Nevada revenue shrinking

After a closed-door budget meeting, Nevada lawmakers said Tuesday that projections for state revenue for the next two fiscal years are down by at least 30 percent compared with the current biennium.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said after the meeting that falling revenues mean more budget cuts.

"It gets worse every day, the hole gets bigger and bigger," added Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, who attended the closed meeting. "You dig deep enough, and that hole becomes a grave."

Goicoechea said he doesn't know exactly how much revenues have decreased since the state Economic Forum made its last projections in December, but estimated the state will have at least 30 percent less revenue.

"There's going to be new taxes, there's going to be more cuts," Goicoechea said. "I think an increase in sales tax would be the fairest across the board."

Lawmakers continue to say they will wait to see how large the budget hole grows before they decide whether they will raise taxes.

The prospect of cuts prompted Lynn Warne of the Nevada State Education Association to say the teachers union leaders have met with their attorneys to consider a lawsuit aimed at ensuring adequate K-12 funding.

During Tuesday's meeting, key Democrats and Republicans worked for over two hours to reach agreements on outstanding budget decisions such as funding for higher education, teacher's salaries, and health care programs.

After the meeting, Leslie said Senate-Assembly budget subcommittees are getting closer to agreement.

"This is the third or fourth time I've been through this, and there's usually a whole lot of fighting, a lot of line-drawing in the sand," Leslie said. "There's none of that. It's more about problem solving."

Leslie also said that the budget process was held up by ongoing questions about how stimulus money could be used, and the fact that economic projections continue to get worse.

The legislative leaders missed a Monday deadline in their efforts to revamp Gov. Jim Gibbons' proposed $6.2 billion, two-year budget plan, but said they've made substantial progress identifying priorities and hope to have a final budget target in a few days.

On Wednesday, a joint Senate-Assembly money committee will meet to discuss some of the outstanding decisions.

"We've done our work, but some of this is out of our control," Leslie said.