Last Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a Town Hall here in Pahrump. It was raining. I don’t like meetings particularly. But I put aside by temptation to skip the meeting and went. Glad I did.

The meeting was held at the Fire Station at noon. It was led by former Town Board Chairwoman Laurayne Murray. Attendance was sparse. I counted 8 noses (including my own) plus Mrs. Murray.

The meeting centered around the effort of Nevada’s Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley’s effort to inform Nevadan’s about Nevada’s financial condition.

Using a Power Point slide display provided by Mrs. Buckley the meeting progressed through the informative points being raised by Mrs. Buckley. Speaker Buckley wants to hear your ideas about how to handle the financial problem in Nevada.

I’m really impressed with how Speaker Buckley is doing this. It is a big state. She is using modern techniques in trying to get our input on what we think about trying to fix the budget situation in Nevada. It is rare that politicians do this kind of thing and we all should support such efforts.

An easy way to read what she is trying to convey to us is to go to her 20-20 website. Right under the heading of her website you will see a red button labeled “Nevada 2020>>See the Presentation.” Click on that button. It will take you to a pdf file to read. To see an update go back to the page with the red button and then click the blue button next to it to see the update.

To present your solutions and ideas return to the page with the red button, then look at the menu at the top and you will see a tab which reads “What are your priorities?” Click it and it will take you to another page where you will see another link in orange color which reads “CLICKING HERE” Click it and tell her what you think!

Here is what I learned at the Town Hall.

Our State and Our Citizens Are In the Midst of a Financial Crisis!

• The mortgage industry meltdown has stripped values from homes and put borrowers under water, owing more than their homes are worth: Nevada leads the nation in homes in foreclosure (1 of every 91 houses are in some stage of foreclosure).
• Nevadans fear for their jobs: In August, Nevada’s unemployment rate was 7.1%, well above the national average of 6.1%.

General Fund Revenue Is In Free Fall

• New and existing home sales are depressed, and mounting job losses have shaken consumer confidence:
  Cash-strapped, would-be tourists are staying home.
• Nevadans, facing rising food and energy costs, have reduced their discretionary spending on
  cars, clothing, gaming, etc.

All of which means that gaming, tourism-related, and sales tax collections are all falling at a precarious rate.

Meanwhile, Inflation Erodes the Purchasing Power Of The General Fund

• 1996 General Fund Revenue was $761/resident.
• Projected FY2009 General Fund Revenue is $1020/resident
• Adjusted for inflation, FY 2009 Revenue will be $708/per resident, a decrease of 7% or $53/resident.

Where Does Our State Rank?

The Tax Foundation has concluded that, except for Alaska, Nevada enjoys the lowest state and local tax burden in the nation.

Compared to Other U.S. State and Local Governments, Nevada Is Fairly Lean

Nevada ranks 51st (out of 50 states and Washington D.C.) in the total number of state and local government employees per 1,000 residents.

Despite Low Business Taxes, Our State Is Not Highly Rated By U.S. Business

• The 2008 Forbes annual report of “The Best States For Business” ranked Nevada only 19th – in part, because we were rated 47th in Quality of Life (an index of schools, health, crime, cost of living and poverty rate) rate).
• The CNBC.com report on “America’s Top States for Business 2008” ranked Nevada 45th – in part, because we ranked next to last in education and below average on quality of life and cost of living living.

Where Is It Spent? 93% Goes For Education, Public Safety Services 2009 (in Safety, and Health/Human Services.

Our Constitution Requires That We Spend Money On These Services.

Education:

• K-12: “The legislature shall provide for a uniform system of common schools … in each school district …”
• Higher Education: “The legislature shall encourage … the promotion of intellectual, literary, scientific, mining, mechanical, agricultural, and moral improvements…”

Public Health and Family Services:

• “Institutions for the benefit of the [mentally ill, disabled], and such other benevolent institutions as the public good may require, shall be … supported by the State,…”

Prisons/Parole

• “A State Prison shall be established and maintained in such manner as may be prescribed by law…”

Where Do We Rank In Serving Nevada’s Children In K-12 Education?

(Note: Notice that Nevada is almost at the bottom of the other states in the union in ranking. Compare Nevada with the National Average to see the sorry state of education in Nevada. Is it because the residents of Nevada don’t care, or are they too cheap to do anything about it?)

Where Do We Rank in Providing a System of Higher Education?

Where Do We Rank in Securing Your Public Safety?

(Note: Nevada ranks in the upper area of the U.S. in locking people up in prisons. Demonstrates more interest in prisons than for education)

Where Do We Rank in Securing Nevada’s Public Health?

Where Do We Rank In Securing Mental Health Care for Nevadans?

Where Do We Rank In Securing Family Services for Nevadans?

Child Support Enforcement: (U.S. Administration for Children and Families rankings)

What Happened When We Cut The K-12 Budget in 2008?

What Happened When We Cut The Higher Education Budget in 2008?

What Happened When We Cut The Prison Budget in 2008?

What Happened When We Cut The Parole/Probation Budget in 2008?

What Happened When We Cut The Health and Human Services Budget in 2008?

If Education Budgets Are Cut 14-18% More, What Could That Mean?

If Corrections Budgets Are Cut 14-18% More, What Could That Mean?

If Health And Human Services Budgets Are Cut 14-18% More, What Could That Mean?

WE CAN DO BETTER

We Must Overhaul Government

That is why I am here.
That
is why you are here.
We are all concerned about our State, about the mediocre level of government services and about our fellow Nevadans. We know that we cannot continue indefinitely to rely on a boom-or-bust cycle of financing state government.
We want to find long-term, bi-partisan solutions to our shared problem

This is about what kind of state we want to be.
And we must decide this together.

I Believe We Must Re-Design The Financial Underpinnings Of State Government

Spending: prioritize goals for government services in a long-term plan, allocate spending according to
these priorities, and only pass budgets that are consistent with the plan.

Revenue: Re-evaluate revenue for adequacy to fund priority services and to ensure fairness, stability, and transparency.

Stability: we must stop boom-or-bust cycles by creating a budget reserve account large enough to allow us to maintain a consistent level of priority services, regardless of any rise or fall in state revenue.

I Believe The Legislature Must Adopt A Strategic Approach To Spending

The Mission of State Government is to provide certain services that fulfill our shared vision for Nevada as a good place to live, work, raise families and retire:

• Education,
• Safety and Security,
• Physical and Mental Health, and
• Roads and Highways.

Governing Principles that must guide the State Legislature in achieving the mission:

• Fairness
• Stability
• Accountability
• Transparency

I Believe That The Legislature Must Decide Where We Want To Be In 2020.

We must decide what our long-term (10 year), mid-term (5 year) and short-term (biennium) priority goals are for government services.

• Education
• Safety and Security
• Physical/Mental health and Family Services.

Once we define our goals, we can determine how much revenue the State needs in order to reach that level of services over time.

Then we must create a plan to get there: a plan that aligns revenue with spending, in the order of our priorities

I Believe That We Must Measure Results And Hold Government Accountable

I Believe That We Can Increase Revenue Using Existing Tax Laws

I Believe That We Must Review Tax Abatements and Exemptions

I Believe That We Must Maximize Federal Grants and Federal Matching Funds

I Believe We Can Raise New Revenue Through Innovative Public/Private Partnerships.

I Believe We Can Foster Budget Stability – Through A Re-vamped “Savings” Account

I believe that the time to overhaul Nevada’s financial structure and chart the course of Nevada’s future is NOW.

What Do YOU Believe?

Detroit’s General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker, will cut 10,000 salaried jobs globally and reduce pay by as much as 10 percent to slash costs and prove its viability to keep $13.4 billion in government loans. About 3,400 of GM’s 29,500 U.S. salaried workers will be dismissed by May 1. U.S. salaries will be cut temporarily by 10 percent for executives and by 3 percent to 7 percent for most others. GM said it’s reviewing salaries and benefits abroad. GM started offering buyouts to 62,000 union workers last week and is in talks with the UAW about trimming benefits.

GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner reduced his salary to $1 and other executives agreed to pay cuts as conditions of the government loans. [Bloomberg]

President Barack Obama took another historic step yesterday during his news conference. He called on Huffington Post reporter Sam Stein to ask a question at the White House press conference. Blogs have become an integral part of the new media.

Stein asked whether Obama would endorse Senator Patrick Leahy’s proposal to establish “a truth and reconciliation committee” to investigate the misdeeds of the Bush administration.

It is encouraging to see a progressive President in action. What a welcome contrast with George W. Bush.