Nevada Association of School Administrators

 LIFE

  LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION FOR EDUCATORS
      VOLUME 10 NO.5                                      MAY 4, 2011  

  HEADLINES:

 "Economic Forum Finds $270 Million"
"Governor Gives $250 Million to K-12 Education"
"Legislature Closes K-12 Budget....$650 Million Above the Governor's Proposed Budget"

 Today is Day #88 of the 120 Day Legislative Session

 Economic Forum Finds $270 Million 

      On Monday, the Economic Forum conducted its last meeting before the conclusion of the legislative session.  The Forum concluded that Nevada is beginning to experience a slow growth in tax revenues.  Concluding its analysis, the Forum concluded that the state will have an additional $270 million in revenues over the next biennium.

  Governor Proposes to Give $250 More to K-12 Education

       Yesterday, Governor Sandoval quickly stated that he would like to see $250 million of those new revenues go to K-12 education and $20 million to high education.  His staff immediately proposed that these funds go towards all-day kindergarten, class size reduction and extra-curricular activities.  The Governor's Budget Director, Andrew Clinger, then stated that this move would result in no teachers losing positions in the state.  That statement was quickly refuted by the legislature and the NSEA.
     The Governor continues to propose that education personnel take a 5% salary reduction, pay the PERS increase, and receive not incremental salary step increase or advances due to earning advanced degrees.
     To his credit, the Governor stated taht he would ask the Legislature to establish "Benchmarks" whereby if revenues continue to increase in the future, these funds would be triggered and gradually be directed to K-12 education.

  Legislature Closes K-12 Budget...$650 million Above the Governor's Proposed Budget

      Yesterday, in a partisan vote, the Legislature approved the K-12 education budget.  This budget is $650 million high than that which has been proposed by the Governor.  Democrats supported the measure and Republicans did not.
      Democrats now have the task of finding the revenue to pay for this.  They do not have sufficient votes to override the expected veto from the Governor.

 Did the Governor's Call for Compromise?

      In his televised speech to the people of Nevada last night, Governor Sandoval stated, "Nevadans are resilient.  When times are tough, we set aside our differences and come together, We are at that stage where unity of puprose will move us forward."
     If compromise is in the wind and if the Legislature and the Governor will truly be willing to set aside differences and come together, perhaps the session will actually end on June 6th.

  Quote of the Week

 " I don't think teachers need to be the only ones to step up and take it one more time.  We all need to step up and take it one more time."      Steven Horsford - D-Senator

Important Dates of the 2011 Legislative Session 
May 20 - Committee passage-second house
May 27 - Second house passage
June 1 - Exempt budget bills from committee, budget bills introduced
June 6 - Sine die, final day of the 2011 Legislature

Lobbyist Contact Information
Lonnie Shields        lonnie.shields@yahoo.com       775-741-0036
Mark Coleman         ccasa@interact.ccsd.net          702-796-9602

PUBLISHED BY THE NEVADA ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS DURING EACH LEGISLATIVE SESSION AND AS NEEDED DURING SPECIAL SESSIONS