Gov. Jim Gibbons today signed the proclamation officially calling the Legislature into special session at 9 a.m. Feb. 23, with a long list of proposals to consider. (You can read the proclamation for yourself here: SpecialSessionProclamation.)
On the list: Increasing furlough hours to 10 per month; switching to 10-hour workweeks; allowing local governments more flexibility in their hours; using license plate scanners to catch drivers who have not registered their cars with the Nevada DMV, or who don’t have auto insurance; collecting sales tax on items sold over the Internet; eliminating collective bargaining requirements for local governments; and removing the requirement to fund full-day kindergarten and class-size reduction efforts.
What’s not on the list: Revising the law that doesn’t allow for Nevada schools to use student test-scores to evaluate teachers. That law prevents the state from competing for Race to the Top federal grant funds; until it’s revised, Nevada won’t be able to apply for any of what could be millions in federal dollars. However, the proclamation, and the constitution, allow the governor to place additional items on the agenda during the special session.
Reports had surfaced earlier to indicate Gibbons was planning to withhold the test-score evaluation repeal (which lawmakers want) until after lawmakers had acted on his education reforms (which they don’t want). It looks as if that might be the case.
Gibbons also released a spreadsheet showing the exact amounts of the general fund shortfall. You can read those here: Biennium_Shortfall.
UPDATE: My colleague Anjeanette Damon reports today that Gibbons will pursue capping the deductions that mining companies are allowed to take before paying taxes, which will result in about $25 million more per year to the state. I first reported Monday that Gibbons’s spokesman, Daniel Burns, said the governor’s view is that this isn’t a tax increase, since the tax rate will remain unchanged, even though the company will pay more.
The mining tax deduction caps — as well as other items including a school voucher program and bills related to water — are not in the proclamation signed by the governor and will likely have to be added in later.
UPDATE 2: U.S. Sen. Harry Reid caught wind of Gibbons’s oversight in not including Race to the Top issue on the special session proclamation. He must be reading SlashPolitics.com! Here’s his statement:
“I am very disappointed that Governor Gibbons has not included addressing Nevada’s eligibility to qualify for the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top funding in his agenda for the special session of the state Legislature. Last year, I urged the governor and our state legislators to remove all barriers preventing Nevada from competing for up to $150 million in federal education funds. Nevada teachers, superintendents from all seventeen school districts, and legislators from both sides of the aisle expressed their strong support for ensuring that Nevada would be eligible to compete for these much-needed funds. Regrettably, Nevada remains the only state in the nation not eligible to apply for federal funds.
“After delaying a decision that prevented our state from applying for the first round in January, Governor Gibbons finally committed to addressing this issue in a special session of the Legislature. But, it appears he changed his mind. Now, after offering an agenda that would devastate education in Nevada, the governor has failed Nevada students by not committing to address eligibility for Race to the Top. While other states prepare to compete for millions in federal funds, the governor’s lack of leadership will only continue to harm Nevada’s students.”
Remember, folks, Gibbons can still bring matters to the Legislature’s attention while they’re in session, and there’s a bunch of other stuff to be added later, as well. But Reid is not one to pass up a chance to give Gibbons a little payback for all the sniping the governor has been sending the senator’s way recently, either.
Tags: Jim Gibbons, Nevada Legislature
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