Group items tagged

Carson City - So long, balanced budget. Hello, deficit spending. Legislators and Gov. Jim Gibbons announced on Tuesday a tentative agreement to bridge the state's $300 million budget shortfall by making $150 million in cuts and - to spare agencies even deeper cuts - borrowing $150 million from a local government investment account. If the plan is approved by the Legislature during a special session set for Dec. 8, it would be the first time since at least the Great Depression that Nevada has balanced its budget by borrowing money, according to state government observers.

University Medical Center administrators are proposing to reduce or eliminate half a dozen hospital services to offset an estimated $8 million shortfall anticipated with the first wave of Medicaid cuts. The county's only public hospital already has dropped its outpatient oncology service, sending 400 people by year's end in search of other chemotherapy providers. Today, administrators will propose to Clark County commissioners making cuts to select programs and services...

Legislative leaders and administration officials just finished a conference call and agreed on a "tentative framework" for cutting $331 million to $400 million from the state's budget, Speaker Barbara Buckley said Tuesday evening.

Legislative leaders emerged from a closed-door meeting with Gov. Jim Gibbons on Wednesday to insist that nothing more can be cut from the state budget, though a shortfall of $2.4 billion could prompt them to increase taxes when the Legislature next goes into session in 2011.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Jim Gibbons said Friday he has reached an agreement with legislative leaders on a bipartisan plan to handle state government's $341.7 million budget deficit without laying off workers or cutting essential services. "This will have a minimal impact on state services," Gibbons said about their plan designed to balance the budget in the fiscal year that ends June 30.

There might be a silver lining in the economic crisis, at least for students tired of taking tests. State Superintendent Keith Rheault is proposing eliminating a state-mandated exam as a way of cutting $1 million from the state budget.

The House and Senate conferees have reached a deal on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The agreement was reached late last night and has cut the total value of the bill to US $789 billion. The bill will be a boon for the renewable energy industry. All of the provisions that were contained in the Senate version of the bill were retained. In addition, the grants in lieu of tax credits clause that the House version of the bill contained made the final package.

CARSON CITY -- The Public Employees Retirement System has lost more than $4 billion on its investments since July, according to system executives who also told Nevada legislators Monday that they cannot legally cut benefits to existing participants.

Most legislative sessions don't start with a dress rehearsal. But last week's special session gave a sneak peek at what may lie ahead when the Nevada Legislature's regular session begins in February.