Leading Nevada to the future

John Oceguera

Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

We all know the problems our state is facing — record unemployment, the worst foreclosure rate in the nation, an education system that ranks at or near the bottom in every national ranking. The list goes on.

Over the past year, I traveled the state, talking with Nevadans about these challenges. Just this past week, we held legislative town halls in Reno and Las Vegas that were attended by more than 1,400 concerned citizens. We heard heartbreaking stories and saw the worried look in the eyes of students, parents, senior citizens, business owners and unemployed workers uncertain about their future.

The challenges are immense, but I believe that, working together, we can find real solutions to get our state through this economic crisis and on the road to a brighter future.

The 76th session of the Nevada Legislature starts Monday, although we have already begun our work.

Two weeks ago we heard the new governor’s State of the State address. Immediately afterward, I delivered the Democratic response. I pledged to work with the new governor to bridge our differences and to create a sound plan for the future of Nevada.

There are many areas where we agree with the governor, including the need to consolidate agencies, revamp our information technology and infrastructure, and continue to find ways to cut waste, fraud and abuse.

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford and I are working closely with the governor on improving our economic development efforts, ensuring we are efficiently and effectively attracting new jobs and businesses to our state.

The day after the State of the State address, we received the governor’s budget, and the Legislature got right to work on our responsibility — an in-depth review of his budget. We began that process with what I like to call a 10,000-foot overview of the governor’s proposals, and we will follow it up in the next few weeks with a more comprehensive analysis.

A few observations from our 10,000-foot budget overview:

The governor has proposed a budget that makes deep cuts to essential state services such as education. With our severe budget shortfall, cuts will have to be made. However, I don’t see how we can, in good conscience, accept many of them.

The governor himself has said that education is the key to economic recovery. Yet, he proposes cutting state support for higher education by at least 27 percent or $323 million. If the governor’s proposals are approved, higher education officials say their budget will have been cut by 50 percent since 2007.

The governor says the cuts can be made up through tuition increases, but that could price college out of the reach of many Nevada students and families. Our education leaders tell us they would have to raise tuition by 73 percent to make up the cost of the cuts.

At the town hall last weekend, an unemployed construction worker told us he wants to go back to school and retrain, but he just can’t afford it. With tuition increases and budget cuts, he never will be able to afford it. That is unacceptable for that unemployed worker and for our efforts to get Nevadans back to work and diversify our economy.

The proposed cuts to K-12 education appear to be just as devastating. The governor’s budget cuts $668 million in state support for K-12, a cut of 27 percent. These proposed cuts, on top of cuts made in the last two years, will likely result in teacher layoffs, even larger classes, fewer career and technical education opportunities and elimination of full-day kindergarten and other programs proven to help students learn.

Our overview of major budgets is now complete, and with the convening of the Legislature Monday, we will move to the next phase: looking at the proposed budget from the ground level, digging deeper, and determining the true consequences. We will thoroughly examine every potential cut for its actual cost to our state and its effect on the people we represent.

While we review the governor’s budget, we will propose solutions of our own, focusing on jobs and economic development, education improvement, increased transparency and efficiency in state government, and a sound, long-term plan for Nevada.

Throughout the process, we want to hear from you — your stories, your concerns, your ideas on how we can make things better. You can find information on how to contact your legislators at www.leg.state.nv.us.

John Oceguera, a Southern Nevada Democrat, is the incoming speaker of the Nevada Assembly.