Sandoval: ‘We’re only going to spend the money we have’

(Victor Joecks/NPRI) – One of the most important takeaways from Gov. Brian Sandoval’s interview on “Face to Face” with Jon Ralston is this comment:

[Sandoval making a pitch to a potential business looking to move to Nevada]: Unlike other states, we’re taking the prudent approach, which is we’re only going to spend the money that we have.

Our Economic Forum in our state has said we have $5.33 billion to spend. We’re going to stick to that. We’re not going to tax you.

You’re leaving a state that has just increased taxes. You’re leaving a state that’s been, [where] you’ve been over-regulated. You should come to the state of Nevada where you will have a stable tax policy, where you’ll have a stable business environment…

As part of Gov. Sandoval’s commitment to making Nevada more business-friendly, his first executive order was a one-year freeze of new regulations [PDF].

Sandoval’s comment on the budget gets right to heart of the tax-and-spend debate. As NPRI has noted previously, controlling taxes means controlling spending, and many of Nevada’s current budget problems are the result of the per-capita, inflation-adjusted, 30 percent spending increase the Legislature passed in 2005 (p. 6).

Public comments are no guarantee that Gov. Sandoval will present a $5.33 billion budget or that he’ll stick with his no-new-taxes promise, but he’s certainly making all the right arguments.