Nevada hopes for more money

CARSON CITY -- Before the Legislature started, Gov. Kenny Guinn and financial experts warned there wasn't enough money to go around.

But that hasn't stopped special-interest groups from lining up outside the state treasury in hopes of shaking loose some extra cash.

By Tuesday there were bills asking for more than $200 million above the $3.2 billion budget Guinn submitted to the Legislature.

The Economic Forum, which makes the official forecast on how much money will be available in the next two years, meets Thursday. Early predictions are that anywhere from $30 million to $80 million extra is available.

Guinn had to chop $140 million to balance the two-year spending program.

Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said Tuesday, "We first have to take care of holes in the budget." The state may have to put $15 million into the Medicaid program.

If the committee rejects Guinn's suggestion to privatize prisoner's medical care, it will have to find another $4 million.

"I would also like to do something for state employees to show them our appreciation," Arberry said. Pay raises are not part of Guinn's budget.

More than 120 bills ask the state for money. Requests include $2.8 million to revitalize Gerson Park in Las Vegas; $300,000 for Logandale's school restoration; $3 million to build a juvenile center in Reno; and $80,000 for the Garlic and Onion Growers' Advisory Board for research of white rot.

Other requests are to continue educational reforms, $11 million for helping low-achieving schools and development of regional centers to train teachers and school administrators.

The Clark County School District wants $5.5 million to help track irregularities in attendance and for truancy; North Las Vegas wants up to $982,550 for library construction; and the public broadcasting stations in Las Vegas and Reno need $2 million to convert to digital television.

There are requests to feed and care for wild horses in Washoe County; help build a California Immigrant Trail Interpretive Center in Elko County; and finance the Governor's Council on Education for the Holocaust.

The bills are sitting either in the Ways and Means or the Senate Finance committees and probably will be the last things considered. Both committees are waiting for the recommendations of the economic forum, a group of five experts in finance.

In December, the forum estimated the state would receive $1.4 billion in general fund tax revenues this year; $1.5 billion and nearly $1.6 million in fiscal year 2001.

Since its prediction, revenues from gaming and sales taxes have come in above projections. The Guinn administration estimates there could be an extra $30 million to spend during the coming biennium. Legislative money experts feel it will be closer to $80 million.

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