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Sandoval hints at plans to balance Nevada budget
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K.M. CANNON/las vegas rEVIEW-JOURNAL
Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval talks with his communications director, Mary-Sarah Kinner, and other members of his staff before a news conference Wednesday at the Jones Vargas law office in Las Vegas. » Buy this photo
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Dec. 30, 2010 | 7:45 a.m.
Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval dropped some hints Wednesday about how he plans to balance Nevada's upside-down budget.
But he didn't dive into many specifics other than to repeat several times that spending cuts would be deep and widespread and that tax increases are off the table.
"A lot of folks have talked about the fact we need more taxes. The question that needs to be asked is who is going to pay them," Sandoval said during a question-and-answer session with Las Vegas news media.
He talked about efforts to recruit new businesses and remained upbeat despite a bombardment of bad news that included an unemployment rate near 14 percent statewide, falling or flat tax revenue projections and poor performance by the state's schools.
"If Nevada was a stock, I'd buy now because we are going up," he said.
Sandoval, who is scheduled to take office Monday from fellow Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons, highlighted the devastating effect the recession has had on Nevada businesses and families and said the private sector doesn't have extra money to hand over to government.
"Who are you going to collect that revenue from?" Sandoval asked.
Later, he added: "A tax has to be paid by somebody. There has never been a tax that wasn't collected by somebody, from a struggling family, from a business."
He did give some hints as to where he will find the cash to balance a general fund budget that, according to some estimates, has projected expenses outpacing anticipated revenue by about $3 billion from 2011 to 2013.
Sandoval indicated that he would consolidate services performed by the Department of Information Technology and that personnel management services from several departments could be folded into the Department of Personnel.
"We don't need a personnel person in every single department of state government," Sandoval said.
When asked about differences between the budget he plans to submit for printing a week from Friday and the proposals that agency chiefs submitted to Gibbons, Sandoval noted one change.
One agency budget suggested cutting personal care attendants who help the elderly and disabled. Sandoval said he will not cut the service.
"That was slated to be eliminated in (Gibbons') budget," Sandoval said. "There are other things ... presented in the budget by Governor Gibbons that will not be part of our budget."
Mike Willden, director of the Department of Health and Human Services, said the decision to maintain funding for personal care assistants will be good news for the 6,554 people who receive the service.
"The governor-elect I think heard loud and clear from the advocates in the disabled community and the people who receive those services, and he didn't want us to make that cut," Willden said.
The cut would have saved more than $50 million over the biennium but might have cost money in the long run because assistance with feeding, hygiene and toilet use helps prevent costlier medical problems from developing, Willden said.
He said personal care attendants are among optional services offered under Medicaid. Others include speech and physical therapy, elder day care, orthotics, prosthetics, vision, dental and other care.
Willden said there will be a "significant difference" in the budget his department submitted to Gibbons and what comes out of the Sandoval administration.
"Generally he is not in favor of cutting those optional services," Willden said.
On education, Sandoval said he expects improvements in student performance in kindergarten through 12th grade and higher education despite the likelihood that more funding cuts are on the way.
"I think that the education system is going to understand there is going to be shared sacrifice in this," he said. "Part of the conversation has to focus on not just the money. We need to improve systemically."
Education, roughly 53 percent of the state general fund, has suffered from budget cuts and poor student performance in recent years.
Sandoval wants to reverse the performance trend but isn't offering more money to offset earlier cuts and might propose even more cuts.
Walt Rulffes, former superintendent of the Clark County School District, said it would be difficult but not impossible to improve public school performance outcomes with flat or reduced funding.
"There is potential for improvement," Rulffes said. "However, I don't think we should look for big changes across the board for improvement."
With more flexibility, Rulffes said, the district could focus more on student performance in core subjects such as math, English and science, which would have a positive effect on graduation rates.
He said new Superintendent Dwight Jones, who was out of town and unavailable for comment, could press the administration to commit to more funding in the future if schools meet performance targets.
Dan Klaich, chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, was more skeptical than Rulffes about the feasibility of enacting Sandoval's vision.
Klaich said that the system already has absorbed cuts of about 20 percent and that more would compromise quality.
When asked whether the system could take more budget cuts and improve performance at the same time, Klaich responded: "I think the answer is 'no.' "
Other cuts the governor-elect hinted were minor.
Sandoval said he will not accept a pay raise that is scheduled to kick in Saturday for the job of governor. And he will reduce his pay 4.6 percent, the amount state workers lose through furloughs, but will work on the furlough day.
Sandoval said he plans to work hard to forge relationships with legislators, local government officials and others to solve problems.
It's a contrast from the governing style of Gibbons, who was criticized for being uninterested in the policy study and politicking.
"We're two different people," Sandoval said. "I'm going to be an individual who is engaged."
Incoming Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, said that Sandoval's eagerness to work with the Legislature is a welcome change from Gibbons' style and that the governor and legislative leaders probably will agree on many spending cuts.
But Oceguera said that cuts alone will not do the job and that it will take increased tax revenue to balance the budget.
"I think the governor is going to find there is a major hole in his budget," Oceguera said.
Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@ reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.
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Students are NOT entitled to a free college education. Taxpayers are not responsible for the "higher" education of neighbors' and Illegal Invaders' kids. MILLENNIUM SCHOLARSHIPS SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN TO ILLEGALS. They get free lunch, free groceries, free K-12, free legal aid, and on and on. We can and perhaps should encourage the fat cats to fund Millenniums for American Citizens who need tuition assistance. The multi-millionaires can fund endowments of many kinds. Time they gave a little bit back. A shame that our seniors go without dentures, toilet paper, decent food when illegals and college students get hand out after hand out.
Virgil: Have we met? Anchor babies are not legal--born here without our permission. AZ legislator Pearce is proposing legislation to force Congress to regulate as per 14th amendment. Something about a Supreme Court decision in error (Wan or Wong?) that needs to be overturned from 1989. STOP WELFARING THE ANCHOR BABIES AND THEIR MOTHERS. STOP IMMIGRATION FROM GRANTED MOTHERS AND FAMILY AS "CLOSE TO AMERICAN CITIZENS" AND GRANTED THEM UN-DESERVED CITIZENSHIP. STOP THE WELFARE OF ILLEGALS. 40-50% of alleged students in CCSD are ILLEGAL. Stop paying K-12 and additional second language support. Stop the Do Gooders and non-profits from providing food bank services to illegals. Exception: Non-refundable bus tickets south.
Governor Sandoval will your call for ‘shared sacrifice’ really include the gaming-resort industry, construction and other businesses that employ illegal labor? What is your plan to put legal Nevadans to work and the illegal invaders from beyond our borders out of work? How much of a ‘shared sacrifice’ will be put on the illegal invaders? While you claim you want to reduce unnecessary budget costs, how about eliminating all illegal invaders from employment in this state? How about making it impossible for them to leach and mooch off of the medical-health care system for free? How removing them from our welfare rolls since they are not legal citizens and are not entitled to it anyway? How about reducing the convenience of having them fill out legal forms in their native language, i.e. Spanish? How about requiring English to be the official state language?
“Shared sacrifice” are new buzz words becoming part of the Sandoval plan to whack education even harder. Shared sacrifice so far has meant that teachers and students do not have the books, paper, pencils and other consumable supplies they need. Shared sacrifice means that teachers have to buy their own paper and other materials in order to do a basic job of teaching. Shared sacrifice has meant a cut or reduction in their pay, with an even bigger shared sacrifice coming down the pike. The shared sacrifice has not however meant, nor will it mean a 50% reduction in superfluous administrators, positions and the imagined and indispensible jobs they allegedly perform. I wait with bated breath to see just how serious Sandoval’s approach to the problem of the overload of administrators in the CCSD will actually be. How much of a shared sacrifice will he expect from school administrators, firefighters, police, career politicians, judges and government administrators when it comes to ending overtime pay, vacation pay, longevity pay, long term care insurance and the other perks, bonuses and add-ons they have worked into their PERS retirement packages. Until there is something really positive forthcoming from the Sandoval administration in reducing and eliminating much of the above I will remain a skeptic, a critic and unconvinced that he is doing anything more than slobbering political garbage on the public. Do we have another Jim Gibbons in the making of big, flowery political promises and little else? We will know by the end of this next Legislative session.
In what way is the mellennium scholarship a waste of money? I know alot of Nevada students that used that money. I just dont understand how it would be a waste of money when it is helping kids pay for college. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, I just dont see how it is a waste of money. Maybe you could clarify a little.
When I say our best I'm not only talking about the few that are privileged and get the best possible education. Because China's and India's populations are so much greater than ours they have more people (by far) in real numbers that are better educated.
Actually cut the whole millennium scholarship program. What a waste of money.
Jasper, Our best do test better than their best. Hands down. The U.S. education debate has been continous since Sputnik. The Russians were coming. Then it was the Japanese. The European Union was next. Now it is China and India if you may. U.S. is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. A good education costs money and Nevada does not want to spend money. You get what you pay for. Plain and simple. I took wood, metal, drafting, geology, and oceanography to name a few courses not offered in Nevada middle schools. In fact, most high schools do not offer any trade type classes. I played on school sports teams from the fourth grade on to my senior year in high school. Nevada kids start for the most part start playing for the school teams in the ninth grade. All of those classes and activities helped me in my core classes. What shame Nevada kids don't get the same opportunity because of conservative b.s.
Cut ILLEGALS OUT OF MILLENNIUM SCHOLARSHIPS, K-12 enhancements and free groceries. Deport the 1,000 illegals in Nevada prisons and save $50,000 A DAY.
Slam Dunk: You made my point. In real numbers 10% is a lot of people and China is only one country. When you factor in India you're talking about even more people our kids have to compete against. We need to come up with a plan that helps all our students train in areas that they are capable of handling. My guess is if you only tested our best and brightest they wouldn't do as well as students in China mainly because they ensure their best get the best in education without distractions.