Legislature Schedules Joint Meeting To ‘Reconsider’ Education, Human Services Budgets
CARSON CITY – Lawmakers have scheduled a joint Senate-Assembly budget committee Tuesday to “reconsider” their previous actions on public education, higher education and health and human services programs.
Sen. Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, a member of the Finance Committee, said the purpose of the meeting set for 8 a.m. is to make more cuts in the budgets previously approved by Democrats that saw as much as $1 billion in new spending added over the $6.1 billion spending plan submitted by Gov. Brian Sandoval.
“Yes, more cuts, more cuts in line with his (Sandoval’s) budget,” Leslie said.
Democrats in the Legislature have proposed a $1.2 billion tax plan to fund their spending restorations, but so far Republican lawmakers have not been willing to go along with the call to extend a package of sun-setting taxes, impose a tax on some services and create a new business margins tax. Republican support is needed for a two-thirds vote to raise taxes.
Sandoval has flatly rejected any proposal for new taxes to balance the budget. He has already vetoed a Democrat-approved public education funding plan passed earlier this month.