Funding for new UNLV Hotel College, 7 other projects approved

CARSON CITY — Nearly $50 million in funding for a new UNLV Hotel College academic building and almost $23 million for a new DMV service office at the East Sahara location in Las Vegas were both approved Monday by a panel of lawmakers.

The joint Ways and Means and Senate Finance subcommittee also approved more than $48 million for the construction of a new 96-bed veterans nursing home in Reno.

But the committee split on a proposal to authorize $858,000 to build a new execution chamber at Nevada’s maximum security prison at Ely, with a majority of Assembly members opposed to spending the money. The question will be resolved Wednesday when the members of the full committees meet to finalize the construction plan.

In all, eight major new projects were approved by the subcommittee, requiring nearly $42 million in state funding and almost $92 million in other revenue sources.

The finalization of the capital improvement program for the 2015-17 budget is the final piece of the budget puzzle needed for lawmakers to finish their work by a mandated June 1 deadline.

The new and ongoing tax revenue needed to fund Gov. Brian Sandoval’s $7.4 billion budget remain a work in progress.

The hotel college building will be 93,500 square feet and will include classrooms and other facilities. The state contribution is $24.6 million, with the remainder coming from UNLV donor funding and other university sources. The subcommittee voted to recommend that the state Public Works Board oversee the project rather than university officials.

The 38,500-square-foot DMV office will be paid for with general obligation bonds that will be paid for through the highway fund.

The Ely State Prison execution chamber would replace the facility at the now closed Nevada State Prison in Carson City. The state’s death row population is housed at Ely.

Corrections Department Director Greg Cox said at a recent hearing that no executions are pending for the approximately 80 men on death row, but that the status could change and would require the state to act within 60 and 90 days.

The existing execution chamber, a former gas chamber on the third floor of the closed state prison, could be used but would likely prompt litigation from death row opponents, he said.

The new execution chamber and related facilities would take up 1,900 square feet of the current administration wing at the Ely State Prison.

Assemblyman Randy Kirner, R-Reno, said with no executions pending, lawmakers should not fund the project this session. A majority of the Assembly members of the subcommittee agreed.

Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, disagreed, saying the project is needed because the current chamber is not compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801