Over the course of the last month, we've been looking at the intersection of health care and budget policy, and how that's played into the mental health patient dumping scandal that's rocking the state. It's forced attention onto the woeful state of Nevada's mental health care system, and to Nevada's overall lack of an adequate social safety net. And now, we may very well have a new scandal waiting in the wings, one that may soon highlight another failing of the state's public infrastructure.
We've known for some time that Nevada schools are woefully underfunded. K-12 schools in Clark County are especially hurting, since they've been subjected to the deepest budget cuts and years of chronic underfunding. Public education advocates are getting sick and tired of empty promises from Carson City, so they're now considering suing the state.
The potential case centers around the state's poor graduation rates, its consistently low level of funding for English-language learners [ELL] and inequities in educational outcomes for minority students. [...]
Nevada ranks third in states that have the most English-language learners, but Nevada's support for those students pales in comparison to the support afforded other ELL students around the country, according to a UNLV Lincy Institute study published earlier this year.
For example, Broward County in Florida provides $121 million in ELL funding for its 25,112 students, or $4,837 per student. In Clark County, $6.7 million in federal money is directed toward ELL programs for 55,818 students -- an average of $119 per student.
So the group is turning its attention to the state's judicial branch in hopes that the courts will declare the state's support for education inadequate under the state constitution and mandate the Legislature to adequately fund education in Nevada.
It's a tactic that advocates in other states have adopted. The ACLU of Southern California is suing California in what it alleges are inadequacies in the way that state funds its ELL system. Judges in Colorado recently ruled in favor of a group of advocates, saying that "the state's school finance system is unconstitutional because it is inadequate and not rationally related to the constitutional mandate of a thorough and uniform system of free public education," according to that state's attorney general's office.
Clark County students are not receiving the resources they need to learn in K-12 schools here. It's especially evident in minority heavy neighborhoods in Southern Nevada, as ELL programs are nearly nonexistent. We may no longer just be looking at a policy failure here. This may also be a civil rights violation. And if courts start agreeing, then Nevada is in huge trouble.
As usual, Governor Brian Sandoval (R-Denial) has been acting as if there is no problem. He's used budgetary gimmicks to dress up his proposed education budget. And he's been using "sunny" rhetoric to try to spin away the bleak reality of shortchanged schools.
He may finally be approaching the point where he can no longer deny reality. This is actually a reason why we've seen more legislators show willingness to discuss "The T Word". Of course, we still don't know yet if they will actually accomplish anything. But hey, that's why The Education Initiative will be on our ballots next year.
Today may be the start of another brutal reality check. Who in Carson City is paying attention?
The Nevada State Education Association and the Nevada State AFL-CIO are in the process of collecting the 72,352 signatures required for their Education Initiative, which proposes to impose a 2 percent margin tax on Nevada businesses with more than $1 million in total revenue.
The tax would raise approximately $800 million annually in new funding for the state's K-12 public schools, the labor unions said.
However, challenging the unions is the Committee to Protect Nevada Jobs, a political action committee that argues the margin tax would hurt businesses. The pro-business PAC filed a complaint seeking injunctive relief and requested that a judge declare the petition invalid on several grounds.
In his ruling Tuesday, Judge James Wilson Jr. agreed with many of the business PAC's arguments, saying the language used to describe the tax's effect to voters was "incomplete, deceptive, misleading, and therefore, invalidates the petition."
NSEA & AFL-CIO are already planning to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court, so this dramatic tale is still far from over. It's just amazing how far certain corporate interests will go to silence people's voices. Seriously, do you think they'd be suing like this if they didn't think it was popular?
And as we discussed in June, it's becoming comical to watch "Tea Party, Inc." argue against this initiative simply because it follows the very rule that they have used to kill past tax reform initiatives in court. Basically, they're trying to turn the single subject rule into a constant "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation that kills a tax reform initiative either way! How is this fair at all?
Again, this ruling will be appealed. And the Nevada Supreme Court will have to give some thought about how NSEA & the AFL-CIO have bent over backwards to follow the letter of the law on this... Only to be slapped with a law suit by a group that was formed solely for the purpose of defeating this initiative. Is there truly a legal motivation for this law suit? Or is this just a surreptitious and at least somewhat deceptive effort to put the brakes on a progressive tax reform effort that just might pass (and pass handily) if given to voters?
Here's something I almost missed in today's Las Vegas Sun. Guess who opposes the Henderson Library initiative?
Oh, yes. That's right. They're back!
Victor Joecks, communications director for NRPI, a local libertarian think tank, said tax proponents are being sensationalist and he believes the libraries are relatively healthy given the current state of the economy.
“It’s not this all-or-nothing proposition that’s being put out there,” Joecks said. “The system has grown very healthfully, faster than population growth would dictate. They take the high-water mark for funding, then say they have been cut so much from that high-water mark and now we need a tax increase. ... The library system is doing very well. This is a choice between growing at a rapid rate or an exorbitant rate.”
The library district is independent from the city of Henderson, and the majority of its $7 million budget comes from property taxes. The district’s prerecession funding high was approximately $10 million. The district expects property values to continue to slide in the next few years, further decreasing its funding. It argues the Galleria and Malcolm library branches will be shuttered if the tax initiative, which would raise property taxes by 2 cents per $100 in assessed value, does not pass.
Thomas Fay, Henderson Library District executive director, said efficiencies have been exhausted. The library has cut hours numerous times, and at the beginning of October, district libraries started closing on Mondays. The number of full-time equivalent staff hit a high of 101 in 2009, just after the district reopened a renovated Green Valley branch that had been transferred in 2005 from the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. In fiscal 2011, the Henderson district had the equivalent of 86.5 full-time employees. Fay said staff from Malcolm and Galleria branches have been finding new jobs amid the uncertainty, and the total staff currently stands at the equivalent of 77.5 full-time employees. He is holding off on hiring anyone until after the tax initiative vote.
If the initiative is approved, the district is estimating a revenue boost of approximately $1.5 million in the first year of collection, fiscal 2013-2014.
“This doesn’t fix everything,” Fay said. “We’ve lost $2.5 million, heading toward $3 million, a year. We feel we have put in a lot of efficiencies, and this is just enough to get us through the next 10 years.”
Clearly, the dittoheads at NPRI don't know shit. After all, they're the ones who are working to defeat the bipartisan school bond initiative just to make an ideological point. Have they even been to any of the Henderson Libraries lately?
I have. And I have seen with my own two eyes how one of them has fallen into disrepair.
And I have experienced firsthand the shortened business hours, ongoing staff cuts, and other effects of recent budget cuts at the Henderson Libraries. If the initiative fails, not only will there be more cuts, but entire libraries will close! Clearly, the "tea party" dittoheads at NPRI are so trapped in their narrow ideological fantasy-land that they can't discuss the dire straits of our local libraries here in the real world.
The Henderson Library District is just asking for $7 per $100,000 in property value per year. That's it. And that's just to maintain what it now has. Seriously, this is what NPRI is attacking.
And this is why no rational human being should take NPRI seriously.
So yet again, we see major twists and turns on the path to meaningful tax reform in The Silver State. But this time, this turn of events may lead to more justice for the 99% and a healthier path forward for the state's economy.
The New York Times on Sunday outlined legal methods used by Cupertino, California-based Apple to avoid paying billions of dollars in federal and state taxes.
One approach highlighted in the report: Even though the company is based in California, Apple has set up a small office in Reno, Nevada, to collect and invest its profits. The corporate tax rate in Nevada is zero. In California, it’s 8.84 percent.
While many major corporations try to reduce their tax bills, technology companies like Apple, Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and others have more options to do so.
And what have we seen as a result of Apple using us as a lame excuse not to pay California corporate income tax opening a Nevada office? Well, there's one fewer vacant office in Washoe County. And we have another cool Reno factoid.
Otherwise, we have nothing. And that's the problem here. Big corporations come here to Nevada to avoid paying taxes, and we have nothing to gain from it.
Yet as Apple hides its corporate profits in Reno, it actually hires people in Cupertino. And there's a reason for that. It's because Silicon Valley is full of top notch schools that are full of inquisitive students, tech companies there always have a rich pool of highly skilled workers to dip into and hire.
Perhaps Silicon Valley tech giants like to hide their corporate profits here in Nevada, but we're not really reaping any rewards from their tax evasion. Rather, we continue to deny ourselves a chance to create our own version of Silicon Valley by denying our state the revenue we need to properly fund public education. While it's nice to know Apple has an office in Northern Nevada, it would be nicer if we had the kinds of well paying high tech jobs that continue to go elsewhere.
Finally, CCSD got some good news late last week. In a recent poll conducted by the First Ladies' education PAC, 55% of Clark County voters favor a capital bond program to repair and renovate aging schools. It's nice to see that Southern Nevada voters now understand the value in restoring our public infrastructure. But still, it's saddening... And really, maddening that we've reached this point.
We've talked about this before at great length. Far too many of Nevada's kids are languishing in overcrowded classrooms while Nevada's teachers are being overworked and underpaid. This has played a key role in scoring our illustrious last in the nation rankings in everything we want, as well as our first in the nation rankings in everything we don't want.
I believe Jim Rogers ultimately has it right. Sandoval's flowery language and promise not to cut schools any more may sound good, but it's not enough. It's not enough to merely stop the cutting. Our schools need healing, and our public education system needs to be revived and restored if we truly want to get Nevada back on track.
Economic development is “a contact sport,” Sandoval said Wednesday during a speech at the Silverton for members of the Keystone Corporation, a conservative anti-tax business group. “If we want to be in the game, we have to have a cutting-edge approach.”
Earlier this year, Sandoval unveiled a new state economic development plan that relies on regional development authorities and “industry specialists” who will work with specific business sectors to increase exports, research and development.
Wow. I wonder what's "cutting-edge" about Sandoval's approach. Could it be? Could it possibly be... Oh, never mind.
Gov. Brian Sandoval today told conservative business group Keystone Corporation that his decision to support a two-year extension of taxes that were scheduled to expire eliminates the need for any new taxes to balance the state budget.
The governor received a standing ovation from the large gathering of business and political leaders at the Silverton in Las Vegas when he said he will block any new business taxes.
Of course, that isn't stopping the G-O-TEA wing of Sandoval's party from screaming "SELLOUT!!!" over his decision to extend the 2009/2011 "sunset tax" deal. And really, that's the point. By basking in the glow of "Bid'ness Establishment" praise while fending off nasty-grams from the likes of Chuck Muth and NPRI, Sandoval looks so "moderate" and "reasonable" by comparison.
But seriously, how "reasonable" is continuing the status quo? Can we really handle any more "moderate" solutions to the serious problems crippling our state's economy?
One must question the timing of Sandoval’s pledge to education, especially during an election year. The governor may simply be posturing when he says, "no more cuts to education.” When push comes to shove, he certainly will follow the Republican party line to destroy public education. Education has little or no blood left. For all practical purposes, public education is dead in Nevada and Sandoval’s promise not to take the last half pint of blood is meaningless.
The governor is delusional if he believes the education community does not know he is anti-public education. Politicians have their own set of rules for truthfulness. That is, there are no rules. A politician will say anything on day one and just the opposite on day two and will actually believe that the day two statement will control and that no one will remember the previous contradictory statement. Sandoval has done everything possible to eliminate Nevada’s public education system. He now seems to believe that with a little play on words the public will forget what he has done.
Nailed it.
No, really. Look at CCSD trustees fighting with teachers over cost-of-living increases and education benefits. Look at WCSD Chief Heath Morrison fleeing to North Carolinataking over Charlotte's schools and leaving Northern Nevada behind. Nevada, we have a problem. And no, "moderate" looking continuation of the status quo won't do anything to solve it.
Seriously, we can't afford any more of the status quo. At least the Nevada AFL-CIO seems to understand that. Maybe it really will take a full throated call to justice for Nevada's 99% to finally get some badly needed change.
Just today, we've seen plenty of scary headlines. CCSD is fighting the local teachers' union over salary step and education increases that the district once promised to teachers.
As the Clark County School District contemplates a new, $5.3 billion capital program, four former Nevada first ladies filed paperwork Tuesday to form a political action committee to support the potential ballot initiative.
With the 1998 bond program comes to a close, the School District is likely to seek public approval for a new capital campaign, which may raise property taxes as much as $74 a year on a $100,000 home. The district estimates it will need to issue $5.3 billion in school construction bonds to repair and modernize its aging school buildings over the next decade. Voter approval is needed for the School District to increase its debt limit.
Former first lady Sandy Miller filed paperwork with the Nevada Secretary of State's Office to form a PAC to help get the vote out for the potential school bond program.
Sandy Miller, Secretary of State Ron Miller's mother, will chair the PAC, according to the PAC filing. Other members of the PAC include former first ladies Bonnie Bryan, Dawn Gibbons and Dema Guinn. [...]
If the new capital bond program were approved, the majority of the money - about $3.4 billion - would go toward renovating and replacing old schools. About $1 billion would go to new technology and equipment for schools. The rest of the bond money would help build new schools in growing regions of the valley, and help the district strive for "educational equity" among its schools.
So now, CCSD and the teachers have to fight over a budget that's been slashed to the bone, and four former Nevada First Ladies are stepping up to rescue a school bond measure that should be a "no-brainer" (except for the fact that it will be paid for by raising property taxes). This is really looking pathetic.
Lynn Warne, president of the Nevada State Education Association [NSEA], welcomes the attention all three tax initiatives are bringing to the state's need for new sources of revenue. In terms of education, Warne says, Nevada classrooms are operating with less funding than was allocated in 2003.
"We've gone backwards in funding for nearly a decade in the state. The initiative efforts demonstrate the frustration on the part of voters and parents that the legislature hasn't done right by our kids and schools, so they are taking it right to the voters."
Proposals are also being floated to raise taxes on mining and gaming in Nevada, but Warne says only the AFL-CIO initiative specifically targets dollars for education. Backers of the business profits tax have until mid-November to gather enough signatures to send the issue to lawmakers, and if they refuse to act, it goes on the ballot in 2014.
And that's really at the center of this. For far too long, Nevada has ignored the trouble in our tax code and the woes in our public schools. Now that we're just emerging out of the greatest recession experienced since "The Greatest Generation" were youngsters, we're really feeling the pain. Brian Sandoval may continue to try to spin it all away by showing us a pretty "sunset", but at the end of the day we must realize we have to prepare for tomorrow. We'll never really be ready for the challenges that lie ahead if we keep denying that they even exist.
Last week, former Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Chancellor Jim Rogers called out the 800 pound gorilla that always seems to be in the room when critical higher ed budgets are decided. Last Wednesday, Rogers pointed out what should be glaring inequities.
When UNLV was growing from 20,856 students to 28,317 students in about a decade (1998-2008), instead of building UNLV's infrastructure at twice the rate as UNR's to make up for some of this inequity, UNR received roughly 800k gross square feet of new state funded space while UNLV received approximately the same. The other new buildings UNLV acquired during that period were paid for with institution-based funding, some generated by student fees. Even when the state came up with funding, UNLV provided much more in matching funds than UNR did. For example, 40% of the cost of the Greenspun building at UNLV was donated by the Greenspun family to the tune of $37 million. UNR committed nothing like this amount in either private or institutional funds.
Honestly, I've never been a fan of privatizing public education, so I'm not advocating forcing UNR to rely on more private funds. However, I have wondered why "the political and educational powers that be" in this state have forced UNLV to do this. Thankfully, Rogers and I no longer look to be alone. The Sun penned this editorial yesterday that really highlighted what's at stake.
The current funding formula was created by the Legislature under the leadership of the late Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, who was masterful at shuttling resources to Northern Nevada. And, as a result, Southern Nevada schools have been short-changed by a formula weighted to the north.
That can’t continue. UNLV has grown significantly, yet the state funding hasn’t kept pace because of the formula. The state has to address the needs of Southern Nevada’s schools, especially considering their vital role in educating the state’s workforce. The bulk of the students in Nevada’s colleges and universities resides in Clark County, so under-funding the schools here is unfair and makes no sense. That’s especially true considering the role higher education can play in the economy.
A study of the Intermountain West has shown that regions with higher education levels have fared better than others during the nation’s economic doldrums. As we have said before, colleges and universities can help drive an economy, but they have to be given the chance.
The funding formula by itself isn’t the answer. Lawmakers should consider the overall funding of higher education. Klaich has made a point of keeping the discussion about the funding formula separate from that discussion. He told the Sun that he didn’t want it to look like he was using the funding formula to try to get more money out of the state. That’s fair, and lawmakers shouldn’t confuse the two. Nor should they think that by fixing the funding formula, the problem will be solved. No matter how perfect the funding formula is, it won’t matter if the Legislature doesn’t fund it sufficiently.
Of course, this isn’t a matter of simply throwing money at the problem. Any spending has to be strategic and directed toward meeting the state’s goals, and there has to be results. However, at the same point, the state’s spending on education simply hasn’t been adequate.
Certainly, the late Bill Raggio left behind a legacy of reaching across the aisle to find reasonable budget solutions and continuing investment in higher education. However we can't ignore the entirety of his legacy, which also included "finding" additional funding for Northern Nevada colleges no matter the situation. During the "good times", UNR was receiving the same amount of construction funding as UNLV despite UNLV desperately needing more capacity for its expanding student population. And during the hard times, Great Basin College hasn't had to experience the kinds of fears (of losing classes, faculty, and so much more) that Nevada State College and the CSN system have had to face.
Again, I do NOT want to see UNR or Great Basin or any other Northern Nevada college cut down to Southern Nevada colleges' present level. All that would do is ruin what's left of higher education for the entire state. UNR has certainly played a valuable role in diversifying the Reno area economy. We need to see more of that, NOT the emerging threat of essentially selling parts of UNR and/or UNLV to the Koch empire so they can turn our schools into their "tea party" ideological training grounds.
Instead, I would love to see UNLV, Nevada State, and the CSN system brought up to the level of funding, and essentially the level of respect, that Northern Nevada colleges now enjoy. Back in January, Dr. Robert Lang from UNLV Brookings Mountain West took to KNPR's "State of Nevada" to explain how Southern Nevada has suffered due to the lack of proper investment in our public infrastructure. While the likes of UNR and Western Nevada College have played a vital role in diversifying Northern Nevada's economy, Southern Nevada has remained captive to the whims of tourists and real estate speculators because we don't have enough classrooms for Clark County students and enough opportunities for Clark County's diverse communities. As we've discussed many times before, our economy will never really be sustainable if we keep unrealistic expectations of surviving on "exotic" stripping, bar tending, and valet parking alone.
So it's long past due for NSHE to finally do something about the longstanding inequities in the higher education funding formula. Again, hardly anyone wants to see Northern Nevada suffer from cruel cuts. However, we need to stop asking Southern Nevada colleges to suffer the worst of budget cuts while being spared the best of growth opportunities. It's time to start properly investing in Southern Nevada's future for a change. We will soon have over two million people here in Clark County, so it's time for our burgeoning metropolis to finally get the respect we deserve.
Northern Nevadans and Southern Nevadans are rushing to buy those "Mega Millions" tickets and catch "Lotto Fever". And we have our next door neighbors to thank for this.
"The amount of money we send to schools is a small drop in the bucket, everyone would admit that," Lopez said. "But during an economic downturn when school districts are looking at what they have to cut, every little bit helps."
Officials are projecting the lottery will provide more than $1 billion for public education in California this fiscal year. For the fiscal year 2010-11, California received $3.4 billion in lottery revenue. The state returned about $1.1 billion of that to K-12 schools, community colleges and University of California and California State University systems.
So we all have a chance to live likethe OC Housewives while schools get plenty of money. What's not to love? And why can't Nevada cash in on California's good fortune?
Yet despite our constitutional ban on state lotteries, many Nevadans are again talking up the possibility of bringing the "Mega Millions" here. Is it time to finally amend the constitution and start selling lottery tickets here in Nevada?
Not so fast. While forty states, including California, sell lottery tickets on the premise that more money will be going to public education, it's not really as simple as that. Earlier this year, there were questions of what's happening with money that the State of Florida has been netting from its lottery.
"That's a question that is frequently asked. A lot of people think [the state lottery] provides more revenues than it does," said Margaret Weston, an expert in K-12 school finance for the Public Policy Institute of California.
The state Lottery and its myriad games got started in 1985 as a way to generate funds for public education without adding another tax. It's one of the only state funds that are doled out equally to everyone. At least 50 percent of tickets sales go back to the public as prizes. Public schools get about 34 percent of revenue from sales.
Each school gets $135 per student, though they pass it out in different ways. The peak of Lottery funding for kindergarten through 12th grade hit during the 2005-06 school year. The average each year hovers between $40 to $45 billion, less than two percent of the state's public school funding. [...]
Students at Millswood Middle School use their daily planners to keep track of homework and assignments. Funds from the California Lottery provided the $4,000 to dole them out at the beginning of the school year.
"We receive a whopping $8,000 from Lottery funds. Half of that is spent on the school planners the students get at the beginning of the school year. The other approximately $4,000 was spent on a teacher computer and projector," wrote Sheree Flemmer, principal.
Now I'm sure it helps to have that extra change in school pockets to pay for things like daily planners and projectors. However, we have to realize that we're only talking about pocket change here. Lotteries are no panacea for public education.
For years, those states have heard complaints that not enough of their lottery revenue is used for education. Now, a New York Times examination of lottery documents, as well as interviews with lottery administrators and analysts, finds that lotteries accounted for less than 1 percent to 5 percent of the total revenue for K-12 education last year in the states that use this money for schools.
In reality, most of the money raised by lotteries is used simply to sustain the games themselves, including marketing, prizes and vendor commissions. And as lotteries compete for a small number of core players and try to persuade occasional customers to play more, nearly every state has increased, or is considering increasing, the size of its prizes — further shrinking the percentage of each dollar going to education and other programs.
In some states, lottery dollars have merely replaced money for education. Also, states eager for more players are introducing games that emphasize instant gratification and more potentially addictive forms of gambling.
And so far, it doesn't look like that's changed for the better. Rather, as state lotteries have pumped even more money into building up "Mega Millions" style jackpots and promoting them with ever flashier TV, radio, and billboard ads, the overhead costs are quickly gobbling up money that was originally promised to fund K-12 schools and college education.
In Orange County, the lottery provided an additional $135 per student for K-12 schools last school year. The county received a total of $88.6 million from lottery revenue last year, or about 1.2 percent of the $4.2 billion local schools spend annually. Local schools are expecting to cut more than $250 million combined from their budgets for next year alone, on top of the more than $1 billion cut since 2008.
"I want the whole $540 million jackpot all for Orange County. That would really solve all our funding problems," county Superintendent William Habermehl said. "The lottery has never really provided as much money to schools as what was sold to the public when it was implemented. If you look at all 6 million students in California, an extra $100 million will only give you a few extra dollars per student."
Yes, that's really all California is getting when Nevadans line up in Primm and Verdi to cross the state line and buy their "Mega Millions" tickets. Perhaps a school in Lodi will get to buy a few more boxes of day planners, and perhaps another school in Costa Mesa will get to buy a computer. That's really it.
So before we again hear another round of complaints on why Nevada doesn't have a state lottery, remember this. At least with our state sanctioned gambling, the casinos have to pay for their own advertising and their own upkeep. But when the state becomes the casino, we flip the bill and we don't always win the jackpot we were looking for.
Sure, the likes of MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren are looking out for their own bottom line. But again, under the current system MGM pays to run its own casinos. And considering that we've already had to learn the hard way that casinos alone won't save our economy or our schools, should we really expect a state lottery to solve our budget problems?
“The number one choice of why we're in Northern Nevada is quality of life,” says co-founder of Noble Studios, Season Lopiccolo.
For the diverse group of tech-savvy professionals at Noble Studios, Reno has something for everyone.
“Some snowboard, some like to dress up and pretend to be someone else, we have musicians, people with their own bands, all different walks of life,” says Lopiccolo.
Downtown Reno is in the midst of an image makeover, shifting from a place known for its bright lights and casinos to a world-renowned high tech hub.
And the supportive and entrepreneurial friendly environment within the biggest little city is making a big difference.
“One of the main reasons why we moved to Northern Nevada is that a handshake means something here,” says Lopiccolo.
I'll do my best to answer.
Is it possible? Sure. Is it probable? Perhaps when we get serious about investing in public infrastructure.
And to their credit, folks at UNR have been doing a great job in partnering with the greater communities around the Reno-Carson metropolitan area to work on economic diversification. This at least partially explains why Northern Nevada's economy hasn't been as devastated by continuing weakness in the gaming & tourism sector as Southern Nevada was when "The Great Recession" first hit.
And again, we in Southern Nevada can't depend on fickle gamblers for our future, either. We also have to face the reality staring us down as Macau continues to grow, online gaming goes live, and new casino projects are being proposed everywhere from South Florida to Baja California (Mexico). While gaming will likely always be in our blood, there's no reason why we shouldn't look beyond physical casinos to start attracting new gaming technology companies, online gaming innovators, as well as infrastructure support and consulting services.
But as long as our schools suck and as long as the rest of our public infrastructure continues to lag, Southern Nevada will continue to suffer our addiction to the extreme highs and extreme lows of "the bubble based economy". I'm sure I sound like a broken record sometimes, but I nonetheless feel the need to continue talking about this until we finally see some real action and real solutions. We really do have the potential to bring more high tech jobs into this state, especially in sectors like gaming and renewable energy where we have natural strength, but we'll never realize that potential if we don't invest in our "human capital".
Reno is already seeing some success in bringing in new high tech jobs. They just need to finish the job in diversifying the economy up there. And Las Vegas still has plenty of catching up to do in that department. And ultimately, both ends of the state need more investment in public education to ultimately be successful.
You know, John Lee didn't just go to Stonewall last night to get grilled on LGBTQ equality matters. He also wanted to speak about something that's very near and dear to him, which happens to be the Legislature that he serves on.
He really seems to be into his job. And he seems to relish his role as "The Lone Ranger" when it comes to ruffling feathers on both sides of the aisle. He's resisted efforts by Republicans to turn control of the Senate back to them (by joining their caucus), but he's also repeatedly caused headaches for Democratic leaders by proposing high-profile bills hated by progressives (as noted above), opposing key bills on their agenda (like SB 283 & AB 211), and making the budget process much more grueling last year by initially joining the bulk of Republican legislators in opposing a tax deal. He definitely has a history of "Going Rogue", and it doesn't sound like he intends to stop that any time soon.
So will he aim higher? There have been rumors of him seeking a leadership post himself next session (since he definitely now has the seniority to qualify), but I doubt that will happen. However as Chair of the Government Affairs Committee, he will probably have plenty of influence on local affairs for quite some time in the near future. In fact, sounded like John Lee relishes his role in determining what happens in Clark County and what Las Vegas, Henderson, and North Las Vegas can expect from the state.
Lee also discussed his work on addressing funding inequities in Nevada higher education. Yes, believe it or not, he went there. He said point blank that UNR, Great Basin College, and the northern community colleges receive more funding per pupil than UNLV, NSC, and the CSNs. We'll have to see how far he goes there. Funny enough, many progressives down south may actually appreciate Lee's work on this issue. But with Debbie Smith likely to join him in Senate chambers next year, will she and other Northern Nevada Senators (from both parties) be willing to reexamine the funding formulae that the late Bill Raggio championed as a way to shield Northern Nevada from devastating budget cuts (that Southern Nevada ultimately had to shoulder)?
Whatever the case, it seems like John Lee is ready to keep going his own way, doing his own thing, and frustrating leaders on both sides of the aisle now that he's running for reelection to SD 1 one more time. I guess it's now part of the fun of working with Nevada's Legislature.
The centrist approach from some Republican leaders comes as the party fights to take control of the state Senate and signals that the GOP believes it has a better shot of accomplishing that by rejecting the more strident anti-tax position that has opened a rift in the party. [...]
Ironically, it also came the same day Grover Norquist, a leading national anti-tax activist, referred to Sandoval as a “poster child for why a written tax pledge is important” because of Sandoval’s decision last year to reverse his position against the sunset taxes.
“Sandoval said he wouldn’t raise taxes but did,” Norquist said.
Two years ago, several Republicans, including Roberson, won Senate seats by digging in against taxes and signing Norquist’s anti-tax pledge. This year, however, the Republican caucus has recruited candidates with a more centrist view on taxes.
“We are vulnerable to being cast as the party who wants to decimate education, isn’t reasonable and doesn’t want to do this or that,” said one Republican lawmaker. “This can take some of the wind out of those sails.”
So Republican leaders in Carson City now realize that their G-O-TEA positioning did nothing to help them last year. All of a sudden, they're now running to the center. After all their crowing about their "tea party" mandate of 2010, Nevada Republicans now seem to be abandoning their formerly beloved teabagger base in a naked ploy to increase their power in Carson City next year.
Crazy, I tell you.
But wait, there's more. Anjeanette Damon noted the other side of this move, which is what we saw yesterday.
Sandoval’s move also appears aimed at heading off both continual calls by Democrats for a tax increase and any potential support for ballot measures seeking a tax increase.
In his statement proposing an extension of the 2009 tax increases, Sandoval was clear that he would not be seeking any another tax increase to fund services when he hands his budget to lawmakers next year. [...]
Extending the temporary tax increases would give Sandoval another $600 million for education and other services.
But Democrats decried Sandoval’s decision to forgo a debate on long-term fixes to the state’s tax structure, which is overly reliant on volatile revenue from the gaming and tourism industries.
“Does it make sense to put everything off for another two years instead of working together to find a long-term solution?” Sen. Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas, said. “There are different ways to look at revenue that could be revenue-neutral but in the long run would provide what we need for education. We just need to look at those issues.”
That's the other goal of Sandoval's shift. He's hoping to stifle discussion of bold, progressive tax reform by making us think everything is hunky-dory and there's no need whatsoever to change our outdated tax code. Hey, why worry about future funding woes when we can all just celebrate the $600 million we can keep in schools next year? Now mind you, Sandoval is only talking about maintaining funding at current levels. And we're supposed to be happy with that?
While it's nice to see that Brian Sandoval and Michael Roberson finally admit that we can't afford to cut school funding any more, they still don't want to admit that the current level of investment isn't good enough to improve PreK-16 public education in this state. After all, is it really healthy for UNLV and UNR to flirt with the Koch clan for their dirty "grant money" (with tons of "tea party" ideological strings attached)? And is it really healthy to keep underfunding K-12 classrooms and force teachers to buy supplies out of their own pockets while classrooms across Clark County continue to overflow (violating the class size reduction law that's supposed to be enforced)?
I get it. Brian Sandoval finally gets to burnish his "moderate" credentials by bucking Grover Norquist & Chuck Muth (somewhat) and taking preliminary action to prevent further deep cuts to Nevada schools. That's good. (No really, it is!) At least there's a good chance that our education crisis won't worsen.
However, that doesn't change the fact that our education crisis exists. And no, "moderating" it isn't good enough. We need to fix it. And we need bold action to do so.
Hopefully, Nevada voters will realize this fall that "moderately" stabilizing the situation isn't good enough. Nevada's budget is still a hot mess, Nevada's schools still need to be restored and healed, and Nevada still needs bold, progressive solutions that lift us out of this hole and up to a stronger and more diversified economy. Perhaps Brian Sandoval sees an opportunity to seize the ground Kenny Guinn stood upon by rejecting the extremist G-O-TEA elements of his own Republican Party. Now, Sandoval just needs to dust off Guinn's ideas for tax reform and allow for an honest conversation on investing in Nevada's future to take center stage.
First off, the lecturer from Boston is a "libertarian" who doesn't seem to like granting liberty to LGBTQ folk. Seriously, how can one be "libertarian" and oppose marriage equality? I know the "tea party" set is making "libertarian" cool again, but last I checked, Rick Santorum is not "libertarian".
OK, so Professor Susan Meld Shell isn't consistent in her "libertarian" beliefs. What's the big deal? Honestly, this is the even bigger deal: This lecture is being bankrolled by the Koch family.
What’s happening to academia in Florida demands national attention. Billionaires Charles and David Koch are infringing on intellectual freedom and independence in colleges and universities. It’s an old fashioned quid pro quo where the Koch brothers get allied professors who’ll preach Ayn Rand, supply side economic policies and the values of the 19th century Guilded Age to students and the college gets some funding.
Every year, thousands of individuals move through the Koch-supported classes, lectures and fields of study, which in their totality amount to an ideological assembly line bought and paid for by the Koch brothers. There are Koch-funded agreements at more than 150 American colleges and universities.
“The Koch brothers have paid tens of millions of dollars to get their point of view instilled in classrooms, amongst faculty members and in students,” said Cary Nelson, President of the American Association of University Professors. “Programs they start tend to be one point of view only.”
The Koch brothers’ business has annual revenue that are about 200 times the size ($100 billion) in one year than the entirety of Florida State University’s endowment ($423 million). At a time when governors like Florida Gov. Rick Scott are slashing spending on education, colleges and universities are virtually forced into restrictive and ideological funding agreements with questionable sources to meet students’ demands. Instead, they’re meeting the Koch brothers needs and the students are paying the intellectual price.
Enter the Charles Koch Charitable Foundation, which has given more than $14.39 million in grants to universities like Florida State, Auburn, Clemson, West Virginia and Utah State. All five campuses are in financial agreements with Koch-supported groups requiring the university to hire candidates who adhere to defined ideological guidelines. In some cases, the Koch-supported groups recommend candidates to the faculty or have sway over the college’s hiring committee.
OK, so now this s**t is starting to look scary... But why should we worry? After all, we're Nevada. Do we even have higher education?
Well, that's actually the point. We DO have higher education... And we need to strengthen it, not sell it to Koch Industries for mere pennies on the dollar. Just last October, alarm bells went off at UNR as it looked like the Kochs were about to set up their own teabagger indoctrination camp "center" in Reno.
Earlier this month, a news release went out from a Center for Public Policy Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. The wording of the release made it appear that the Center already exists: “The Great Recession, fiscal distress, and respective policy responses have rekindled intense debates about the appropriate roles of government and the private sector in fashioning economic outcomes, at both the macro and micro levels. Political rhetoric about the causes and consequences of government intervention has been fierce, yet our academic institutions have been largely mute in these debates due to an absence of a central, recognized forum for policy research and development. To fill this void, a center for Public Policy Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno will be a nexus for rational public policy debate on critical issues facing Nevada, our region and our nation.”
The release also reported that “the Koch Foundation has recognized the commitment we are seeking and has agreed to increase the impact of your support by offering to match the first $1 million (subject to Regents’ approval and satisfactory agreement on final terms).”
This set off alarm bells. There are several Koch Foundations, but this one is the Charles G. Koch Foundation, which has a history.
Charles and David Koch are the sons of Fred Koch, a founder of a gargantuan industrial conglomerate in oil, gas and chemicals. The two sons have provided funding to a wide variety of libertarian and private enterprise political organizations, and David was the Libertarian Party vice presidential candidate in 1980. Among the organizations funded by Koch money are FreedomWorks, the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, Patients United Now (which opposes a single-payer health care system) and the anti-environment group Citizens for the Environment. [...]
The Reno news release named faculty for the Center for Public Policy Studies: Economists Brad Schiller, Mark Pringle, John Dobra, Thomas Cargill and Gerald O’Driscoll. The first four are among Nevada’s top economists (O’Driscoll is with the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C.). All are conservatives.
The news release referred inquiries to UNR College of Business development director Kristen Kennedy, but she knew little about the proposed Center and referred calls to Dean Gregory Mosier.
Mosier said the Center did not yet exist and its creation depended on several things that have yet to unfold. He said the project is in a very early stage: “We don’t have a single piece of paper other than that [news release] … We don’t have a single thing in writing.”
Fortunately, it turned out that the proposal for a "Center for Public Policy Studies" that only seems interested in "studying" radical right policies of privatized everything was just that: a proposal, and a proposal that doesn't seem to be going anywhere at the moment. Thanks to the early outcry and righteous outrage over allowing the Kochs to stomp on academic freedom at UNR, the project to install the Koch's new Northern Nevada outpost seems stalled at the moment. However, don't discount the Koch family's ability to revive the project and tempt UNR with grant money (with plenty of ideological strings attached) some time soon.
But for now, it looks like the Kochs have turned south and turned their focus to UNLV. First, we see UNLV College Republicans chief and local Koch/"tea party" darling Mark Ciavola running for UNLV Student Body President. And now, we're seeing this Koch funded lecture pop onto the schedule. What's going on?
Now before I hear any accusations of "CENSORSHIP!!!", let me say this. I'm not out to censor anyone, not even some "Tea Party, Inc." backed "libertarian" Boston College professor who's not really a "libertarian" and not into recognizing civil rights for queer folk. Sure, she and other Koch allies can have their platform. However, the Kochs have no right to buy their way into power at UNLV and UNR and force their platform to become the only acceptable platform in Nevada higher education. We at Nevada Progressive will be keeping a close eye on both UNLV and UNR to ensure the Kochs and "Tea Party, Inc." don't attempt to shut out free speech and academic integrity and/or shove their radical right "tea party" agenda down any throats at any of Nevada's colleges.
So if you still plan to attend tonight's lecture, go ahead and do it... Then come here and let us know how it went. And if you're concerned about "Tea Party, Inc." injecting its ideology into Nevada higher education, join our friends at MoveOn for a rally outside the lecture tonight to demand that UNLV maintains its commitment to providing a free exchange of ideas and points of view from across the ideological spectrum. Hopefully starting today, we can protect Nevada's institutions of higher learning from "Tea Party, Inc." corruption.
And as we saw last session, everything changed. With Bill Raggio out of the picture and Kenny Guinn an increasingly distant memory, it took an "act of the gods" (really, just The Nevada Supreme Court) just to break the logjam and get a budget passed. As I've been saying for some time now, for all the "tea party" whining about Nevada turning into "Little California", today's crop of Republicans in the Legislature seem to be the ones making our budget process more like California's... Even down to forcing the people to start petitions to enact needed tax reform.
Seriously, this is what has me worried. Yes, Bill Raggio was conservative. Yes, Bill Raggio did use his budget votes as leverage to pass right-wing legislation. And yes, Bill Raggio liked to spend our tax dollars up north when they were really needed in Clark County. However at the end of the day, Bill Raggio was always someone who was interested in making Nevada's government work. And not too long ago, there were other Republicans, like Kenny Guinn, who believed the same and demonstrated the ability to reach across aisles to keep Nevada functioning.
But last session, we were left wondering if a significant chunk of Legislature Republicans even wanted any kind of functioning government. And again, with Raggio gone, we had to wait for that Nevada Supreme Court ruling just to extend the tax deal that Raggio brokered in 2009. And with Raggio gone, what used to be a Nevada tradition of legislators constantly crossing aisles and party lines to get stuff done gave into California style "mortal combat governance".
In many ways, Kenny Guinn represented the best of Nevada's not-so-distant political past. Back then it didn't matter so much if one was a Democrat or a Republican, since everyone was a Nevadan first and foremost. This really shone through with Guinn when he made tough decisions, decisions that a number of conservative Republicans did not like. Guinn pushed for the Millennium Scholarships that enabled many thousands of deserving Nevada students to attend college, regardless of family wealth. He pushed for tax increases, what could have been first steps toward a fairer tax structure, when many in his own party were just saying "no". And yes, he even pushed for better schools and a better social safety net to look after all Nevadans, even the working poor. These days, we don't hear very many Republicans speaking like this.
Sure, Kenny Guinn was not perfect. For gawd's sake, he chaired the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign! And sometimes, I wondered if he couldn't see the coming "Tea Party" storm... Or if he did, and just gave up toward the end. And of course, we can't forget how he was elected in the first place... It was that damned "casino-mining-industrial complex" (you know, the same one that usually prevents our state from enacting the progressive tax reforms we so badly need) that hand-picked Guinn for Governor.
But you know what? No one is perfect. And damn it, even as a Republican, Kenny Guinn was quite the damned good Governor our state needed.
To a large extent, we can say the same thing about Bill Raggio. He worked hard to build up our higher education system. And yes, he was actually a big booster for public infrastructure... Especially if it was in Washoe County. And now that Raggio has left us for good as well, I'm left wondering if Chuck Muth and the "tea party" fan club running today's Nevada Republican Party will allow for the next Guinn or Raggio to rise from their ranks.
Today, KNPR's "State of Nevada" touched the issues that are always on our minds... Even if it sometimes feels like they are never really part of our agenda:
- Are we really investing too little in public education?
- Just how over-dependent are we on tourism?
- What must we do to diversify our economy?
Oh yes, and...
- Considering Clark County pays for over 80% of the State of Nevada's budget and is home to over 70% of the state's population, do we really get our state tax dollars' worth?
How many more times must reality bite us in the ass before we realize our collective Nevadan ass is bleeding so profusely that our underwear is being dyed red?
In case you missed it last week, I want to show you what Desert Beacon wrote last week that explains Nevada's economic conundrum in a nutshell. We've been underfunding higher education for far too long, and this problem only continues to worsen as we continue to force UNLV and UNR to cut investment even more. Yet when we look at our most promising areas for economic growth, they're areas that require an educated workforce. We have plenty of growth potential in high tech (especially when it comes to green technology), as well as in biotech & medical research, but we're cutting the very programs at our institutions of higher learning that could give us a much needed leg up in these sectors.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Tourism alone can no longer save us.
What makes this even worse is that over many years and many legislative sessions, "the powers that be" in this state have mostly looked the other way despite all the growing evidence pointing to these serious problems. "The Great 2000s Real Estate Bubble" was always doomed to burst, but hardly anyone in Carson City wanted to talk about how to get past it until it was too late. Of course, they probably didn't want to talk about it because the bulk of the state's budget was built upon the bubble, and that everything from fire stations in Tonopah to community centers in Eureka to freeway projects in and around Reno depended on tourist dollars from the Las Vegas Strip. And even as the state had been able to fund some public infrastructure in Central and Northern Nevada thanks to "bubble" money from the last decade, Clark County still lacks sufficient higher ed opportunities at UNLV, sufficient health care, and plenty other areas of infrastructure that are critical to a successful community. Strangely enough, money from the primary economic engine of Nevada (Clark County) hasn't been used to properly maintain that engine. And because that engine has been neglected, the entire vehicle (Nevada) is in trouble.
And this brings us back to Dr. Robert Lang's segment on KNPR's "State of Nevada" this morning. The typical "powers that be" in Carson City have failed the entire state, but especially Southern Nevada has been neglected, and that's ultimately been to the detriment of everyone in Nevada. As this election season heats up and we eventually hear candidates talk about what they want to do in Carson City next year, we need to make sure that they follow through on their promises once elected, and that they finally stop avoiding what has to be done to heal our state and let Las Vegas become more self-sufficient.
UC Regent Charlene Zettel said all UC health systems need to look for ways to increase their patient base and optimize resources to stay competitive. She said the UC San Diego purchase accomplishes that.
“Patients coming from Nevada would mean better utilization of the state-of-the-art facility we have at UCSD Moores Cancer Center,” Zettel said. “It also would be a boost for the San Diego economy because patients and families would be staying here. Most importantly, though, patients would get excellent care from some of the best doctors in California.”
Dr. Thomas McAfee, interim chief executive for the UC San Diego Health System, said buying the 142,000-square-foot, four-story building and its medical practice fits into the long-term growth plan. By broadening its circle of patients, the university can expand its research and clinical trials and boost its education programs, he said.
Certainly, this is good news for cancer patients that rely on the Institute for crucial treatment, and there may be some benefits down the road if UCSD is interested in continuing, or possibly even expanding, research and treatment programs here in Nevada. But still, this has to be a major blow to our civic pride. I mean, come on, we couldn't even save our own Cancer Institute? Even if UCSD continues some sort of research and treatment programs here, the primary mission will be to funnel more patients to UCSD's Moores Cancer Center in La Jolla.
We can keep laughing off our failure to invest in our future, or we can finally change it. Why couldn't UNR step in to save the Nevada Cancer Institute? Why do patients in need of procedures like bone marrow transplants have to travel out of state for treatment? When will Nevada be known for more than just big casinos, legal prostitution, and an addiction to the "growth begets growth, and growth pays for growth" idea that's now failing us?
We can't keep expecting casinos and tourism to prop us up. As we've had to learn the hard way, tourists don't spend as much on vacations during times of economic turmoil. You know, two weeks of tech geeks and porn stars do not make a complete and balanced economy. Yes, we obviously still need and appreciate tourism, but we also need to diversify and build the kind of infrastructure that will allow for a healthier economy to flourish here in Nevada.
I guess it's good that the Nevada Cancer Institute will be able to continue as something here in the future, but it's nonetheless saddening that Nevada couldn't even save this crucial piece of its own medical infrastructure.
Nevada scored 21.3 out of 100 on the Opportunity Index, putting the state in last place in the ranking by Opportunity Nation, a campaign from Be the Change, and the American Human Development Project, part of the Social Science Research Council.
The ranking is based on criteria in three general categories: Economy, education and community health and civic life.
Nevada scored 4 out of 10 in the economy category, 1 out of 10 in education and 1 out of 10 in community health and civic life. The national averages for all three categories were between 5.4 and 5.6.
Nevada had the lowest scores in the nation of the percentage of high school students who graduate on time and the number of preschool-aged children enrolled in school. Plus, the report said 11.2 percent of Nevada teenagers are not in school or working.
The Silver State also received the lowest score in the nation on access to health care, with 86.7 primary care providers per 100,000 residents.
And the state had the second highest violent crime score in the nation, with 707 crimes per 100,000 people.
WOW! We continue to FAIL our way to the top of every list we shouldn't want to be on!
Look at this map and where you see the deepest, darkest blue (or opportunity). Look at the top states. Guess what? The likes of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Minnesota invest in their people... And sadly, we don't.
Remember this story from June? If even the teachers can't afford to stay in our schools, can we really expect the kids to learn? And if too many of the kids here don't learn, will we ever develop the kind of workforce we need for a healthy, diverse economy?
There is a reason why education is so valuable. It really can be the key to unlocking a better future. But because Nevada doesn't value public education, we see the most of the best and brightest avoid this state like the plague while our economy remains hopelessly overdependent on casinos and tourism.
There's a reason why people in this state were crying out from January to March all the way to May. And even though Nevada has a budget, it still doesn't really do anything to solve our long-term problems. That's why there's a growing demand to take action next year, regardless of what Sandoval and The Legislature (don't) do in the interim.
Trust me. Daniel Avellino isn't the only teacher Nevada is losing. There are more like him who can no longer survive under the current system. And as long as we keep treating teachers like crap and continue underfunding our schools, public education will continue to circle the drain in the toilet in this state. Something has to be done to fix this. We can't keep waiting while our teachers are being forced to give up their passion and our students are being forced to give up their dreams.
All I want for Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa is a Nevada that realizes we can no longer shortchange ourselves and our future.
At the University of California at Davis this afternoon, police tore down down the tents of students inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, and arrested those who stood in their way. Others peacefully demanded that police release the arrested.
In the video above, you see [UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike] walk down a line of those young people seated quietly on the ground in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience, and spray them all with pepper spray at very close range. He is clearing a path for fellow officers to walk through and arrest more students, but it's as if he's dousing a row of bugs with insecticide.
Wayne Tilcock of the Davis-Enterprise newspaper has a gallery of photographs from the incident[...]. Ten people in this scene were arrested, nine of whom were current UC Davis students. At least one woman is reported to have been taken away in an ambulance with chemical burns.
The Davis Enterprise has even more scenes from yesterday's brutal show of force. So why did this happen?
Look at UC Davis getting shortchanged again. Look at rising tuitions. What used to be "The American Dream" has become a horrid nightmare as college education has become increasingly unaffordable for working class families.
If you were wondering why protesters have been risking it all, even their very lives (as the occupiers at UC Davis did), here's why. The American Banking Association's lobbyists want them to spend $850,000 on opposition research alone! And then, they want to not only smear Occupy's already controversial public image, but also use Occupy to hurt Democratic candidates across the country.
This is the intersection of crony capitalism and political corruption that has more and more Americans up in arms. When they see that the $222.7 BILLION in taxes that big corporations avoided paying could have created over 100,000 jobs in education, they get angry. And when they see that billionaires continue to abuse the tax code to avoid paying taxes, they get angrier. Is there any wonder why people are hitting the streets? It's just sad to see such brutal force being used on protesters.
As we were talking about yesterday, stuff like this can easily discourage people from taking action. However, we simply can't allow apathy to take hold. What do you think creates this?
