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CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A group of Nevada Republicans, including the state controller, are introducing an alternative two-year budget that promises to not raise taxes.
Flanked by more than a dozen fellow Republicans, Assemblyman Jim Wheeler and newly elected Controller Ron Knecht introduced the budget plan Monday during a press conference in front of the state Legislature building.
"We hope that this will start the discussion on looking at living within our means versus raising new taxes," Wheeler said.
The proposed alternative budget calls for $6.9 billion over two years and wouldn't require any new or extended taxes. Knecht said the budget relies on mining taxes and public pension payments and would fund a majority of Gov. Brian Sandoval's proposed K-12 education programs.
The proposal would also remove mandatory furloughs for state workers and increase funding for technology and community colleges. It would also strip much of the funding for the Governor's Office of Economic Development and related programs designed to attract businesses to the state.
Wheeler said the budget only needed a majority vote due to the lack of tax or revenue increases in the plan. Nevada law requires any tax increase to be approved by a two-thirds vote.
Knecht said the budget was put out before the halfway point of the session in order to start a dialogue with the governor and other stakeholders before the last days of the session.
"We want to avoid what happened 12 years ago in the 2003 session where both sides set up in concrete and didn't really negotiate, and they ended up in a stalemate," he said. "We're hopeful we can avoid this."
Another group of Assembly Republicans led by Majority Leader Paul Anderson introduced an alternative tax plan raising the state's modified business tax last week. Neither plan has been officially endorsed by the Assembly Republican caucus.
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