadans care about -- property tax, the federal budget cuts that means cuts in programs to Nevada and Social Security."

Gibbons, at a press conference after the speech, said that Social Security was not in a crisis. He added that he has not seen President Bush's plan to privatize the system so he doesn't know the details.

"Private accounts by themselves are not going to save Social Security," the five-term congressman said. "There are a number of proposals that have to be considered. I'm not sure one or any of them will ever be enacted.

"One thing I will not do is jeopardize Social Security. I want to make sure we strengthen and improve it."

Asked about the bill before the Legislature to raise the minimum wage by $1 an hour, Gibbons said "I will not oppose it." Later his office issued a press release that the congressman supported the increase that has been pushed by Democrats in the Legislature.

He said the proposal to offer same-day voter registration has "some pitfalls." But he wants to see efforts to increase the voter turnout.

On the federal No Child Left Behind Act, he said that the act was "not supposed to be an unfunded mandate" and he will work in Congress to avoid cuts. State officials have complained that the federal government has required many things in the law and it doesn't provide the money.

He said he will work to change the No Child Left Behind Act to provide that Hispanic students have "the flexibility to take their preliminary tests in their native language." He said these students must have additional time to gain command of the English language.

Also, this year Congress will take up the issue of downsizing or closing military bases and Gibbons said, "Our mission is to see that Nevada's bases are properly protected from any closures or major funding or infrastructure cuts. Cuts in Nevada bases would harm us economically and our nation militarily."

The congressman said he wants to pass "meaningful" energy legislation that will lessen the dependence on foreign oil and he will oppose onerous regulations on the mining industry.

"We all know of the troubles we have repeatedly gotten ourselves into by relying so heavily on foreign sources of energy. Every day we see our gas prices increase. OPEC is holding America hostage."

Of the 17 times the audience applauded during the speech, eight of those came when he introduced guests in the audience or singled out legislators for praise. For instance there were standing tributes by those present when he introduced the North Valleys High School ROTC from Washoe County and military base commanders Col. Walter Givhan of the 99th Air Base Wing at Nellis Air Force Base; Cmdr. Doug Russell, the executive officer of Fallon Naval Air Station; Lt. Col. John Summers of the Hawthorne Army Depot and Nevada's Adjutant Gen. Giles Vanderhoff.

Asked in the press conference, what he thought about his wife former Assemblywoman Dawn Gibbons, R-Reno, when she voted for the $833.5 million tax increase in 2003, he replied, that she was elected and did what she thought was right.