Legislature passes lean capital projects bill

Lawmakers on Friday approved what may be the final piece of the budget puzzle " the legislation setting out capital construction and maintenance projects for the coming two years.

AB564 is a much leaner bill than originally planned. At the start of the session, the governor proposed a capital improvement projects list that totaled more than $400 million. But falling property values have greatly reduced the amount of money a penny of property tax revenue is expected to generate in bond authority.

The bill now projects the state's total bonding authority at just $143.9 million. Out of that total, however, $30 million must be deducted to cover the cost of making the first two payments on the line of credit borrowed from the Local Government Investment Pool .

The biggest project on the list is the Medical Education Learning Lab building at the University of Nevada, Reno for just under $30 million.

There is also $7.9 million on the list to convert a housing unit at High Desert State Prison into a Southern Nevada regional medical center for the prison system and $9.6 million to start construction of the new 36-bed child and adolescent hospital in Southern Nevada.

The state is facing potential legal problems if it fails to do those two projects. ACLU is already suing the state over medical treatment of inmates and Medicaid rules require construction of the hospital.

Cultural Affairs Director Mike Fischer managed to convince lawmakers to include $5 million to build the permanent exhibits at the new Las Vegas Springs Museum. The museum is finished but can't open until the exhibits are constructed.

There is $7.9 million in the budget for the new Elko Readiness Center. But the details of that project will be brought to the Interim Finance Committee. The governor's proposal is to move that center to the Carlin Fire Academy. Elko, however, has already committed significant resources to the Elko site which was the military's first choice.

The university system will also get money for furnishings, fittings and equipment at two newly completed buildings: The Davidson Mathematics and Science Center and the Molecular Medicine building " both at UNR. The total between the two is just over $11 million.

In addition, the long neglected Cheyenne Campus at the College of Southern Nevada will receive an estimated $13 million for renovations and life/safety upgrades.

The bill also includes just over $3.2 million to complete planning and construction documents for the new Hotel College Academic Building at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Without that commitment, the system would lose the $25-million grant promised by Harrah's to pay for half of the building's eventual construction. But that construction is on hold because, with the current economic conditions, the Harrah's Foundation doesn't have the $25 million to give at this time.

Most of the rest of the items on the list are what Public Works Manager Gus Nunez described as necessary maintenance and repair projects.

The bill also includes $2.2 million in highway fund projects for Department of Motor Vehicles, the Nevada Highway Patrol and the Department of Public Safety.

The state's bond money comes from a total of 17 cents of the property tax levied in all Nevada counties.

The vote in the Assembly was 36-6. In the Senate, it was unanimous.