State to spend more than $15 billion

Monday, June 6, 2005 | 10:50 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada agencies will be spending more than $15 billion in the next two years for education, mental health, other social and regulatory programs and for pay raises for government workers.

Several bills calling for appropriations of state, federal and other money are wending their way through the Legislature as it makes its drive towards a 1 a.m. Tuesday adjournment of the regular session.

Still unresolved is the proposed $300 million rebate to Nevadans. The Assembly passed one bill to divided the rebate among licensed drivers and the Senate favored a measure calling for it to be given to owners of vehicles in amounts based upon the vehicle registration fees.

And the $15 billion doesn't include the $419 million construction for the state for the next two years. Of the $419 million, $240 million is going to the Nevada System of Higher Education, formerly called the University and Community College System of Nevada.

There will be new programs to combat problem gambling and suicides. Lawmakers allocated $22 million to start full-day kindergarten in fiscal 2007 in more than 100 schools. That $22 million will come from a new $50 million a year plan to help failing or near failing schools.

When the ink dries on the bills and the session closes, more than 52 percent of the state money will be going to education from kindergarten to the university.

To guard against unexpected downturns in the economy, the "rainy day" fund was increased to $200 million to handle emergencies.

A major beneficiary in the budget bills will be mental health care where the $336.6 million approved two years ago rises to $516.6 million for the next two fiscal years, a 40.5 percent increase.

Funding for mental health was one of the priorities of Gov. Kenny Guinn and the Legislature.

There was a brief glitch in getting agreement on the appropriations bill that allocates $3.6 billion in state money. The Senate eliminated the position of a legislative administrative aide who worked for Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, during the last two years.

Perkins lobbied senators to restore the position but then agreed to the Senate amendment that will save an estimated $140,000.

Among the things included in the appropriations bill is $838,000 for added security at the state prison in Indian Springs; $1.5 million for the state Department of Motor Vehicles to expand the use of kiosks at its offices and an added $2.1 million to pay for the cost of the Legislature to bring the total cost of the regular session to $17.1 million.

The measure also includes setting aside $500,000 each year for the urban and Hispanic chambers of commerce in Las Vegas. Lawmakers said they want the money to help the inner city and blighted areas.

An additional $71 million was allocated during the weekend to the rainy day fund to bring it to $200 million. Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, sought to raise that to $250 million saying nobody knows when there will be another downturn in the economy. He referred to 1991 when the state encountered bad times and Gov. Bob Miller had to cut state budgets.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said that while the fund's $135 million from the last session was used up, $200 million is expected to be sufficient.