News Carson City

Saying that government must be reduced and that Nevadans can solve their own problems without help from Washington DC, Governor Gibbons tonight laid down the gauntlet: “No New Taxes and cut the budget.”

Gibbons gave his emergency State of the State Monday night saying he will recommend to a special session of the State Legislature (February 23rd) that “several hundred” state government workers be laid off, that the 140 year old Nevada State Prison in Carson City be closed, and reduce teacher pay statewide but with the opportunity for Nevadans to contribute to a charity that will put donations back into teacher salaries after they’re cut.

Governor Gibbons called Nevada’s current state budget “bloated” and that it should be shrunk, especially during the recession. However, he vowed not to harm Nevada’s children and the elderly.

He called on the State Commission on Tourism and Nevada’s Economic Development Commission to get busy recruiting tourists and new jobs…especially green jobs that will employ more Nevadans into the future.

Governor Gibbons again called for the enactment of his so-called Education Reform Program that returns more educational control to local school districts and their families. He called for voucher systems that would give families more of a choice as to where their children go to school. (However, legal experts said any vouchers given to religious-based schools would be illegal.) Gibbons claimed that the state’s class-size reduction and full day kindergarten programs have not pulled the state out of last place among the states in school rankings, therefore there are no grounds to spend more money on those services. He called for more creative thinking about improving education rather than higher funding for schools.

The Democratic Legislative response by Senate Majority Leader Sen. Steven Horsford of Las Vegas took strong exception to many of Governor Gibbons’ points. Horsford said the state is sitting on a $4 billion fund for construction projects around the state that could easily be tapped to fill the vast chasm in the state budget. He called on more aggressive efforts to get tax dodgers to pay their back taxes, reduce state worker work weeks to four days, close some departments that no longer serve their original purpose and eliminate professional services, accounting and management contracts that are of dubious value to the state. He also called for re-opening labor contracts between school districts and their employees, including teachers, to lower salaries or to find other ways of cutting education costs. And finally, change the state tax system so that those who are already substantially taxed don’t pay more, but raise taxes on those who never have paid their fair share, including mining.

Sen. Horsford added that cutting the budget will be extraordinarily painful but that the next regular Legislature will see a major effort to put Nevada back on a more firm financial footing. He said Nevada must no longer be so dependent on tourism and gaming to fund vital services. He said a wider and broader based tax system is the only thing that can save the state from the wild fluctuations from good economic times to bad.