Legislators settle on spending plan

By David McGrath Schwartz

Published Tuesday, May 12, 2009 | 6:24 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, May 12, 2009 | 7:41 p.m.

Legislative leaders finalized a spending plan on Tuesday, agreeing to spend "just south of $7 billion," according to Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford.

Gov. Jim Gibbons' spending plan is $6.2 billion for the next two years, and the shortfall gap, which sources say is in the high $700 millions, would have to be raised with taxes or other additional revenue, such as taking money from local governments.

The final piece of the budget was higher education and a fund that provided money for K-12 education grants. Monday night, Senate Democrats wanted cuts to be held at 12 percent; Republicans and Assembly Democrats wanted to settle on 13 percent.

On Tuesday, a joint budget subcommittee voted to recommend a 12.5 percent cut. Additionally, the committee voted to suspend rules so that tuition increases would go directly into higher education, instead of the state's general fund.

Dan Klaich, executive vice chancellor for the Nevada System of Higher Education, said that with tuition increases, the cuts compared to the 2007 Legislature's approved budget would be reduced by 10 percent.

The Legislature recommended that tuition increases be limited to 5 percent each year.

Asked if students should be prepared for some increase, Klaich said yes.

He said other effects to higher education would be "defacto if not explicit caps on enrollments" at some institutions.

Gov. Jim Gibbons had recommended a 36 percent cut to higher education, a number that Republicans and Democrats agreed was too much.