Henderson college bill stalls

CARSON CITY -- A bill authorizing a feasibility study of a four-year college in Henderson probably won't be acted on until near the end of the legislative session, its sponsor said Monday.

Assembly Bill 220 appropriates $1 million for a needs assessment and a plan for the college in Henderson, which in the next few years will be the second largest city in Nevada, surpassing Reno.

The Assembly Education Committee approved the measure last week and sent it to the Ways and Means Committee, which drafts the state budget. Nine of the 14 members on the Ways and Means Committee are co-sponsors of the measure.

Majority Leader Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said Monday the success of the bill will depend on how much money there is left after budgets for state agencies are approved and the Economic Forum projects on April 29 how much tax revenue will be available in the next two fiscal years.

"It will be the end of May before we get this figured out," said Perkins, who sponsored the bill along with Sen. Jon Porter, R-Boulder City.

A few regents, including Steve Sisolak of Las Vegas, have questioned building a new school while the effort is being made to bring UNLV and the Community College of Southern Nevada up to equal funding with similar schools in Northern Nevada.

"Some regents want to know why we are not considering other sites," Perkins said. "Well nobody else has come with an offer of 200 plus acres to site the campus. I didn't want to be too critical. But why don't they (the regents) have a plan?"

UNLV President Carol Harter said earlier she believes any college in Henderson should be a satellite of the Las Vegas campus. She fears education dollars would be stripped from existing schools to fund a new college.

Perkins said he has not heard of anybody in the Legislature criticizing the proposal for the Henderson school. Fifteen of the 21 senators signed on the bill. Of those, four are from the seven-member Senate Finance Committee that will decide on the financing.

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