At his much touted “Open Door Meeting” with state lawmakers and the news media, Governor Gibbons started the session with a dismal evaluation of the state budget, said more state worker pay cuts or furloughs are in the works, and then walked out of the meeting saying he had to be somewhere else at 11am.
Gibbons’ communications director and a few lawmakers were left in his office to continue discussions on their own. Sen. Bob Coffin (D-LV) said Governor Gibbons opposes additional worker furloughs, preferring to cut worker pay and shorten agency hours. Coffin said he personally favors moving $160 million in 2010-11 contingency funds to the current fiscal year to handle “emergencies.” He added the governor has agreed to share with legislators a report by all state agencies on what a 10% across-the-board cut would look like on levels of state services and employment levels. Coffin added that the governor does not have the legal authority to cut anyone’s pay. “That’s the Legislature’s call.”
The Economic Forum is expected to meet January 19th for another stab at predicting state revenues over the next 18 months. Gibbons has said he won’t convene a special session of the legislature until he and his staff have had a chance to sort out what the forum’s numbers portend for state service levels. Included in such a special session would likely be a change in state education law that would allow Nevada to apply for $175 million in federal recovery act funds to “safety net” education in Nevada.
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