Gibbons backs off on trip to D.C. to focus on budget

David McGrath Schwartz

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.

Sometimes, you just want to be asked out on a date, even if you don't intend to say yes.

Gov. Jim Gibbons and his allies complained last week that he was not invited to testify at a U.S. Senate committee hearing on the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site. So the committee changed course and invited Gibbons to appear.

But Gibbons decided Monday that he couldn't go after all because of pressing state budget business. He will send a written statement instead and will spend Wednesday, the day of the hearing, meeting with staff to review tax revenues and proposed budget cuts.

"The governor felt the budget took precedent," spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin said. "We weren't able to accommodate both. We had hoped we would be able to, but the governor believed that it would be most prudent to stay in the state."

Subbotin said Gibbons couldn't push back the meeting because of the "timely nature of budget issues facing the state."

Those issues have arisen because gaming and sales tax revenue have grown more slowly than expected. The governor has asked state departments to prepare for a 5 percent cut.

But a number of officials have refused, including Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Jim Rogers and Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid.

Subbotin said Gibbons will reach out to elected leaders to set up meetings on budget cuts.

Rogers said he's open to those discussions.

Reid said, "I'm glad to hear that he's willing to hear different perspectives."

Gibbons had been criticized by Democrats and some in his own party for announcing the possible cuts without consulting state leaders.

His decision not to go to Washington left political insiders mystified. Republican Rep. Jon Porter, who had sided with Gibbons in criticizing Democrats for not inviting the governor to the Yucca hearing, expressed disappointment. "The congressman feels he would have offered valuable testimony," Porter spokesman Matt Leffingwell said.

But Subbotin said that Gibbons thinks Nevada's views will be well -represented. "He has great confidence in the delegation."