Legislators OK grants — with a string

CARSON CITY -- County homeless agencies in Nevada were given $1 million in state grants Wednesday but quickly told not to count on receiving any money because the grants are on Gov. Jim Gibbons' proposed cut list.

"There is no guarantee this money will be available," said Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, at a meeting of the Subcommittee to Review Allocations to the Homeless.

Gibbons, working with legislative leaders, is expected to announce within the next couple of weeks where he will make an additional $333 million in budget cuts by the end of the budget period on June 30, 2009. The governor in January made initial spending cuts of $565 million.

But state tax sources continue to decline or post only small growth from last year, forcing the governor to cut 8.7 percent in spending from the state's $6.8 billion two-year budget.

The $1 million appropriation for homeless programs was made by the Legislature in June 2007 but made contingent on homeless agencies presenting detailed proposals on how they would spend any money they received.

Deputy Clark County Manager Darryl Martin said the county's Committee on Homelessness plans to spend the $600,000 it could receive on housing programs for homeless people.

Washoe County would receive $300,000 and the rural counties $100,000.

If Clark County receives the full $600,000, Martin said, then it would add housing for 125 more homeless people and renovate facilities where 250 homeless people live.

"The sites we find (for homeless housing) need significant work," he said.

Martin and homeless officials from Reno and rural Nevada said offering housing for chronically homeless people pays off in the long run because they can be given mental health and job services, and some of them become productive citizens.

About 16,000 people are considered homeless in Nevada, including 14,417 in Southern Nevada.

While supporting the $1 million allocation, Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, was concerned because reports given the subcommittee showed Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Sparks and Henderson provide hardly any money for homeless programs.

"What we have before us shows almost nothing," Raggio said. "There ought to be some commitment."

But Martin said that they make substantial contributions to homeless programs and that he would provide the subcommittee with a list showing their levels of support.

Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, was the only subcommittee member who voted against making the grant to the homeless programs.

"We are in too tight of a corner to get around," he said.

Besides facing the governor's budget ax, the $1 million in grants also are contingent on approval from the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee at an April 9 meeting.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or (775) 687-3901.