Getting big bucks will cost big bucks
CARSON CITY — Nevada moved a step closer Tuesday to getting a “stimulus czar” to keep tabs on money coming from federal grants.
Without an endorsement, the three-member Board of Examiners unanimously sent the request by Gov. Jim Gibbons to the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee for consideration.
The committee meets Aug. 3.
Budget Director Andrew Clinger said $257,709 was needed to hire a coordinator and executive assistant to ensure stringent reporting and monitoring requirements are met for the $2 billion in federal stimulus funds flowing into Nevada.
Secretary of State Ross Miller and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, both Democrats who serve on the board with the Republican governor, questioned the cost and need to hire someone outside state government.
The administration “didn’t feel this is something that could just be absorbed” by existing staff, Clinger said.
The first reports to the federal government are due Oct. 10, and failure to comply puts the funding at risk, Clinger said.