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March 28, 2024 1:07 pm
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No One Asked Me But…

by Dr. Larry Moses


No one asked me but… The state budget crisis is a rather interesting issue. Poor (in more senses than one) Governor Gibbons! If his private problems are not enough, he now has a government that is financially in the tank.

The State of Nevada has found itself in a position where there is an over abundance of programs and an under abundance of funds. If the State of Nevada were a person he would be facing bankruptcy. Fortunately, the people of Nevada have made it financially impossible for the state to go into debt like our federal government. So now our state officials must do what our federal officials should be doing: figure out how they are going to run the government within the means of the people.

In the last legislature, our representatives budgeted a whole lot more funding than is available. Instead of making the tough decisions at the time they postponed the pain until now. The Governor has indicated there is a need to cut about one billion dollars from the projected spending for next year. When the federal government finds themselves in this position, they merely borrow money from places like China and leave our children to pay for it. The difference is the people of the state of Nevada have passed a state Constitutional amendment that requires a balanced budget. Now there is a national constitutional amendment I could get excited about.

For the year 2008-2009, the State of Nevada budget calls for about a billion dollars worth of goods and services that it cannot pay for. Now we can debate how this took place and why the state legislature could have been so far off in its predictions as to how much money the state would have to spend over the two years following the last legislative session, but that would be counter-productive. The point is they apportioned one billion dollars they do not have. That is a little over an eleven percent shortfall.

Some people have advocated increasing various taxes to pay for the discrepancy. There are those who are championing the cause of raising the taxes on the rooms at the hotels because then those paying the tax will be the visitors from out of state. How could that possibly affect the people of the State of Nevada? Remember what happened when we placed the confiscatory tax on tobacco. Many people quite smoking and the tax revenue slowed down. If rooms become too expensive, less people will come to Vegas and the revenue from the room tax will at best remain the same. The number of people coming to Nevada has already slowed because of the increase in gas prices. Add this to an increase in cost while in Las Vegas, the sales tax that is designed to make tourists pay for our state needs will take a major hit.

Those who believe we ought to raise the taxes on business don’t seem to realize businesses do not pay taxes. Those taxes are passed on to the general public in higher prices to cover the tax. Small businesses sometimes try to absorb the increase in taxes realizing if they raise their prices people will quite buying and they will be out of business. Either way the small business man is often doomed when increased taxes are place on them. The Supreme Court very early in American history recognized that the power to tax was the power to destroy.

If we can’t increase taxes, what is the answer? Curb the spending. We all have our pet projects, but to get the budget in balance everyone should have to bite the bullet. The shortfall comes to about 11 percent of the budget. If all agencies receiving state funds were to cut their budgets by 12 percent, we not only would have a balanced budget, but also we would also have a little contingency fund to live on.

Now I know we all have our pet projects that we don’t want cut. But let us not become too defensive. Funding the schools is a pet project of mine, but I believe in times of financial hardship I will have to forgo my defense of the school budgets. I know the Chancellor of the state colleges will cry foul as his dreams of creating a world class university system will take a hit. But maybe we will have to settle for a state class university system a little longer. There will be a major outcry from child protective service and law enforcement. Everyone needs to suck it up and take a hit. I heard a mediator once say, as both parties complained, “I must be right. No one is happy”. What one must remember is that these cuts are not reductions in money these programs have had in the past they are reductions in the growth of these programs.

I am not going to project where these individual programs could cut their budgets for 2009. I have a tendency to want to do that with the Clark County School District as I fancy myself an educator. I do, however, believe that if every agency took a good close look at itself, they could find 12 percent they could cut. While it would be a painful, it could be done. Actually it must be done.

The state government must do what we do when our actual income at home falls short of our projected income; make some hard decisions. Maybe that new car is not as important as the house payment. Maybe the trip to Disneyland for $1600 (believe that is what the TV ad says) may have to become an afternoon in the Logandale park. When money is short, hamburger reaches a new status on the food chain. Prime rib may be the desire but hot dogs will have to do. How many times have you had to say to the kids, “Not this year”? Well, that is where we are with the state government, not this year. We all have our pet government handouts and we will defend them to our deaths. But that is what has actually happened. We are at our economic deaths and it is time to do some triage. We must look at programs and decide what we can do without.

Maybe the state will have to delay all day kindergarten, state subsidize health care, the hiring of additional police officers, out of state consultants, and maybe we will have to release some of the non-violent criminals because we cannot afford to house them. Maybe we won’t be able to hire additional health department employees. Maybe we won’t be able to afford to grow the government at the same rate we have in the past.

What is really interesting is that if we cut the proposed state budget by 12 percent, we will still be increasing the amount of state spending. What we really have is not a cut in spending but a cut in budget.

Thought of the week…I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. – Winston Churchill

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