In a striking bit of intra-party fighting, Sen. John Lee laid into fellow Democrat Assembly Speaker John Oceguera for "plagiarizing" other legislators' gun bills.
Democrats said Gov. Brian Sandoval's budget uses $1.1 billion in one-time fixes to balance the budget, pushing budget problems toward another two years, and created uncertainty for businesses.
The Senate unanimously rejected a Strip arena petition this afternoon, under a resolution that argued it was a local issue and noted that the taxes raised couldn’t be used for “essential services” from government.
Sandoval's budget director offered up a new plan to balance the state's budget, which takes another pot of money from school districts and still has a $106 million hole.
It was a party line vote on the proposal to allow school districts to use more of their bond reserves for school construction. Gov. Brian Sandoval is almost sure to veto the bill.
Sandoval's proposal to divert capital construction money to school operations doesn't wash and his budget is now unbalanced, Democratic lawmakers said.
The path out if there is a stalemate over the state's budget and taxes may have been paved by former Gov. Jim Gibbons. The “Tax Restraint Initiative,” which has frustrated pro-tax forces since it requires a two-thirds vote of lawmakers to increase taxes, also gives lawmakers and Gov. Brian Sandoval an apparent pathway to put a tax question to a vote of the people.
Transportation dollars can't be used to balance the state's general fund, the Nevada Department of Transportation Director Susan Martinovich happened to mention at a hearing today.
Clark County School District officials protested Gov. Brian Sandoval's plan to redirect money for school construction and maintenance, warning that the proposal would require the school district to refinance bonds, increasing long-term costs, or be forced to raise property taxes in order to repay its debt.
Since Bill Raggio's sudden retirement from the senate, there has been a growing sense of worry among the set of lawmakers and interests who argue that new revenue is needed to avoid deep cuts to state services like health care programs, K-12 and higher education.
After losing in the primary, Jim Gibbons stopped reimbursing the state for the equivalent of the 4.6 percent cut other state workers took. He also refused to allow the incoming first family to visit the mansion until the new year.
Gov. Brian Sandoval will propose state workers take a 5 percent budget cut over the next two years instead of taking a once-a-month furlough, which equaled a 4.6 percent cut.