Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
By Anjeanette Damon (contact) 
Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011 | 9:37 a.m.
Related Stories
- Soft words during State of the State hide Nevada in pain
- State budget heavy on cuts, light on solutions
- Teachers not pleased with most of Sandoval’s speech
- In response, Democrats say taxes might be part of budget solution
- Quotes on Sandoval’s budget, speech
- Sandoval calls for education overhaul, job cuts in State of the State
The budget Gov. Brian Sandoval presented to the Legislature this week relies on about $1 billion in new revenue, patched together mostly from local governments and school districts.
But he also proposed monetizing $190 million of the state’s insurance premium tax. That essentially means borrowing from future revenue. The state receives a lump sum of $190 million and must pay it off over the next four years.
The cost of doing that: $24 million in interest.
Over the years, Republicans have come up with a variety of monetization and securitization schemes. They’ve looked at the tobacco settlement funds and unclaimed property funds. Each time, Democrats reject the idea.
In a budget hearing this morning, the familiar refrain was sounded over the monetization plan.
“This is like taking out a second on my house to pay my bills,” Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford said. “I think a lot of families that have done that have seen the consequences of that approach. It’s put people in bankruptcy. How is that proposal by the administration any different?”
Budget director Andrew Clinger said the monetization plan was not Sandoval’s “first choice.”
“But given the difficult choices that we face, some of the cuts we were originally on the table for, this is something we felt was necessary to try and protect services while trying to protect the economy at the same time,” he said.
Clinger said the revenue is necessary to offset some of the more severe cuts to services for the needy, disabled and elderly and to avoid a tax increase.
Horsford questioned the wisdom of requiring future Legislatures to find the money for the $54 million annual payment to pay off the note.
“It is a tax on our kids that are going to have to pay this in a future session,” he said.
We know that taxing the gaming industry is off the table...they told legislators that during the special session, but has mining refused to pay more?
It would appear that both mining and gaming are too big to tax...that just leave us poor Clark County residents.
Our new Nevada Governor, Brian Sandoval, gave the driest and most uninspiring speech I've ever heard. The bleak, poorly delivered speech could have been fitly accompanied by a funeral dirge. His inability to crack a smile or exude a smidgeon of warmth made Senator Reid seem like Elmer Gantry.
In a time when conservatives cannot find justification for increasing the historically low taxes of billionaires, taking money away from children and stemming services for the old and feeble makes perfect sense.
This is a mess. Repubs and Dems equal to blame. Politicians worry about the next election cycle instead of having the backbone to do the right thing. Now...really hard difficult decisions are on the table and a lot of good hard working people will have to bear the weight because politicians could not make the right choice 10-20 years ago. They took the short-sighted view. Now we all pay dearly. History repeating itself, will we ever learn?
@Robert2 - FINALLY - someone else who sees that BOTH Parties are equally responsible for the mess this Country is in - State by State.... History will keep repeating all the while the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the middle class just simply disappears tax dollar by tax dollar :(
mirrors and gimmicks as usual. And, the usual slap at education.
No offense, but when you spend 1/2 of what other states do, and you cut 15-20% [I know what he said, but that's how the numbers really add up...], you cannot get a better system. Sorry. it defies logic. Can you get a better house for 1/2 the price? NO. Maybe for a little less, but not 20% less than 1/2 price.
And, the tenure bit is just the usual anti-labor attempt to fire the higher-paid employees. [just ask your Fortune 500 company who they lay off- the older, higher paid employees first.]
So Nevada sinks deeper into the abyss.
[Remember: Sarah Palin TAXED the oil companies and paid a dividend to residents. That's right--she raised their taxes.]
Actually, I know a way we can solve the budget deficit AND LOWER taxes even more: just close the schools and Universities down completely, and give everyone a %500 voucher. Then Nevadans can pay $15,000 per pupil to the for-profit schools and "save money."
"It is a tax on our kids that are going to have to pay this in a future session," he said.
Horsford is right. Sandoval is mortgaging our children's future, which after his cuts to education, don't look all that bright anyway.
Mr. Sandoval did not come up with any "new money". He is taking money from local governments to pay the states bills. He is also wanting to saddle the state with more debt to be paid in the future, once he is out of office.
Gaming already pays over half the bills for this state, along with employing most of the people. You can not keep looking for them to pay your way in life.
It is time for this elected official to step up and make the hard decisions. Services will have to be cut. Government payroll will have to get in line with the private sector and other states. The golden days are not here and you can not keep paying golden wages and benefits.
Does he have what it takes to FIX THIS PROBLEM or just cover it up and leave it for the future?
Sandoval nailed it. Each and every point - Great ideas and great plan. The money is there, it belongs to the taxpayers, and he plans on using it. Wow - a governor that is only spending only what we have - What a novel concept!
Even Gov. Guinn raised taxes,and i doubt the TeaHeads will ever see that Palin extra taxed big oil in Alaska..
Oh from the lvrj s John L. Smith:
"it appears it's still not a good time to mention raising Nevada's laughable tax on mining despite record profits by Big Gold. Perhaps the governor, who has surrounded himself with mining lobbyists, regrets leaving that part out."
Selah....
A bland Laundry list, where are the jobs Brian? Why don't you give up your taxpayer paid for medical insurance and buy something in the "private sector" yourself, like many Nevadans have to do?
If I was governor, mandatory public funding of educational services would be completely phased out.
: {
"Budget director Andrew Clinger said the monetization plan was not Sandoval's 'first choice'."
"Clinger said that the revenue is necessary to offset some of the more severe cuts to the needy, disabled and elderly..."
So, according to budget director Clinger, I guess that we must assume that the more severe cuts to the needy, disabled and elderly was Sandoval's "first choice".
Senator Horsford, I'm glad you're worried about taxing the children to pay for our current expenses. Where do you stand on replacing PERS with a defined contribution plan again?
You are right Patrick.....the PERS unfunded liability is growing by leaps and bounds each year....it will crush the future generations of taxpayers that will have to be taxed to fund it.
It makes this current topic look like chump change....Horsford chump.
judy seems to think Horsford is looking out for the taxpayer.
ask him about the $70 million he is wasting to build the D street underpass so that "his people" won't be "cut off" from the city (or have to drive an extra 4 blocks.
Horsford and other dems like him never met a tax they didn't like.
tax and spend. tax and pay off political favors. tax some more. repeat.
If you think you have a 'teacher' problem now try ending the PERS system and replacing it with a 401K and you could solve the issue overnite!
I read that the new Iowa governer is going to lay off 1,000 state employees and stop the hiring process that has 500 new employees slated to start this month.
I suspect you could read similuar statements by a majority of the governers in America if you would choose to do so.
ENOUGH crxx. Allow the Governor to get us over this economy already. Higher ed needs autonomy OFF the state budget. How about endowments and scholarships from the mega-millionaires? K-12 education reform does NOT MEAN MORE MONEY, it means less money. Teach our CHILDREN TO READ. Hire Scandinavian immigrants at much less than $90K a year and they'll get the job done. CUT CITY, COUNTY, SCHOOL DISTRICT salaries. ReDISTRIBUTE state sales tax. Eliminate CCRT (city/county) and put into General Fund. Reduce LSST (schools) and put into General Fund. STOP DESIGNATING TAX REVENUE to specific spending. Stop painting us/the budgets into corners. REVOKE TENURE STATEWIDE. REPEAL COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IMMEDIATELY. Local government needs an option to their budget issues. Get OFF DEAD CENTER.
STOP TALKING TAXES every blessed Legislative session. It DISCOURAGES BUSINESS from considering a move to Nevada.
Several have suggested the people are willing to pay higher taxes to support schools.
I suggest we ask parents of students to voluntily support the school system. Parents would be asked to donate to the school that their student attends a monthly amount to cover the shortfall. I'm estimating this to be $30.00 per month per student.
This will get parents interested and invested in there kids education. The value of a quality education far exceeds the $30 cost.