Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 | midnight
There's a real vacuum of leadership in Carson City, a vacuum the Legislature should rush to fill.
In his State of the State speech Jan. 15, Gov. Jim Gibbons offered no solutions to Nevada's budget crisis. Instead, he proposed unrealistic cuts to needed services and offered a ridiculous budget cutting higher education 36 percent.
What Gibbons doesn't seem to understand or acknowledge is that at the very time he's trying to cut funding for colleges and universities, more and more people are trying to attend college so they can gain the necessary skills to compete in today's brutally competitive job market.
"We've seen this before. When the economy goes bad, people return to classes," said Patty Charlton-Dayar, a vice president at the College of Southern Nevada. "Students are filling the seats and they're coming in record numbers. We know we have more sections (classes) that are filled at this time than there was last year."
The problems at CSN mirror those at UNLV and all of the state's institutions of higher learning.
CSN receives about 75 percent of its operating funds from the state, which already cut $10.4 million for the current fiscal year.
To help cover the loss of funding, the school imposed a $2.75 per credit surcharge and it's closing six satellite centers.
But further cuts could force the cancellation of some classes, just as enrollment has soared 12 percent.
A total of 30,642 students have signed up for the spring semester, and it's questionable whether CSN can provide an adequate education for those who return in the fall.
Similar cuts to our public schools will only serve to damage an already under-funded system. The Clark County School District's Joyce Haldeman, an associate superintendent, sums it up this way: "We either have to lower the level of services we provide to children or increase taxes.'' Not only would the School District have to reduce services, it would have trouble recruiting and retaining teachers if they are hit with a 6 percent salary cut proposed by Gibbons. Many teachers, already on the edge financially, likely are already looking for opportunities in states where education is more valued.
Legislators shouldn't review and adjust Gibbons' budget. They need to start from scratch and do the responsible thing by adequately funding public schools, higher education and other critical state programs. This should be accomplished in a nonpartisan way so that it will withstand a Gibbons veto.
We agree with Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, who has been attending public meetings on budget issues across the state over the past four months. She found widespread support for education, adding, "Attending college should be a reality for our children, not a foreclosed dream."
The big issue for Buckley and other legislators is not spending — there is no credible argument that Nevada now spends enough on basic state services such as education and health care for those who can't afford it.
The real issue is an inadequate and unpredictable revenue stream that relies too heavily on gaming and sales taxes. Now is the time for nongaming industries that have not been paying their fair shares to stand up and be part of the solution — or let legislators do it for them.
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