In addition, Raggio talked about some type of incentive to lure teachers to come to Nevada. The Economic Forum made its first prediction in December on tax revenues. And Guinn, as he is required to do, built his budget on that money expected to be available. The forum, armed with the latest tax revenue collections, revised its estimates Tuesday. That means the governor and Legislature will have to cut one-shot items or those that do not have a recurring expense.
Public schools get part of their funding from the sales tax.
Since those receipts won't be as high as predicted, the state will have to make up any deficit. Deputy State Budget Director Don Hataway said this budget was built on the status quo, so it may be difficult to find areas to reduce spending without cutting programs. One target could be the University and Community College System of Nevada, which takes about 19 percent of the state's general fund budget. Lobbyists for the system were nervous about the forecasts and are worried they may be one of the targets. Raggio was asked about the state college proposed for Henderson.