Gibbons pitches feds for waiver of education stimulus requirements

The letter asking the U.S. Department of Education to waive rules requiring Nevada to pump $268 million into the university system before it can get education stimulus money was mailed Wednesday.

"Time is of the essence here," said Gov. Jim Gibbons, pointing out that Nevada must know whether it has that waiver to build the state budget for the coming two years.

The state must either get that waiver, according to Chief of Staff Josh Hicks, or find some way to restore higher education budgets by at least $268 million or it can't qualify for as much as $396 million in education stimulus funding.

Gibbons said part of the state's problem is that federal education officials haven't yet spelled out the conditions the state must meet in order to qualify for a waiver. He said sending the letter immediately is an attempt to "trigger a reaction in the Department of Education."

"We want to be first in line," he said.

But Gibbons expressed frustration at the lack of detail in the stimulus bill, which he said leaves many questions unanswered about how to meet its requirements.

"The real problem with the whole bill is it's so arcane in how it's drafted," he said, adding that the result is "the usurpation of state's rights."

The detailed three page letter, backed by a letter of support from Nevada's  House of Representatives delegation, spells out in detail that Nevada has "experienced a precipitous decline in financial resources" " the language in the stimulus bill for states seeking a waiver.

It shows a 7.7 percent drop in sales tax revenues, a 20.3 percent drop in gaming revenues and unemployment that jumped from 4.3 percent in 2006 to 9.4 percent in January.

"Nevada also ranks at or near the highest in the nation in terms of adjustable rate and subprime mortgages outstanding," the letter states.

It says hotel-casinos have laid off 16,000 employees in the past year, halted several major construction projects, and total job loss is nearly 60,000.

"We tried to make the best case possible," said Hicks.

"If they're going to grant any state a waiver, we ought to be pretty high on the list," said Budget Director Andrew Clinger.

Hicks said the letter will be followed within weeks with the governor's proposals on how to use the stimulus cash that will be delivered to the Nevada Legislature.

Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.