Focus on special session

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Jim Gibbons and legislators announced steps Thursday to prepare for a likely special session to handle a $60 million revenue shortfall.

Lawmakers and Gibbons also want to change a law to qualify the state for a possible $175 million federal education grant, but it might be impossible to do so before a Jan. 19 application deadline.

If a special session is called after that date, the law still could be changed to qualify Nevada for a second round of federal money in June.

"Whether we put an application together in January or June, we still need to do it (change the law) so we can seek a grant," Sen. Joyce Woodhouse, D-Henderson, said. "We owe it to the schoolchildren."

Nevada cannot seek the grant under a state law which prohibits school districts from evaluating teacher performance based on how students perform in achievement tests.

In anticipation of a special session, Gibbons has requested all state departments, public schools and the higher education system to prepare two plans -- one that shows how they would reduce spending by 1.4 percent and the other that details how they would make 3 percent reductions.

Such across-the-board cuts would reduce state spending by $70 million to $150 million over the next year and a half.

The governor made similar requests of state agencies before calling two, one-day special sessions in 2008.

Tax revenue was down about $60 million from projections in the July through September quarter, but Gibbons has not yet tapped into a $160 million line of credit authorized by the Legislature.

Gibbons also intends to replace Cathy Santoro, a member of the state Economic Forum, the five-member group of business leaders that determines how much revenue is available for state government to spend.

Santoro has moved out of state and the governor needs to replace her before requesting a new revenue forecast from the Economic Forum.

Woodhouse and Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, announced Thursday they will hold a Committee on Education meetings on Dec. 11 and Dec. 17 to prepare language to repeal the 2003 law that prevents the state from applying for as much as a $175 million Race to the Top challenge education grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

The Nevada State Education Association, which lobbied for the law to prevent teachers from being evaluated by student performance, now wants to repeal it so the state can seek the grant.

But Stacy Woodbury, Gibbons' deputy chief of staff, said there is not enough time left to apply for the grant even if the Legislature goes into a special session before Jan. 19.

Woodbury pointed out that the state Department of Education still must complete a required application by Jan. 11 for $350 million in education stabilization funds it received last spring as part of the federal stimulus fund package. Most of the funds went to higher education.

She insisted "there is no way" the state can receive approval for the stabilization funds and then quickly turn in an application for the Race to the Top grant eight days later.

Still, legislators should repeal the law and qualify the state for the second phase of Race to the Top applications in June, Woodbury said.

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