Lawmakers finish first week of budget overview

After their first week of looking at Gov. Kenny Guinn's proposed budget, Nevada lawmakers were giving mixed reactions to the $4.9 billion spending plan.

During the past week, they were provided an overview of most of the budget's big-ticket items including kindergarten-through-12th-grade education, the university system and the Medicaid, welfare and mental health budgets.

"It reminded me of a few areas where we could find some savings, but those areas are few and far between," said Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson.

His reaction was similar to Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, who said almost all of the significant increases proposed by Guinn are the result of growing caseloads and demands, including more public school students and more Medicaid recipients.

While he said he sees some places that can be reduced, "they're not significant cuts at this point."

Both men, however, said there may be some money shifted from one place to another in the budget as they work on it over the next four months.

"To the extent we can re-task our resources to places where they're most needed, we should," Perkins said.

"It's all numbers driven," said Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, pointing to the K-12 education and Medicaid increases.

In addition, Hettrick said the university system needs to justify its $1.2 billion budget.

"I think the university system is going to have to do some more. And I have a lot of questions about some of the rollups in Human Services," he said.

"You're going to have to show a lot of justification in these tough times."

Similar sentiments were echoed by two Assembly Republicans who have questioned whether taxpayers should be hit with $1 billion more in taxes during tough economic times.

"This proposal, if it is implemented, would fundamentally change this state," said Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas. "The expansion of social programs will guarantee we will always come to Carson City with a financial crisis."

He said while they are all good programs, "I am fundamentally a taxpayer, not a tax consumer, and the scope of all this, from my taxpayer side, scares me."

Beers said Nevada has always tried to put its tax burden on its visitors, but the governor's plan will change that.

"Almost all the taxes in this package will fall on the citizens of this state," he said.

"There's room to cut in this budget," said Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas.

She, like Beers, has expressed concern the governor is asking too much in tax increases without looking hard enough at reducing expenses.

"Also, there are other revenue sources we need to look at that will not hurt our citizens as much as these," she said.

She joined some of the more liberal Democrats on the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committees in objecting to Guinn's amusement tax -- specifically the exemptions to "participatory activities" such as golf, skiing and country club memberships.

Cegavske said some of the governor's cuts from agency requests seem contrived to her.

"It looks like they'd pump it up and then cut it back," she said.

The review continues next week as lawmakers prepare for the official opening of the 2003 Legislature. The session begins Feb. 3 and is expected to center on the balancing act between budgetary needs and the tax increases required to fund them.