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CATHLEEN ALLISON / NEVADA APPEAL
Nevada’s budget for the next biennium now goes to the Legislature, where Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford and Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, both Democrats, will take part in committee hearings over the next two weeks in advance of the session beginning Feb. 2.
By J. Patrick Coolican (contact) 
Friday, Jan. 16, 2009 | 2 a.m.
State of the State 2009
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Gov. Jim Gibbons was understandably reluctant to deliver the bad news in his State of the State address Thursday. At moments, he was like a teenager who has tell his parents that he wrecked the family car, but puts off the task with buttery good news and pointless small talk.
So he thanked Nevada State Friends for K-9, who raised private money so state police would have drug dogs, which have already help seize plenty of cash, pot, coke, ecstasy and so on.
Perhaps the governor should have distributed the contraband to legislators to ease the pain ahead: deep cuts to education and other essential services, or tax increases, or both — in politics, always best done under the influence.
In 2007, the new Republican governor got off to a trying start, but for his first state-of-the-state address, the room was abuzz in anticipation — a new governor and a sense that great things were possible in Nevada.
The applause when Gibbons was announced this time and made his way into the well of the Assembly barely qualified as polite. Assemblyman William Horne, a Las Vegas Democrat and assistant majority whip, didn’t applaud. Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, a Reno Democrat, tapped one hand on the other as if trying out a new silent style of clapping.
And then the long windup:
For years, “Nevada has been that beacon on the hill of hope for those who wanted to work hard and prosper,” the governor said, repeating a malapropism of his. (“Beacon on a hill” is not how Ronald Reagan quoted John Winthrop. The phrase was “city upon a hill.”)
Today, not all is well in yonder beacon.
“Many of our fellow citizens are losing their homes, losing their retirement savings, and losing their ability to continue to work and prosper in our state,” Gibbons said.
New taxes, he said, would put Nevadans out of work.
“Higher taxes will just fuel the downward spiral.”
He spoke nearly 15 minutes before he got an applause line, after he began to make his case not to raise taxes, and Republicans produced a smattering of clapping.
His proposed budget would raise the hotel room tax rate in Clark and Washoe County, after voters approved doing so on a ballot advisory question. But Gibbons’ only chance of being nominated again by his party will be the perception of the Republican rank and file that he has stayed true to his anti-tax word, so there was no talk of the room tax increase in the speech.
So, as far as you know, no new taxes.
And, Gibbons said, he “refused to balance this budget on the backs of those in our society who can least afford to shoulder the burden.”
Indeed, as Gibbons explained, the budget for Nevada’s most vulnerable citizens was often spared deep cuts, though he didn’t mention that hospitals will take another 5 percent cut on their Medicaid patients after last year’s 5 percent, or the ceiling and waiting list for a health insurance program for poor kids.
The governor did finally deliver some bad news — teachers and state employees must take a “temporary” 6 percent pay cut. He made sure to point out the joylessness of the task of proposing these savings — twice — which is likely small comfort for beleaguered teachers.
In the end, the speech, much like the budget itself, seemed quite reasonable. A recession is no time for a tax increase. Sure, some will have to take a pay cut, but times are tough.
For this achievement, the governor owed thanks to his hardworking aides, among them Budget Director Andrew Clinger and Chief of Staff Josh Hicks. Clinger’s name got the loudest applause of the night — the poorly kept secret in Carson City of late has been that Gibbons was nowhere to be found during budget deliberations.
Gibbons ended the speech with a rallying cry for turning Nevada into a renewable energy center.
But he never said how he was going to pay for it and was vague in a news conference later.
As Democratic Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford said after the speech, “What I found most interesting is what he didn’t say.”
Indeed, here’s what the governor said — and this is just about all he said — about Nevada’s universities: “We had to reduce state funding for Nevada state higher education.”
Indeed, his budget would reduce higher education funding by 36 percent.
Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, a Las Vegas Democrat, said her fiscal staff estimated the cuts to UNLV and UNR would approach 50 percent because cuts to the community colleges would be smaller.
And there’s your bad news, though you didn’t hear it from the governor.
Great idea!
Gibbons can just tell everyone to leave the state and business can move in, tax free, and make money -it will be a business state!
A place where real humas need not live-oh-wait!
Don't businesses need workers??
Oh, drat-those pesky humans-again...
And their silly families...
..What a pain....
Since Jim Gibbons has fed regugularly at the federal government and state payroll troughs with good salaries, benefits and retirement he should really show his compassion to Nevadans and the state workers by willingly work for $1.00 a year. Afterall, he is rich and has enjoyed these riches courtesy of the people of this state.
His proposed cuts to higher education will reduce UNLV and UNR to status of 'just another set of state universities' or 'also rans' in the ranking of top quality schools... Jim Gibbons has been a disaster for education in this state...anything else he does will simply set the disaster in concrete.
My advice as a teacher to any youngester looking to go to college...get out of Nevada...go anywhere else... Your future education here will be a joke...a laughing stock when future employers look at your transcripts from UNLV or UNR.
Buckley punted in her speech.
She said they are going to study hard.
Go study....eventually you are going to have to present something.
I like how Gibbons said that his new highway patrol drug dog program brings revenue to the state! It seems like he wants people to bring drugs into the state so his patrol officers can take all the money to help fix the Nevada budget. So Gibbons would rather have meth flowing through the state because there is money in it!
Gibbons belongs in jail for attempted rape...
"In the end, the speech, much like the budget itself, seemed quite reasonable."
Now I know how Barbara Buckley felt, nance...
Speechless.
Buckley should be wise to adopt the governor's budget 'as-is'.
She probably is going to present a budget that will trigger massive layoffs in the government sector and also in the private sectors via high taxes.
Her budget will be a job killer.
Buckley's numbers are crap. You can only achieve 50% cuts by assuming all the budget reduction will go to UNR and UNLV and that UNLV and UNR have no other source of revenue.
The appropriations for higher education for his budget is $1.2 billion.
Also note, the budget is 0.9% smaller than the current one and 9% LARGER than the 2005-2007 budget.
We're cutting to the bone really? Give me a break people.
Giboons' budget is near irrelevant. I admire him for standing his ground, er - quicksand. It will be fun to watch the legislature override his veto. It will be equally amusing when he loses the republican primary in 2010.
Gibbons submitted a budget in 2007 that he felt met the needs of the state.
Now NPRI is floating this "it's only 0.9% smaller than the current budget!" talking point.
They don't bother to mention that by "current," they mean the already savaged budget that is AFTER cuts, not the budget that Gibbons proposed to meet the needs of the state two years ago.
We've seen the sacrifices that have been made this biennium, with professors and part-time staff being laid off at campuses across the state, programs being closed. And now, Gibbons proposes a budget that is marginally more that the gutted one, and reduces higher education's share by 30+ percent?
Yeah, keep spinning that as OK, NPRI.
Job Killer, jfnance? State employees are the ones paying the extra taxes, did you think about that? 6% more. Totally unfair. Gibbons' stimulus package: cut people's money in 6%, that's the way they will keep the economy moving. Great idea! In the process, kill public education as well.
"6% more. Totally unfair."
Hummmm, not as bad as it might have been. Personally my income is down 100%, with likely improvement to only 60% down in the next couple weeks. So 6% sounds great to me. Frankly, it sounds negligible. I can easily see how my life could be adjusted to accommodate it.
The education cuts are a disaster, on the other hand.
morgan:
The governor's plan has very little government layoffs in it.
Buckley has already said that her plan will have cuts, too.
Will it be salary freezes and/or layoffs?
Who knows? She is hiding under the rock and is fearful to let others know what she is planning.
I agree with Morgan...the Governor does not want to increase taxes on business because that's where he gets his campaign contributions. So, instead, he "taxes" state employees and teachers. And it is a tax on employees. But, not only did he say he would reduce wages by 6%, he said there would be no longevity pay and that the employee share for health care would increase. So, basically, employees would lose much more than the 6% pay cut. There are many disasters facing this state if the Governor's budget passes as is.
The worst part about leaving the budget at CSN relatively untouched is the millions of Nevada taxpayer dollars moving to Florida.
I keep wondering if we should all move to Sweden, at least our children would get a good education.
"...at least our children would get a good education."
Hmmmmm, blonde Swedish teachers...I may go back to school!
Hmmm. It's kind of strange that people are blaming Buckley for not doing Jimbo's job for him. His job, as governor (small "g"?), is to propose a budget. Her job, as Spokester of the Assembly, is to hold hearings on it and try to get all those Legos to agree on the real final product.
It's an even stranger way to defend Gibbons--by saying he needs Buckley to do his job for him. Why is that? Because we all know that he can't?
Thank you for the Executive Lounge newsletter and the video of Governor Gilmore's State of the State address. As an investor in the State of Nevada (more so than in my own current state of residence) I am greatly encouraged by the approach taken by Nevada's governor to the state's downturn in revenues. My own state is also looking at major budget cuts in government spending and taxpayers have already rejected attempts to shelter favored personnel by increasing taxes. Gilmore's approach to cut personnel costs without losing jobs is a sensible approach. His emphasis on keeping Nevada business friendly is critical to Nevada's future of attracting companies to the state. Lower gas prices will help tourism; commodities market turnaround expected by June/July, 2009, will help its mining industry; initiatives in geothermal and solar energy is a new source of jobs and state revenue; the guv's desire to explore federal resouces and work on bipartisan basis helps; and a migration of retiring baby-boomers into the state will bring new private spending and human energy. The guv spoke of a "rainy day fund" raised in good times to offset the bad times. Good idea; even the country of Chile has done this and now has a $28 billion fund for this purpose from its copper mining activity. You can't escape to Florida, folks, their real estate taxes will kill you; as I have found out.
This governor makes sense and if his policies and efforts are followed; I will keep investing in Nevada. Increase taxes and I as well as other investors and new resources will stay out of the state.
Good luck governor.
Why would someone write crap like this under one name, and then comment on it under another name?
That seems very disingenuous to me. And he does it alot
in these pages.
I assume that gmag39 was referring to someone other than me, JoeMoonrose, since my comments encouraging Nevada's governor were my first ever to this site.