Las Vegas NowNevada lawmakers work on nearly $7 billion budget, tax plans
Associated Press - May 21, 2009 10:55 PM ET
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Tired Nevada lawmakers, who met until about 4 a.m. Thursday, returned several hours later to try to pass a $6.8 billion budget and a plan for $781 million in higher taxes to fund the 2-year spending plan.
The Democrat-controlled Assembly voted 34-7 for AB562, the $6.8 billion appropriations act which will fund state government operations. The "no" votes were cast by conservative Republicans in line with GOP Gov. Jim Gibbons, who plans to veto the budget.
Senate Finance members voted Thursday to endorse SB431, another key budget measure which spells out how most non-state general fund money will be spent. That amounts to $12 billion, mainly in federal dollars.
Another key budget bill, AB563, providing state funds for K-12 schools, won Senate approval Thursday, following Assembly approval a day earlier.
Senators also voted for SB433, which provides for 1-day unpaid furloughs each month for all state workers. That works out to about 4.6% less pay.
Lawmakers also neared a compromise on public employee and retiree benefits, a step needed to ensure that the tax increases - also facing a Gibbons veto - could get the two-thirds majority vote needed for approval.
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