Assembly approves spending $2.477 billion for education

CARSON CITY — In an apparent sign of bipartisanship, the Assembly voted 42-0 Wednesday night to appropriate $2.477 billion in state tax revenue for the support of public school education.

The amount approved in Assembly Bill 563 by both Republican and Democrat legislators is nearly $200 million more than Gov. Jim Gibbons proposed in his budget.

In backing the bill, Assemblyman Ty Cobb, R-Reno, said he supports the education increase as worked out by legislative budget committees, but would be looking for “comparable reductions on the rest of the budget.”

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, replied immediately that legislative budget negotiators did not support reductions in other budget areas.

Cobb still supported the distributive school account bill, the largest single expenditure in the Legislature’s tentative plan to spend $6.9 billion in general fund revenues over the next two years.

Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, said she remains concerned that there will be little Republican support for tax proposals needed to cover additional spending added during hearings to Gibbons’ budget.

In most legislative sessions, the education budget is one of the last bills approved by legislators before adjournment.

This year, legislators are scrambling to finish the primary pieces of the budget early in case Gibbons vetoes them and their plan to increase taxes by $780 million. That would give lawmakers time to try to override his vetoes before the legislative session adjourns June 1.

Under the bill, public schools will receive an average state support of $5,251 per student in the school year that begins next fall and $5,395 in the year beginning in the fall of 2011. Current state appropriations are $5,098 per student.

Even with the increase, teachers still are slated to receive 4 percent salary reductions. What pay they ultimately receive will be determined during union negotiations with individual school districts.

Gibbons had proposed cutting state support to public schools to an average of $4,945 per student this fall and set it at $4,946 in the fall of 2011.

Although student enrollment growth has dropped dramatically, legislators still provided enough funding to cover a 0.78 percent enrollment growth this fall, and 0.95 percent enrollment growth in fall 2010.

The bill now will be sent to the Senate for additional hearings and a likely final vote by Friday.

Contact reporter Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.