Have you ever pick up a pair of pants you hadn't worn for months, and find a $20 bill in one of the pockets?
Or have you ever been informed that you still have a 401K from a job you left 10 years ago?
Those serendipitous financial windfalls don't happen often, and they certainly don't happen to state governments.
Which is why it was so surprising that the Nevada Legislature learned on May 1 that they had $140 million more in their budget than it was told they had back in December.
Is there a pair of pants the governor just left hanging in his closet somewhere? Was there an investment we didn't know about? Or is the economy just getting better?
It's the economy, according to State Senator Joyce Woodhouse.
She said the money is coming from an increase in tax revenue for the state.
The question now is where will the extra money go? Woodhouse said there are lots of requests and recommendations.
"That amount of money will not cover everything that is sitting in these 140 -150 bills that I have on my desk," she said, or the bills on the desks of other lawmakers.
However, one of the recommendations being made now for the money is to give $10 million to improve mental health services around the state. She did say that final numbers and final decisions won't really be complete until the last few days before the June 5 legislative deadline.
State Sen. Joyce Woodhouse D-Dist. 5, head of the Senate Finance Committee.
