New state revenue needs will be known Friday

CARSON CITY — Nevada legislators will know on Friday whether they will need to increase taxes to balance a state budget that includes spending enhancements they have approved, Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley said today.

The Las Vegas Democrat also said during her weekly press conference that legislators intend to add to the Nevada System of Higher Education budget.

The 36 percent, or $473 million, cut proposed by Gov. Jim Gibbons in his budget for higher education will not do, nor will a 20 percent cut, she said.

But Buckley declined to give an exact figure on how much will be restored to the higher education budget.

Nor would she talk about what tax increases will be proposed by legislators before they release their figures on how much money they want to restore to Gibbons’ proposed budget.

She said releasing a final budget figure is complicated because state government still does not know if it will receive a waiver that entitles the state to $395 million in federal economic stimulus funds.

Without the waiver, Nevada state government would have to restore an additional $265 million to the higher education budget before it could receive the federal funds.

Buckley said that by Friday she hopes to have information on whether the federal secretary of education will approve a waiver for Nevada.

In response to questions, she said legislative leaders agreed not to discuss taxes until the governor's budget was reviewed and they decided whether spending cuts he supported should be restored.

Media accounts about what taxes would be increased essentially were “made up,” Buckey said jokingly.

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