By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but…I was anxiously awaiting the Governor’s State of the State message. I anticipated that he would explain how he is going to balance the State budget without raising taxes.
His predecessor did so by making major financial cuts in all State departments. It leaves one to wonder how many more cuts can be made without the complete elimination of some programs altogether. Nevadans may have to take responsibility for themselves in many of the areas the State has assumed over the years, and maybe this would not be such a bad thing.
I do find it interesting that the Governor is contemplating taking local monies to pay for State problems. While this may help him balance the State budget, it will raise havoc with local agencies like school districts or county and city governments. The Governor will keep his pledge not to raise taxes but these local agencies will have to raise taxes and fees to make up for the money the State takes from them.
There is a large pocket of bond money lying in the Clark County School District coffers. The residents of Clark County approved the issuing of the bonds to build schools. Over the past year, in various news articles, the district has indicated that anywhere from 300 to 900 million dollars in bond money is available. By law, this money cannot be used by the district for general fund expenditures. It can only be used for construction of new buildings or retrofitting old buildings.
Apparently the governor has the power to confiscate those funds and use them across the State as he sees fit. If this were to take place, the net result would be that the people of Clark County, who in good faith voted for the bond issue, would find that they are subsidizing the people of the other sixteen counties. When the bonds come due, only the residents of Clark County would be responsible for making good on the bonds.
That is not only a new tax it is a selective one. While the people of Clark County have never failed to pass a bond issue for schools, I would suspect if this happens, it might well be the last bond issue ever passed by Clark County School District.
Many of us were not aware that Governor Gibbons, with the agreement of the Clark County School District, used 128 million dollars of that money to balance the last State budget.
The Governor also plans to cut State employee wages by five percent. Folks, no matter how you feel about the cut, that is a tax. It is a selective tax on those people. In fact they would be better off if the Governor declared it as such for then they could deduct it from their Federal Income Tax.
The Governor, apparently following the example of the federal government, plans to pass the cost of State programs to the local governments. Not only does he plan to take local money, he plans to drop State programs on the local government who in turn will have to increase local taxes to fund the programs. The local governments should allow any State mandated program to lapse if the State refuses to fund it.
Harry Reid has indicated that the Governor should expect no help from him or the national government. I wonder if the same would be true had his son won the election, but that is merely a question.
Senator Reid declared the State of Nevada was on its own. This should warm the hearts of the Republicans who returned this left wing liberal to the Senate. His refusal to champion the financial needs of the State is exactly the program the extreme right wing of the Republican Party had hoped for when they supported the lightweight Sharron Angle. Now if he would only champion the cause of no federal mandates, it might be a fair trade off.
Federal mandates usually come either un-funded or underfunded. If the governor wants to save the State some money, he should drop all federal programs that are not fully funded. The State Medicare programs should be funded only to the degree the federal government is willing to fund it. Federally mandated educational programs should be carried out only to the extent the federal government is willing to pay for it. No local money should be spent on any federally mandated program. While this policy would upset the federal government, the savings to the State would more than balance the budget.
No one asked me but…Here are some radical and not well thought out suggestions for saving the people of the State some money.
Maybe we should follow the example of Hawaii and establish a statewide school district. There are districts in the State of Nevada that don’t have as many students as a large high school in Clark County. We have seventeen school superintendents and their myriad of assistants, associates, and support personnel.
The people of Clark County already subsidize education throughout the State through the Nevada Plan. We already have a State Board of Education and maybe this body could replace the school boards throughout the State. The Clark County School Board costs the district well over a half million dollars to operate over the school year. I am aware that we are continually pushing for more local control of our schools and that could be accomplished by turning every school in the State into an empowerment school.
Here is a crazy idea. Let’s get rid of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
We could require everyone who wants a license to take a private driving course. Upon receiving a certificate of proficiency from the school, they would be issued a license.
This license could be a lifetime license. Have you ever heard of anyone who made the effort to renew his or her license being turned down?
If the State wants the money, it could require a fee payment every five years. The fee could be mailed in to the State and eliminate the need for the massive bureaucracy we have today. If someone became delinquent, they could be required to recertify through a private driving school.
I would not suggest these are good ideas. However, it may be time to begin re-evaluating every State program and decide how important it is and if we are dealing with it in the most efficient manner.
