State Budget Town Hall Meeting in Reno

Nevada state government is about to do a "Honey, I shrunk the kids" thing. Since the Legislature passed the budget during its 2009 session, a $1 billion gap has developed between spending plans and projected revenue. In other words, lots of things the state was paying for are going away, including a bunch of employees. During his special State of the State speech last Monday evening, Governor Gibbons mentioned several things he proposes to go after, including health care programs for the needy, public education, the old state prison in Carson City, and state gaming control employees. He also outlined proposals to help increase tourism and economic development, wants to create a recycling industry to help generate revenue from trash, and repeatedly drew the "No new taxes" line in his sand. He even proposed setting up an Education Gift Certificate program whereby citizens could donate for teachers' salaries. Huh? It kind of sounded like he was revving up his re-election campaign. Even taken together, all of these things won't do the job. Whatever else may happen will be hashed out at the special session of the Legislature Gibbons set to begin on February 23.

The public is invited to provide input on the budget situation at town hall meetings this Saturday, February 13 at 9 a.m. In Reno, the meeting will be at Reno City Hall, City Council Chambers, 1 E. First Street. A concurrent meeting (same day and time) is scheduled in Las Vegas, Grant Sawyer State Office Building, Rm 4401, 555 E. Washington Ave. By the time these meetings occur, the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee will have already been working on solutions with the governor's office, thus providing (hopefully) more information than presented here.

Source: City of Reno press release.

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