Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Lombardo on Nevada budget standoff: Don’t ‘test my resolve’

2023 State of the Schools Address

Steve Marcus

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo speaks during the 2023 State of the Schools address at Resorts World Las Vegas, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023.

Gov. Joe Lombardo today reiterated a threat to veto the state budget if Nevada lawmakers fail to address critical elements of his legislative agenda.

In a statement, Lombardo, a first-term Republican, said the Democrat-controlled Legislature “fast-tracked” five budget bills that are ultimately expected to be sent to the governor’s desk. The Assembly on Wednesday passed appropriations, capital improvement and state employee pay budget bills — all along party lines. 

“I will not sign any budget bills until my priorities are addressed. Period,” Lombardo said. “So, before the Senate and Assembly take final action on these five bills today, tomorrow or the next day, I suggest they reconsider their decision and delay final passage until the policy priorities that I spelled out on Day 1 are on my desk.”

“If they choose to test my resolve, I’ll make it easy for them,” Lombardo said. “The people of Nevada hired me to protect their interests, and that is what I intend to do.”

Last week, the governor’s office confirmed comments by Chief of Staff Ben Kieckhefer, reiterating that several of the five bills submitted to lawmakers either have not been heard or have not been given a fair hearing before lawmakers.

The legislative session is scheduled to end June 5, but Lombardo could extend the session or summon lawmakers back to Carson City to renegotiate terms of the budget in a special session.

Assembly Bill 330, Lombardo’s proposal to repeal restorative justice practices enacted during the last legislative session, appears to have the best chance of landing back on the governor’s desk. That measure passed the Assembly by a 38-4 margin April 25 and was most recently heard by the Senate Committee on Education on May 19.

Otherwise, a pair of bills — one that aims to vastly expand the state’s school-choice program (AB400) and another so-called government modernization bill (SB431) — have yet to advance out of committee. Other legislation, such as SB405, which would require voters to show identification before casting a ballot during an election, and SB412, which would change various criminal justice statutes, have also stalled in committee.

At a news conference today, Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, asserted the majority of the budget is exactly how Lombardo proposed it. But she also bristled at the prospect of a budget veto over policy disagreements.

“There is, to me, no reason why we should be having a discussion about whether or not you're going to veto a budget, especially not for policy priorities, that by a function of the legislative process may or may not make it,” Cannizzaro said.

“Policy bills are proposed, they are amended, and some of them don’t make it and some of them do … Fundamentally, the No. 1 job of this body is to pass a budget that funds this state.”

Among the biggest partisan sticking points over the budget has been the split in the way to fund education. Republicans have criticized budget maneuvers that created an additional $318 million in K-12 spending apart from the $2 billion sought by Lombardo.

The two sides have also sparred over $291 million leftover from the state’s rainy day fund, specifically for education.

Lombardo’s office has stated it would like to use that money as a one-time payment to the Education Stabilization Account, while Democrats have moved to put it back into the general K-12 education account to contribute to the state’s pupil-centered funding plan.

“It’s wild to me, and wildly disappointing to me, that we’re being criticized for putting an additional $291 million into K-12 public education,” Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, said. 

Yeager said if Lombardo vetoes the budget, it would likely derail auxiliary legislation — such as a funding proposal to finance a Las Vegas baseball stadium for the Oakland A’s and a tax credit expansion intended to lure Hollywood film studios. 

“If we get a budget veto, I don’t know how we pass any of those bills, because we don’t have a budget,” Yeager said. “If that veto happens, I don’t know any other way forward. I think the bills are done at that point, because how can we be responsible and fiscally responsible without making sure we can open up our schools on time, pay our state employees and have a state government that works.”

Cannizzaro said the budget covers 80% to 90% percent of what Lombardo pitched initially, and its current iteration is “fiscally responsible” and ensures Nevadans will “experience a benefit from their tax dollars.”

“We’ve passed budgets that make these crucial investments without raising taxes and while putting more money into the state’s rainy day fund than we’ve ever seen before,” Cannizzaro said. “That, to me, is a fiscally responsible budget that is delivering for all of those groups of Nevadans and more, while also recognizing the need to save for a rainy day.”