Lots of hubbub, little to show for it

By J. Patrick Coolican

Sunday, June 3, 2007 | 7:11 a.m.

CARSON CITY - The session began with the hope that surely those gleaming new towers on the Strip mean there must be plenty of money to deal with Nevada's imported and endemic problems in health care and education, as well as social ills such as substance abuse and homelessness.

As the weeks progressed, however, and sales tax receipts came in lower than expected, hope gave way to resignation that there would be no money for universal all-day kindergarten, or health care for all kids or full funding of substance abuse treatment, and so on.

In the end, advocates for education and health and human services were stuck fighting for the status quo, with some setbacks and an occasional victory in a few areas.

"We were not able to make dramatic improvements in health and human services this session, but we did make incremental steps forward that will improve the quality of life for many of our citizens," said Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, vice chairwoman of Ways and Means Committee.

Following is a review of the session highlights for education, colleges and universities, health care and human services.

Education

Nevada ranks near the bottom in per-pupil funding compared with other states, and is about $1,800 below the national average. Although it's not clear yet what the per-pupil increase will be, education advocates said they expect the state to continue to tread water, relative to national averages.

Although Mary Jo Parise-Malloy, a founding member of the community advocacy group Nevadans for Quality Education, wholly supports universal full-day kindergarten, Parise-Malloy said Democrats may have focused too heavily on that one issue this session.

"Until our per-pupil funding levels come up, and we're providing basic, adequate support, our students are not going anywhere," Parise-Malloy said. "We're wasting our time."

Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes views the K-12 budget as a half-full glass.

He said he was pleasantly surprised by new money for gifted students.

With its share of the $15 million earmarked by lawmakers for full-day kindergarten, Clark County hopes to add between 30 and 40 more full-day kindergarten classes in at-risk schools.

Lawmakers also set aside $10 million for empowerment schools, which are campuses that operate with more autonomy in exchange for greater accountability. Clark County will double its empowerment schools program to eight campuses in August.

Given the "divergent views and the declining reviews," the proposed K-12 budget is "a fair compromise," said Keith Rheault, Nevada's superintendent of public instruction. The extra $7 million for career and technical education ($2 million in the governor's plan and another $5 million from the Legislature) will allow districts to expand programs and upgrade equipment. A grant program for school remediation and innovation is also expected to be continued, with a pot of about $80 million to be available over the biennium.

To John Jasonek, executive director of the Clark County Education Association, the K-12 budget is "another sad commentary about this state's lack of commitment to education."

Providing teachers with a 2 percent raise in the first year of the biennium followed by 4 percent in 2009 is inadequate, he said.

Raises of 5 percent each year "would at least show there is some concern about teacher shortages here," Jasonek said. "I guess they'll have to hit rock bottom before somebody wakes up and says this is a very serious matter."

The Clark County School District began the current academic year short more than 400 teachers, a deficit it failed to overcome as the months progressed. The district is expected to have about 3,000 vacancies to fill by August, and early applicant interest is down sharply from this time last year.

On the upside, lawmakers protected funding to provide incentives to teachers who accept hard-to-fill positions in at-risk schools. A bill that would allow districts more flexibility with the incentive dollars, including offering teachers a choice of a cash bonus instead of a retirement credit, remained in play as of this writing.

Higher Education

Higher education officials sounded weary last week as they tried to make sense of the budget numbers coming out of the Legislature.

All agreed that it could have been much worse.

"It's a strange day when you are celebrating being $14 to $15 million down in your budget," said Gerry Bomotti, vice president of finance at UNLV.

Bomotti and others were - if not celebrating - breathing easier because UNLV had been bracing for up to $54 million in cuts due to slower enrollment growth and lost tuition revenue. UNR and the Community College of Southern Nevada were in a similar, if less dire, predicament.

In the end, lawmakers slightly increased funding at all of the state's institutions and provided funds to help UNLV, UNR and CCSN, which have enrollment woes.

Lawmakers also approved the funding needed to finish several key higher education buildings and provided planning money for Nevada State College's nursing school.

Several new programs, including $7 million for workforce development at the state's community colleges, and $400,000 to fund joint efforts between higher education and K-12 and money for new scholarship initiatives have not been funded.

Health Care

Many health care stakeholders are pleased by the session, given how little money was available. Others are disappointed, but pragmatic enough to be glad for the little they received.

Nevada's health care ranks among the worst in the nation, in large part because it has not kept pace with the state's rapid growth. The state is currently in the bottom three among states in the number of per capita dentists, doctors, nurses and social workers.

Nevada is tied for the fourth highest percentage of uninsured residents. About 19 percent of Nevadans, 426,000 people, are uninsured. The state is second in the nation in per capita mental health patients, and 37th in mental health spending.

University of Nevada School of Medicine Dean John McDonald said he was encouraged that the school received about $100 million for the construction of the new Health Sciences Center, even though he originally asked for nearly twice that amount. The school will train new medical professionals. It got no additional funds for operating costs to expand the faculty and residency programs.

Dan Musgrove, chief lobbyist for the troubled University Medical Center, Clark County's only publicly owned hospital, said, "We didn't take any step backwards, we just kind of limped along ..."

Carlos Brandenburg, administrator of Nevada's Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services, said the Legislature approved "tremendous gains" for mental health for the second consecutive session. In 2005 the division's budget was increased by about 50 percent. This year it received a 30 percent increase, which amounts to about $167 million, he said.

The money will allow the state to bolster its substance abuse treatment programs, provide more advanced and safer medication and reopen 22 acute psychiatric beds at Stein Hospital on West Charleston Boulevard, a facility that was closed after the state opened the new 190-bed Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in August.

The budget includes a 10 percent pay increase above cost of living so the state can recruit psychiatrists, nurses and mental health counselors.

Pilar Weiss, political director for the 60,000-member Culinary Union, said she thinks legislators took innovative steps to improve health care in Nevada, without raising taxes or taking money from other programs. Bills requiring HIV testing for pregnant women and cervical cancer and prostate screening are big steps forward, she said.

If there are any big losers in the session it is uninsured Nevadans, said Larry Matheis, executive director of the Nevada State Medical Association.

"We still have a fundamental problem of access to coverage and that drives a lot of our other issues," Matheis said.

Human Services

Advocates for the poor, including Leslie, could claim a significant victory, increasing aid to single parents for the first time in more than a decade. The 10 percent increase will mean an extra $34.80 a month for a family of three.

Overall, observers said the end result could hardly be described as a step forward and some said lawmakers may have made the state's poor step back a bit.

Jan Gilbert, lobbyist for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, or PLAN, called the increase in welfare checks a victory, but noted that she had been pestering lawmakers on the issue in Carson City for 20 years. The last raise was granted in 1991.

At the same time, she said, "in relation to the overall picture of the $7 billion budget, it's small potatoes ... It's a small increase compared to giveaways, perks and benefits for those with higher incomes."

Nancy Ford, administrator for the state's division of welfare and supportive services, called the change "a long time coming" and said it would immediately affect about 17,000 people.

Larry Struve, a lobbyist for a group called the Religious Alliance in Nevada, was unimpressed about support for the state's poor in the 2007 Legislature.

"With the exception of the increase (in welfare payments), I think things are pretty much status quo when it comes to programs to help the poor," Struve said.

Leslie, the chairwoman of Ways and Means, offered a long list of notable, if small accomplishments, among them: money for methamphetamine education and treatment; in-house help to seniors so they can live at home; a mobile mental health crisis team for emergencies; energy assistance for the poor; $3.8 million for community drug and alcohol treatment for 1,400 new clients; and a significant salary increase for mental health counselors, social workers, psychiatric nurses, mid-level medical practitioners and licensed psychologists.

The crux of the state's problem, however, is summed up in this fact: Just to maintain the current 1:22 caseworker-to-child ratio in the child welfare system, Clark County will need to hire 50 new people in the next two years.

Leslie and her allies won approval for the positions, which they considered a victory.