Titus tells Legislature that education funding is ‘an investment, not an expense’

By Kyle Roerink

Wednesday, March 11, 2015 | 6 p.m.

U.S. Rep. Dina Titus weighed in on the statewide education funding debate in a speech she gave to the Legislature Wednesday, urging lawmakers to “to not miss the chance” to improve the state’s education system.

Her call for change came minutes after lawmakers introduced a bill, SB252, sponsored by Gov. Brian Sandoval to impose a new tax that would generate more than $800 million to reform education programs in the state. Sandoval will testify about the bill’s merits next week. The problem on the bill is his own party. The majority of GOP lawmakers in the Legislature has not signaled how they will vote on the bill once it starts working through the Legislature. The major hurdle are far-right lawmakers opposed to new taxes in the Assembly.

Like many of the Democrats in the Legislature, Titus’ speech signals her party is willing to support tax hikes that bolster the state’s bottom-tier public education system.

"Funding for education should be considered an investment, not an expense,” Titus said in her speech.

Titus is championing education reforms at the federal level, too. She recently introduced two bills in Congress that would increase federal funding for science, technology, engineering and math programs for veterans and at minority-serving universities and colleges in Nevada and across the country.

"We are failing our children across the educational landscape, from art to zoology,” she said. "There was a phrase that I coined when I served in the Legislature, and I hear it used often even today. Nevada is on the top of every bad list, and the bottom of every good list.”

Titus is the second federal lawmaker to visit Nevada this week. Congressman Mark Amodei spoke on Monday about what he’s doing in Congress about sage grouse management.

Titus served from 1989 to 2008 in the Legislature and talked about the bipartisan deals that she and her former colleagues hashed.

Democrats and Republicans during the current session have been at odds on legislation affecting organized labor, school funding and firearms. The budget and the tax hikes — the two paramount issues facing state lawmakers in the coming week — will need to see compromise between both parties.

Titus called on lawmakers to work together and asked them to channel the philosophies of Nevada’s legendary legislators: Jack Vergiels, Joe Dini and Bill Raggio.

"They taught me one of the most valuable lessons I have learned in public life – that the interests of the people should always trump politics,” she said. "All three of these leaders are gone now, but they have left us a legacy. They accomplished what they did because they were able to work with members of both parties to further the common good. Whether here in Carson City, or twenty-five hundred miles east in Washington, we have a responsibility to carry on that legacy."