Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

The budget:

Sandoval plays new budget card and aids GOP

Brian Sandoval

Brian Sandoval

Steven Horsford

Steven Horsford

For months, Gov. Brian Sandoval has endured withering attacks from legislative Democrats, who claim his proposed budget would not only decimate education, but leave some of the state’s neediest, particularly the mentally ill, without a safety net.

On Tuesday, he scraped together money from the federal government and savings from other areas in his budget — a total of $49.3 million — to address some of the social services cuts that prompted the deepest concerns.

“The governor has been listening,” Chief of Staff Heidi Gansert said. “So when this money was made available, we went back through and did a careful evaluation of where we should add back.”

Sandoval’s so-called add-back list softens many cuts that generated the most heated debate and emotional testimony so far this session.

But the list also maps Sandoval’s careful strategy for keeping in the fold key Republicans whose support he needs to get his budget past Democrats, who are demanding a tax increase to offset the governor’s deeper cuts to education.

Central to Democrats’ strategy was to win over those Republicans by leveraging the pain Sandoval’s cuts would cause in their districts, particularly the districts of rural Republicans.

“Are they willing to be so loyal that they hurt the very constituents that elected them?” Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, told the Nevada News Bureau recently, referring to rural Republicans.

But Sandoval’s add-back list mitigates many of those painful cuts in rural Nevada, where many counties are unequipped to deal with the cuts originally proposed by the governor.

For example, Sandoval was quick to add back funding for the Wells Conservation Camp outside of Elko, which his staff had testified in budget hearings really was no longer crucial to fire protection efforts.

The camp, however, was of top concern to Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, who has voted for tax increases before and is seen as a critical swing vote in the Senate. Rhoads specifically asked for funding for the camp during a meeting with the governor.

Sandoval added back funding for emergency medical services, mental health clinics, child welfare services and county youth camps, all in rural areas.

His staff argued the add backs are part of their careful evaluation of which crucial services need funding and that Sandoval reached his conclusions after listening to legislative hearings, consulting Democratic leaders and his Cabinet.

They denied that they served any political strategy.

But that’s just what Democrats accused him of doing.

“He’s putting things back for political purposes,” Sen. Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said. “We spent three months talking about how the Wells Conservation Camp was not needed and now it’s back. But we’ll decide by majority vote what the add backs are.”

Sandoval’s list also reflects several Democratic priorities. Mental health triage centers in the north and south, a mobile mental health outreach program in Reno and residential support for the mentally ill.

It also addresses concerns that span both parties — a significant boost in autism funding, for example.

But his list also demonstrates the power Sandoval has with the Republican caucuses.

In a test vote this month, Republicans on the so-called money committees refused to allow Democrats to start a legislative add-back list.

Apparently they didn’t need to. Sandoval simply added them back to his own proposed budget.

“It’s hard when you’re working with people who are interested in talking about add backs with us but have their priorities addressed in the governor’s list,” one Democrat complained.

Asked whether Sandoval’s moves would weaken their leverage, Democrats were quick to point out that the budget is in their hands now.

“The budget is being developed by this body and these are just his recommendations,” said Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, chairwoman of Ways and Means.

Some Republicans agree. Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, who was among those lobbying Sandoval to rethink his cuts to autism treatment, said he’s pleased Sandoval is still involved in the process.

“But it’s up to the Legislature to decide how to plug it back in,” Kieckhefer added.

As for not negotiating with Democrats, Kieckhefer said “the ability to negotiate add backs is contingent on an ability to locate the money.”

In other words, Democrats need to stop playing coy with their revenue plans.

Still, Democrats have enough of a majority to make the ultimate decision on where additional revenue goes.

As for Republicans who may want to rely on the governor: “They may be in for a surprise,” Leslie said.

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