Hundreds of Citizens Raise Budget Concerns At Reno Town Hall

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
RENO – When Gov. Brian Sandoval’s staff reduced funding for the Sierra Regional Center in the governor’s proposed budget, he may not have known what that would mean to the Stangelands.
Eric and Brandi Stangeland testified before a bipartisan group of 13 legislators on behalf of their four-year-old son Zander, who has autism. The couple said they’ve already sold their cars and are declaring bankruptcy because their out-of-pocket expenses to care for their son are so high. Along with 176 other families, they receive $1,500 per month through the Sierra Regional Center.
“To me, you’re leaving 176 families in the wind,” Eric Stangeland said. “Just cut a little of it. Don’t cut all of it. If you take that $1,500 a month away to pay for these tutors and to pay for the therapy, you’re taking a chance for my son to have a future.”
More than 100 other speakers testified at the Washoe County Commission chambers earlier today. At times heartbreaking, at times fiery, their collective testimony added human faces to the funding cuts or program eliminations Sandoval has proposed in his $5.8 billion budget.
Mark Burchell, a formerly homeless man who passed through Nevada’s Mental Health Courts, which could be eliminated, said the program turned around his life. He’s now a chapter president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Shirley Diaz, a UNR student who said she was representing minority interests, said that tuition increases could make college inaccessible to many lower-income and minority students.
“You’re going to keep pushing them out of the system,” she said. “You’re going to make a permanent lower class.”
The hundred other Nevadans who testified did so as teachers, public employees, students, people with disabilities, parents and advocates for education and human services. Their testimony offered legislators bleak snapshots of the effects of the governor’s budget: students unable to pay for college, people with disabilities struggling to get by, graduates vowing to leave for greener pastures.
Unlike at the concurrent town hall meeting in Las Vegas, supporters of Sandoval’s budget were largely absent. Taken together, about 1,400 people showed up for the two meetings.
The town hall meetings were the first time the public has had a chance to air concerns about the governor’s budget. Sandoval released his budget this past Monday, when he also delivered his State of the State address. Directors of various state agencies briefed legislators and took questions regarding the effect of the governor’s budget this past week.
The town hall meeting in Reno and a concurrent meeting in Las Vegas allowed more than 200 citizens to illustrate in human terms the effects of cuts that policymakers had so far addressed mainly as percentages and dollar figures.
Many proposed tax increases: on mining, on corporate incomes, in the form of a lottery, or as a sales tax on services.
“I for one would like to give more to hep the state of Nevada,” said Erik Schoen, who testified as a private citizen. “I give you permission to pass a tax act named after myself. … I would be willing to pay taxes to help support the vision, to help support the roads, to help support mental health.”
Many others concurred. Arguments progressed along two strains. Some argued that the cuts would lead to a other problems and a greater fiscal burden for the state than if the programs continued. Others said that the state receives a significant benefit from investing in the programs it funds.
To pay for these services, the bulk of the audience gave their nod to tax increases.
Legislators, however, weren’t so sure. Among the seven Democrats and six Republicans listening to the testimony, not one publicly voiced support for any of the taxation ideas. For now, legislators say they’re examining their options.
But the testimony provided legislators with ample evidence of just how much the cuts would hurt. That testimony might be valuable later to add some spice to a politically unsavory tax increase.
The governor has said repeatedly, however, that he would veto any bill with a tax increase. He also wants to let temporary tax increases expire later this year, a move he says will help businesses. He has also said he supports education, but will not spend more because the state can do more with the money it has.
Those budget talks will resume Tuesday, and the Legislature convenes Feb. 7.

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