Panel focuses on cultural affairs budget

Members of a Senate-Assembly budget panel said Thursday they want to find funding to keep state museums operating as close to current levels as possible, rejecting Gov. Jim Gibbon's proposed cuts that would close some museums or cut their hours.

Under Gibbon's plan, spending on cultural programs would be cut nearly 36 percent, to $19.1 million over two years, and staffing would be slashed by up to 40 percent.

The just-renovated East Ely Railroad Depot Museum and Comstock History Center in Virginia City would be closed, the staff of the Nevada Historical Society would be cut and other museums would be open only four days per week.

"Our recommendation was to basically leave them open with a little bit of cuts, but keep them operating as much as possible," Assemblyman Moises Denis, D-Las Vegas, the budget subcommittee co-chairman, said after the meeting.

A $7.7 million state computer program Gibbons recommended was rejected by the subcommittee, and Denis said that could provide some additional museum funding. If the museums remain open, Denis added that revenue generated from admission costs also should help.

Sen. Warren Hardy, R-Las Vegas, also suggested museums review their policies on use of volunteers in order to have adequate staffing at facilities.

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, said a discussion of funding for the new Nevada State Museum at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve would have to wait until the 2011 legislative session. Denis said that would mean the earliest the museum could open would be 2013.

"I think it's sad and unfortunate, but to open something new when we are closing everything that exists, I just can't support," Horsford said.

Gibbon's budget didn't include $6 million for exhibit construction, something required for the facility to open in early 2011. Horsford and other members said they would try to find some funding for exhibit construction but not the full amount, and money would be made available for building maintenance. Sen. Joyce Woodhouse, D-Henderson, said museums should continue to solicit private donations to fund exhibit construction costs.

The state Library and Archives also faces a 35 percent budget reduction under Gibbons' budget plan, which would jeopardize its ability to get federal grants. Subcommittee members said they would try to fund the budget at minimal levels that would still allow libraries to get the federal funds.

If budget cuts are approved, library hours would be slashed from eight to four per day, staff would reduced by half and state archives could only be accessed by appointment.

Also under the proposed budget, the state's site stewardship program, in which hundreds of volunteers monitor sensitive archaeological sites and collect data, would be eliminated. Assemblywoman Kathy McClain, D-Las Vegas, suggested that funding for the program possibly could be found from room taxes from the state Tourism Commission.