{"id":9474,"date":"2011-03-29T08:48:55","date_gmt":"2011-03-29T15:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/?p=9474"},"modified":"2011-03-29T08:48:55","modified_gmt":"2011-03-29T15:48:55","slug":"budget-standoff-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/budget-standoff-continues\/","title":{"rendered":"Budget Standoff Continues"},"content":{"rendered":"
(Sean Whaley\/Nevada News Bureau<\/em>) – A two-hour review by the full Senate [on March 28] of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed two-year, $5.8 billion general fund budget<\/a> spent a lot of time on what his spending plan could mean well into the future.<\/p>\n A report<\/a> to the state Senate, meeting as a Committee of the Whole to hear an update on the recommended budget, shows the danger of future budget shortfalls because of the use of one-time funding options by Sandoval to balance the upcoming 2011-13 budget that will start July 1.<\/p>\n The 2013-15 budget faces a nearly $1.1 billion hole because some of Sandoval’s proposed revenues will not recur in future budget years, according to data provided by legislative fiscal staff.<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford<\/a>, D-Las Vegas, said it is not responsible for lawmakers to approve such a budget.<\/p>\n “This governor’s budget creates a $1.2 billion-$1.3 billion hole in the next budget in 2013,” he said. “That is irresponsible of us as legislators to create a hole for another Legislature to deal with.”<\/p>\n The Sandoval administration rejected the criticism, saying decisions have to be made about the budget every legislative session. The analysis was also based on no revenue growth, which is unrealistic.<\/p>\n “There are decisions that will have to be made next time in the budget just like there are every time we put a budget together,” said state Budget Director Andrew Clinger. “So to say that we’re going to have a $1.1 billion hole assumes you make no decisions and change nothing and that the economy doesn’t grow at all. And those are just two assumptions that are just not valid.”<\/p>\n The 2009 Legislature approved temporary tax increases to balance the budget. These expiring increases have contributed to the lower revenue projections for Sandoval’s budget.<\/p>\n Dale Erquiaga, senior adviser to Sandoval, said: “We need for the Legislature to start closing this budget.”<\/p>\n Today’s budget discussion made it clear the Sandoval administration and legislative Democrats, led by Horsford and his Assembly counterpart, Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, remain far apart on an acceptable spending plan.<\/p>\n “I’m not prepared to support the level of reductions that are proposed,” Horsford said at the conclusion of the budget review. “I think there is a lot we can still agree on.<\/p>\n “My hope is that as we talk about the cuts that we will have to make, the reforms that we’ve agreed should occur, that we will also talk about the revenue that is needed to responsibly balance this budget,” Horsford said. “And if we can do that in a cooperative way, then we should be able to close down the budget in a timely manner.<\/p>\n “If not, then it is going to mean doing business in a totally different way than we’ve ever done it before,” he said.<\/p>\n