Quantcast
MobileRJ | RSS Twitter Twitter FacebookFacebook E-mail Alerts
Home manage Las Vegas Review-Journal
  Jobs Cars Homes Shopping Travel Weddings Golf Best of Las Vegas Photo   Search:

RECENT EDITIONS
Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu

sponsored by
News
Apr. 26, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Gibbons seeks ruling on budget cut proposal

Legal opinion sought on whether approval by lawmakers needed

By SEAN WHALEY
REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Jim Gibbons is seeking legal advice from the attorney general's office to determine whether formal lawmaker approval of more than $900 million in budget cuts is needed to make them official, a spokesman said Friday.

State Controller Kim Wallin has refused to implement the cuts in her office, citing a legal opinion she received from Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto that states that they must first be approved by the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee.

Most Popular Stories
  • NORM: When live news shots turn bad
  • NORM: Terry Fator, wife ending marriage
  • NORM: Blaze breaks out during magic act
  • NORM: Jackson worked on album at Palms
  • Ex-Ensign aide details wife's affair
  • NORM: Jacksons set up LV memorial area
  • Ensign wrote lover a letter, saying their affair was a 'sin'
  • Coroner says sexual assault suspect killed by police was shot in back
  • LV area residential real estate sales reach record in June
  • Official: Fatal gunshot in back




    • Gibbons spokesman Ben Kieckhefer said the governor cannot rely on an opinion issued to another constitutional officer. A legal opinion hopefully will provide guidance on how to resolve the impasse, he said.

    Gibbons wants more information before deciding to change precedent and submit the cuts to lawmakers for their approval, Kieckhefer said. Previous governors who imposed budget cuts did not do so, he said.

    Because Wallin has not accounted for the 4.5 percent budget reductions required of most agencies and announced by Gibbons in January in the state's accounting system, agencies are not seeing their funding reduced.

    Even so, Josh Hicks, general counsel to Gibbons, said earlier this week that he is confident the agencies are complying with the required spending reductions.

    But the issue with Wallin needs to be resolved, he said.

    Wallin said Gibbons should get a response quickly because she already has such an opinion. "The law is the law," she said. "He just needs to follow the law and send the work programs over to the IFC to get expedited approval."

    A work program is a budget change.

    The fact that the law, which was adopted in 1979, was not followed by other governors does not establish a precedent, Wallin said.

    Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said earlier this week that she does not believe the budget cuts are jeopardized by the impasse either. "But I think the statute is quite clear that work programs must be submitted to the IFC," she said.

    Some of the moves made by Gibbons and lawmakers to balance the current two-year budget will see action by the entire Legislature early next year. The decision to deplete the state's entire rainy day fund of $267 million, for example, will require action by the full Legislature when it convenes in February.

    But other reductions can be approved by the IFC if necessary, which is made up of the seven members of the Senate Finance and 14 members of the Assembly Ways and Means committees. The IFC meets mostly in-between legislative sessions, primarily to make needed modifications to the budgets of the different state agencies.

    Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, a member of the IFC, is one lawmaker who has argued the Legislature has a say on any budget cuts. But not all lawmakers agree.

    Hicks said, "The case law on this is pretty convoluted."

    Newsvine Digg Fark Technorati reddit StumbleUpon del.icio.us Slashdot Propeller Mixx Furl Twitter MySpace Facebook Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Bookmarks Windows Live Favorites Ask MyStuff myAOL Favorites

    Leave Your Comment 6 Reader Comments
    Terms & Conditions
    The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor.

    Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
    Current Word Count:

    Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

    Open your eyes wrote on April 26, 2008 02:18 PM: Tim, the state Controller is one of only a few of our elected officials that is truly doing their job for the citizens of Nevada. I am sure Gibbons and the rest of the special interests view her as a thorn because she keeps them honest.


    whatsup wrote on April 26, 2008 11:44 AM: Here is something interesting, ALL of the Interim Finance Committee minutes since June 2007 have just recently been pulled from the Nevada website! Last week they were there, today their gone!


    there wrote on April 26, 2008 11:40 AM: From Legislative Counsel Bureau website;
    "Legislation approved by the 1979 Legislature requires that state agencies receive prior approval of the Interim Finance Committee before they:
    amend legislatively-approved budgets by either increasing or decreasing a budget category by the lesser of 10 percent or $25,000..."


    dave l wrote on April 26, 2008 09:49 AM: NLV is quite correct! tim, you can read the Nevada law yourself, it is not confusing or complex, and as for Hicks saying the case law is "convoluted", I don't know what he's talking about, it is 'black letter law.'


    NLV Resident wrote on April 26, 2008 08:46 AM: The Controller is an elected official. And, she isn't being arrogant. She's following the law. By submitting his proposed changes to the Interim Finance Committee, the members of the public will have an opportunity to voice their opinions on the matter. Regardless of the political office or who holds it, the law is the law. And every elected official is sworn to uphold the laws of the state. It appears the Governor is the arrogant one and not the Controller.


    tim wrote on April 26, 2008 06:54 AM: can the gov.fire a state controller or is she an elected official?because either way she has to go.the arrogance of that public official is disgusting.