Lawmakers agree on study of campus funding disparity

CARSON CITY -- Hoping to avoid a sectional war, Southern Nevada legislators agreed Thursday there should be an independent study to see if UNLV and the Community College of Southern Nevada are being shortchanged in the budget compared to schools in the north.

Senators and Assembly members from Clark County held an hour-long closed door meeting with University Regent Steve Sisolak of Las Vegas, who has championed the issue of unequal treatment.

"I'm pretty confident there's an inequity," Sisolak said after Thursday's session, but he agreed the independent study is needed.

Southern Nevada legislators cited two things that may provide temporary relief. They say there was a $12 million omission in Gov. Kenny Guinn's budget for the university. Assembly Majority Leader Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said $10 million of that would go to the campuses in Clark County. And if extra money is available at the end of the session, it would be divided according to growth.

Currently the system is budgeted for a 2 percent growth rate, but UNLV and the Community College of Southern Nevada are predicting much bigger enrollments.

Guinn acknowledged there may be an omission in the university budget, but he did not know the amount. He said he would put the university system on the priority list if there is extra money at the end of the Legislature.

Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said the disparity increases in the south because its campuses are growing faster but getting the same 2 percent enrollment money as the north.

The 11 Clark County legislators in the session suggested Sisolak meet with Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, who has been a major protector of the northern system. After that meeting, Raggio said Sisolak "gave me his assurance he wants to do what is necessary to avoid a major problem."

"I told him I support some review as long as it's objective," said Raggio, who heads the Senate Finance Committee, which controls the purse strings.

Sisolak was told by southern lawmakers he may have to tone down his rhetoric when dealing with the Legislature.

"We told him he needs to articulate his concerns differently with the Legislature so you don't get people digging in their heels if they're affected," Titus said.

She called it a "friendly suggestion" to Sisolak to avoid a fight.

"Of course, that's always the argument that protects the status quo," Titus said.

Sisolak said later he has not lost his passion for the equity issue.

Originally Sisolak suggested the inequities be cured by the 1999 Legislature, but now he's willing to support a study, which won't be completed probably until next year.

Titus said she doesn't want a fight but wants to make sure southern interests are protected at the end of the Legislature. She predicted there would be "end games" in trading. Those will include whether to go forward with a satellite campus of the University of Nevada south of Reno; the dental school at UNLV and the Henderson campus for UNLV.

Perkins Thursday introduced a bill for a $1 million appropriation to start planning the Henderson campus. He said UNLV is limited in expansion at its Las Vegas campus, and Henderson has agreed to donate large parcels of land. The growth in Southern Nevada, he said was in the Henderson area.

The future of the new UNR campus will be discussed at the board of regents meeting Feb. 25-26 in Las Vegas. Sisolak said it was a "hot topic," but would not say whether he will try to stop the project near Reno.

"I've had hundreds of calls from parents of kids who can't get in classes," Sisolak said. "We have a real growth need in Southern Nevada."

He said the second UNR campus would have 1,000 students the first year and would probably take $12 million to $15 million for support money.

Titus, a UNLV professor, agreed, "We're not meeting the needs" in Southern Nevada. She said her class of 45 students arrive early just to sit on the floor. There's a need for computers and staff also, she said.

Sisolak earlier produced figures showing UNR receives $10,378 per student to $7,310 for UNLV.

UNR says it has higher utility costs; 650,000 square feet more of space to maintain than UNLV; it must get the money for statewide programs such as the school of medicine, an expenditure UNLV doesn't have; it has more graduate programs that are expensive and its teaching staff is higher paid because of the longevity.

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