Forum expected to widen state's budget gap

The Economic Forum is expected to add to the legislative migraine today by reducing revenue projections for the coming biennium another $450 million or more.

The forum is a panel of appointed professionals from the business world charged with providing both the executive and legislative branches with General Fund revenue projections to build the budget.

When the forum met in December, they voted to reduce total General Fund revenues to $5.65 billion " $1.2 billion below the $6.8 billion used to build the current budget.

The economy, however, has continued to worsen with revenue collections for both gaming and sales taxes falling well below the previous year for a dozen months now.

After receiving reports from state agencies, the budget office and Legislative Counsel Bureau, the forum is expected to take another bite out of those revenues.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said Thursday their analysts believe the reduction will range from $350-$500 million. Gov. Jim Gibbons, in a Thursday press conference, used the same range to estimate the reduction his analysts expect.

The result would be a roughly 40 percent reduction in funding for state government.

They may have no choice. February recorded the 14th straight month of declining win by Nevada casinos " 18 percent less than February 2008. Sales tax revenues aren't doing much better, falling 19 percent in February and down 9.4 percent for the eight months of fiscal 2009.

The forum meets beginning at 10 a.m. in Room 4100 of the Legislative Building.

The forum decision will signal the start of the 2009 Legislature's final phase. Lawmakers working on a revenue generating agreement have promised to release that plan after staff absorbs the forum's final numbers. After deciding how much they will finally add back to the governor's recommended budget, they will be able to calculate how much additional revenue they will try to generate.

The five member forum was created in the 1993 Legislature after the state rebounded from the 1991 budget crunch. It was intended to eliminate competing revenue projections by agencies and lawmakers, making everyone use the same numbers. It's membership, appointed by the governor, Assembly Speaker and Senate Majority Leader, was intended to be an impartial group of financial experts from the private sector.