Special session mixed bag so far…
Submitted by on Fri, 02/26/2010 - 11:58pm
Trying to plug a nearly one billion dollar hole in the state budget has been a bit of a roller coaster ride. Governor Gibbons has agreed with state lawmakers that some fee increases are necessary and that some cuts, especially for K-12 education, should be eased. While big mining interests have agreed to step up their contribution to the state budget shortfall, big gaming has been dragging its feet, saying their revenues are down substantially and they should not be tapped for more money. Critics say that gaming has had a tax holiday for the past fifty years and now it’s payback time. But Gibbons indicated that he’s not convinced big gaming needs to contribute more.
Gibbons and lawmakers have also been talking about further cuts to state worker pay. State workers have already been hit with furlough days amounting to a 4.6% pay cut. Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley says it’s really more like 11% when you figure in loss of merit and longevity pay and other lost benefits. Legislative democrats say state workers should not be penalized any more. Gibbons wants a couple more hours a month taken away from them.
Budget talks resume Saturday morning. The Special Session is expected to run through Sunday because the bills bubbling up from the negotiations will take time for be formally written and then passed by both the Assembly and Senate. If they’re vetoed by Governor Gibbons, the legislature would then need a little more time to attempt what would expected to be a successful override of those vetoes.
