Republican Governor Joe Lombardo’s office presented lawmakers with a structurally balanced budget recommendation during a late-night hearing in Carson City on Wednesday. It comes roughly three weeks after the governor submitted a proposal that included $335 million in deficit spending.
According to the governor’s Finance Office, the deficit was largely eliminated by deleting duplication errors, as well as changing how some programs were funded and how the state accounts for year-end savings.
While not official, the governor’s budget recommendation is a starting point for negotiations between lawmakers and Lombardo’s office on how to fund the state government for the next two years.
While expenditures are now in line with revenues, Democrats still have concerns. The governor proposes to use one-time funding to pay for what are seen as legislative priorities – such as expanding pre-k education.
Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager says he’s worried the approach could lead to budget and programming cuts in future years.
“I sure hope whoever's in these seats after us, I hope they have all kinds of revenue and that they can do this, but without a commitment that there will be, there'll be an effort to raise revenue in the future if needed, I don't want to have to pull the rug out from under folks.”
Governor Lombardo’s Chief of Staff, Ryan Cherry, defended the one-time funding methods. Cherry says they were used in the last budget cycle, and the governor is committed to working with lawmakers to pass a budget.
When pressed on how changes to federal funding could affect the state budget, Cherry said details are still unclear. However, some agencies — including Medicaid — have been told to prepare for cuts.
