Thu, Apr 3, 2008 (2:07 a.m.)

Gov. Jim Gibbons’ reaction to the $900 million budget deficit has been to talk of “belt-tightening,” something you do to ride out rough financial times. But to think that the cuts are only temporary would be naive. The reality is they will far outlive the current economic times, as recent history shows.

Over the past several years, the budget has, at best, barely been enough to keep up with the state’s needs, and reductions have put necessary services behind for years.

In Wednesday’s Las Vegas Sun, Emily Richmond reported how education programs have been eroded by past budget crises.

• In 1983 the Clark County School District cut basketball, tennis, soccer, baseball, swimming and track from middle schools to trim $200,000. Basketball was the only sport reinstated, and it came back in 1994. It was nearly cut again in 2002, only to be saved by donations.

• With a $93 million shortfall in 2001, the School District increased student-to-teacher ratios. For kindergarten teachers, the ratio went to 42.6 students per teacher, split over two half-day sessions.

• Last year’s budget crunch meant the School District has put on hold plans to expand programs and replace older buses. Student-to-teacher ratios remain high. In kindergarten, it is 52 to 1.

This isn’t restricted to education.

In the budget crisis of the early 1990s state mental health services were slashed. Those services didn’t catch up to the previous levels until a few years ago, and only after the 2003 Legislature approved a major tax increase to address the past budget crisis.

But taxes are against Gibbons’ staunch anti-government philosophy. He went so far as to derail a plan last year that would have raised money to ease traffic congestion in the Las Vegas Valley.

Nevadans need a leader who has the foresight to comprehend the long-term ramifications of his actions, yet we have a governor whose tool of trade is a meat cleaver. The consequences are mind-boggling.