"Governor girds Nev. for gashes to budget" by Sandra Chereb, Associated Press | February 8, 2010
CARSON CITY, Nev. - Nevada’s budget is so far out of balance that by one account the state could lay off every worker paid from the general fund and still be $300 million in the red. The economic downturn has hit so hard that prisons might be closed, entire colleges shuttered and thousands left without jobs.
Against the backdrop of an imploding economy and an $881 million shortage, Governor Jim Gibbons will try in an emergency State of the State address today to explain the depth of the state’s financial crisis and how to fix the gaping hole in the budget.
Nevada, with a heavy reliance on discretionary spending through gambling and sales taxes, has been especially hard hit by the recession as tourists and gamblers hold on to their money.
The state’s unemployment rate has hit 13 percent, and a once booming housing market that created thousands of high-paying construction jobs has gone bust, with Nevada topping the nation in foreclosures.
In his address, Gibbons plans to call the Legislature into a special session in late February and instruct lawmakers on areas on which they can focus. It will be left to the state Assembly and Senate to tackle painful education and social services cuts.
“Nevadans need to get used to the idea of shrinking state government,’’ Gibbons’s spokesman Daniel Burns said....
Oh, THAT ISN'T a PROBLEM at all!!!!
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Also see: Your State Budget
