Buckley: Both parties see problems in Gibbons' budget

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, told more than 130 Democrats at the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Thursday that members of both parties see that many of the governor's budget proposals must be changed.

She cited the proposed reductions in support for state retiree health benefits saying she told one Republican that was like "changing the rules in the middle of the game."

She said the Republican Assembly member she was talking to told her, "'No, Barbara, that's like changing the rules when the game is over.'"

"The governor has presented a budget that is wrong for Nevada," she said.

Buckley said it would "devastate the university system," cut treatment for autistic children "in the middle of their treatment," eliminate prenatal care for pregnant women and "close Nevada State Prison throwing hundreds of guards out of work."

"These proposals waste money and send Nevada backwards by decades."

Buckley said she saw in meetings around the state that, "everybody thinks we can do better."

"We have urged Republicans and Democrats to roll up our sleeves and not have our state destroyed," she said. "If we look at our system, tear it apart and build it up again, our state will be stronger."

Buckley was introduced by eight-time Speaker Joe Dini of Yerington who sharply criticized Gibbons and others who support the deep budget cuts to agencies in the proposed budget.

"Voting no to essential services may sound good but takes no courage," he said.

Dini said some of those interests are "licking their chops saying can we use temporary tough times to make permanent bad changes to policies?"

He specifically criticized Gibbons for letting the voter-supported room tax increase become law without his signature.

"This crisis calls out for statesmanship and leadership," he said.

Buckley and other speakers told the group they were proud that Carson Democrats delivered the county for Democrats in the 2008 elections. But they warned that the organizers in the room at the Carson Nugget can't ease up, that they must keep the pressure on to deliver the votes to keep Democrats in office and remove Gibbons from office in 2010.

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