Challenges remain, not looking rosy in Sandoval’s fifth year

CARSON CITY — Gov. Brian Sandoval has enjoyed a pretty smooth ride through his fifth year as Nevada's chief executive. Job growth, economic diversification, education funding and reforms are just a few of the high points since the state's economic recovery got underway in earnest a few years ago.

A recent report also showed that Nevada's unemployment rate declined for the 53rd straight month in July.

And Sandoval might soon have another achievement on his resume if state economic officials can in the coming months lure electric car manufacturer Faraday Future to Southern Nevada.

But not all is sunny for Nevada's eternally optimistic governor as he moves to close out the first year of his second and final term.

Concerns and challenges range from numerous violent incidents within the state's prison system to the potential of a referendum on part of his tax plan that could throw the state budget into disarray.

Nevada's continuing poor student performance and a dispute with the Clark County School District over this year's public education budget are potential headaches for Nevada and its chief executive.

The rooftop solar debate and a report questioning Nevada's efforts in the fledgling drone industry are also challenges for Sandoval's economic diversification efforts.

While some of the concerns might pale in comparison to his many achievements, others have the potential to make Sandoval's job more challenging and difficult over the next three years.

Sandoval discounted several of these controversies but acknowledged others when asked about them earlier this month.

Violent incidents raise concerns

Questions have been raised about Nevada's Department of Corrections and whether Director Greg Cox and his wardens are in control of the prison system.

The questions began after the shooting death of a handcuffed inmate in November at the High Desert State Prison by correctional officers, an incident that was not disclosed to the public for several months. The prison is about 40 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Carlos Manuel Perez Jr., 28, was shot and killed during what was described as a scuffle at the prison. Another inmate, Andrew Arevalo, was shot in the face.

Arevalo's attorney, Alexis Plunkett, told the Review-Journal in March that her client, the surviving inmate, "was shot three times in the face. … Both of them were handcuffed behind their backs. So this is a really, really terrible shooting."

There have been several other violent incidents since then, including a recent fight at the Warm Springs Correctional Center in Carson City earlier this month that resulted in seven inmates being injured. Other incidents have occurred at Ely State Prison, Lovelock Correctional Center and High Desert.

Sandoval said he remains confident in the management team at the Department of Corrections and suggested that what sounds like an increase in incidents is the result of more transparency by the agency.

Cox will soon be reporting to the Board of Prison Commissioners with regard to whether policies and procedures were followed in the incident that resulted in the inmate's death, he said. Information on other use of force incidents will be presented as well.

"Things are not out of control," Sandoval said. "Part of this is we're giving you the information. These are prisons. Some of these are pretty dangerous folks."

Education challenges remain

Then there is the dispute between Sandoval and the Clark County School District over this year's budget. Despite getting a huge increase in education spending approved by Sandoval and lawmakers in the 2015 session, the district was forced to cut its budget this year and offer no pay raises.

Part of this was blamed by local school officials on a reduction in per pupil spending approved by lawmakers and signed into law as part of the education budget by Sandoval. But the governor's office noted that the decline in state spending was the result of growth in local school revenue.

"The Clark County School Board's inability to give teachers a pay raise is not a funding problem, it's a management problem," said Sandoval spokeswoman Mari St. Martin in a statement. "The taxpayers of Clark County deserve a new approach to running their schools, with the same level of commitment to positive change that the Nevada Legislature and Governor Sandoval have embraced."

Other disappointing news on the education front came in the form of a recent report finding that Nevada remains at the bottom in education performance, this despite an increase in public education spending approved by lawmakers in 2013, including $50 million for English language learners.

The annual KIDS Count, a report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, found that children in Nevada aren't doing as well as before the recession started. Nevada ranked 47th overall and 46th in economic well-being. Nevada was last in educational attainment.

Sandoval said the report is fair, but he noted that the major funding effort in the 2015 session is expected to produce positive results in years to come as students attend prekindergarten, full-day kindergarten, Victory Schools, Zoom Schools and other new programs designed to boost student achievement in Nevada.

These new programs are aimed directly at the measures used in the report, he said.

"That's why I made the case in the State of the State to do what we had to do," Sandoval said. "Once those programs are implemented we should see some great improvement with regard to Kids Count."

There was some good news in public education last week. Nevada was the most improved state for high school graduation from 2011 to 2013, rising to 71 percent from 62 percent, the U.S. Department of Education reported. The 71 percent rate remains well below the national average, however.

Tax referendum could spell trouble

That leads to Sandoval's defense of his tax package that helped fund the major boost in public education funding. It included $1.1 billion in new and continuing taxes to the general fund, including a new commerce tax on businesses with $4 million or more in revenue each year.

Sandoval won a major victory with the passage of the revenue package, but the anti-tax wing of the Republican Party is upset with the GOP lawmakers who approved the measure and are seeking to put part or all of the tax plan to voters in 2016. One referendum petition has already been filed.

Rejection of the revenue by voters could throw the state budget out of balance and could even force a special session of the Legislature late next year.

Sandoval has defended the tax package because of what it has accomplished for public education.

"The petition is a wrongheaded attack on the children and families of Nevada," he said. "Supported by more than seventy percent of legislators, the revenue the petition seeks to eliminate will go directly to the classroom and give teachers the resources to deliver a quality education."

But anti-tax activist Chuck Muth said Nevada residents deserved better when Republicans swept to victory in 2014 and took control of the governor's office and both houses of the Legislature for the first time since 1929.

A new gross receipts tax, which voters had rejected in 2014, making other temporary taxes permanent and hiking the cigarette tax by $1 a pack came from a Republican governor who did something even Democrats would not have considered doing, he said.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to roll back government," Muth said.

Rooftop solar, drone challenges remain

On the economic diversification front, federal records show that Nevada's drone testing program is lagging far behind other states, despite the state being selected by the Federal Aviation Administration in late 2013 to be a testing site for the unmanned aerial vehicles.

Data compiled by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International shows Arizona and California doing much more than Nevada, as are many other states.

But Steve Hill, executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, said that while the group's analysis is accurate, it is measuring the commercial use of drones and not what Nevada's focus is with the emerging industry.

"Nevada's advantage — and what we offer that we think is exceptional — is the research capacity and ability to test and develop unmanned aerial vehicles as well as the sensors and components used on those UAVS," he said. "The report is not measuring the development, research or testing that is taking place."

While the state still has progress to make, the FAA recently gave it more authority to issue agreements for flight testing at 200 feet or less at the several designated test sites that should allow for an expansion of flights, Hill said.

"We have between 10 and 20 companies working in Nevada," he said. "So things are moving more quickly than they were."

While job creation and diversification are hallmarks of Sandoval's administration, he has been criticized by representatives of the rooftop solar industry for failing to take any leadership on a dispute over how the program should be allowed to continue in Nevada. The issue is in front of the state Public Utilities Commissioners who are appointed by Sandoval.

Rooftop solar officials say a new rate proposal from NV Energy would mean the loss of 6,000 rooftop solar jobs. The utility says the new rate is needed to ensure rooftop solar customers are not subsidized by other ratepayers.

Sandoval said he has not weighed in on the rooftop solar issue because he does not think it is appropriate given that it is in front of the commission.

"It is a quasi-judicial board that I don't interfere with," he said.

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