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Speaker Buckley, Majority
Leader Raggio, Lieutenant
Governor Krolicki, members
of the Senate and Assembly,
honorable Justices of the
Supreme Court,
constitutional officers,
distinguished guests, and my
fellow citizens: It is
indeed a pleasure to be
here. As the 29th Governor
of Nevada, I am humbled and
privileged to appear before
you tonight and excited to
share my vision with you for
the future of our great
state of Nevada.
Before I do, I would like to
thank my wife, Dawn, for her
love, insight, guidance and
support. As a former member
of this Assembly, she’s no
stranger to this process,
and as First Lady she has
already shown her
effectiveness, particularly
in raising public awareness
of the dangers of
methamphetamine use. I also
want to extend my heartfelt
gratitude to my entire
family for their many
sacrifices and total
dedication throughout my 18
years of public life. Thank
you.
On this historic occasion, I
would like to recognize a
remarkable Nevadan who has
persevered every day since
arriving in Las Vegas in
1980. Please join me in
saluting Barbara Buckley as
the first female speaker in
Nevada history. She and I
have proven we can
effectively work together,
as we did in suspending the
nurses’ strike in Las Vegas
last month, and I am
confident we can build upon
our past success by mutually
rejecting the
counterproductive tug and
pull of partisan politics.
Please rise as I become the
first Nevada Governor to say
these words: Madame
Speaker, I congratulate
you and look forward to
working with you to create
long-term, meaningful
results for all Nevadans.
I was first elected to the
Nevada Assembly in 1989 and
I am especially delighted to
work again in this chamber.
Tonight I would like to
recognize my colleagues from
that 1989 Assembly, who
continue to devote countless
hours working for the
citizens of Nevada. Mr.
Marvel, Mr. Carpenter, Mr.
Arberry and Senator
McGinness, it’s a pleasure
to work with you again.
I want to also welcome
incoming freshmen
legislators Senator Joyce
Woodhouse and Assembly
members Bob Beers, David
Bobzien, Ty Cobb, Ed
Goedhart, Ruben Kihuen,
James Ohrenschall, Tick
Segerblom, James Settlemeyer,
Lynn Stewart and Rosemary
Womack. Welcome, and I look
forward to working with
you.
Lastly, I want to thank all
of those people who agreed
to serve on my transition
team, especially former
Governors List and Bryan and
Lieutenant Governor Hunt. I
value your input and
support. And, as my friends
in the press have pointed
out, for the handful of you
who are not on my transition
team, I value your input,
too.
As many of you know, I grew
up in the railroad town of
Sparks, Nevada, where I was
raised by hard-working
parents, Matilda and
Leonard. My parents
instilled in me the core
values that have contributed
greatly to my ability to fly
a jet, become a lawyer,
serve in Congress and now be
a governor. They taught me
at an early age about the
power of partnership and the
can-do pioneer attitude that
makes us Nevadans
different.
Nevada has changed so much
since my childhood years in
Sparks. I remember as a kid
we would joke that there is
one person for each of our
110,000 square miles in
Nevada. Today, that ratio
would be 22 times greater.
When I graduated from Sparks
High School in 1962, Washoe
County had a population of
85,000, Clark County had
127,000, and Ormsby County
had about 8,000.
By the year 2010, Clark
County will have nearly two
million residents and
170,000 hotel rooms--nearly
as many rooms as in the
combined cities of New York
and Chicago. In that same
period, Washoe County will
grow to 500,000 residents
and Carson City will have
nearly 65,000.
It’s hard to believe that in
less than 50 years our state
has grown tenfold and Clark
County 15-fold. These
statistics force us to think
differently, to adjust our
mindset and become more
innovative, especially when
it applies to government.
We simply cannot run the
government the same way
we’ve been doing it.
As I said in my inaugural
speech, we now have a unique
opportunity and challenge –
to take the 143 years of
growth and progress that has
created the Nevada of today,
and set a course for the
future. A future that
brings together the diverse
communities and citizens of
this great state into a
common cause – One Nevada.
As a fighter pilot in Viet
Nam and the Gulf War and
former Vice Commander of the
Nevada Air National Guard, I
want to salute the men and
women serving in our
military around the globe.
Nevada has one of the
highest percentages of
National Guard members
serving in foreign lands,
and a large number of them
are engaged in the fight on
terror in Iraq. On behalf
of a profoundly grateful
State, we appreciate
everything they do to
continue to defend our
liberty.
At this time I would ask for
a moment of silence for the
48 fallen Nevadans who,
since 2001, have given their
lives to protect ours.
On March 23, 2003, Nevada
lost Marine Lance Corporal
Donald J. Cline in Iraq, but
his memory continues to live
on through his family who
joins us this evening. We
must always remember those
who have fallen for our
freedom and we express our
gratitude by recognizing
Lance Corporal Cline’s two
sons, Dillon and Dakota, and
his loving wife, Tina.
Thank you for being here. I
also want to thank the
Nevada Patriot Fund for
raising private funds to
support families like the
Clines who have lost loved
ones in war.
Because I have such
confidence in the Guard and
the lessons associated with
military service, I am
including in this budget
$1.7 million to the Nevada
National Guard Youth
Challenge Program, where
troubled youth can be
educated and given the
ability to start over.
My fellow Nevadans, our
economy is robust, our
workforce is teeming, our
job growth is healthy and
the unemployment rate is
low; and for the first time
as Governor, I am proud to
announce that the state of
our state is strong.
Over the past biennium,
Nevada has once again
exceeded the nation in
economic growth. While
Arizona has moved ahead of
Nevada as the fastest
growing state in the U.S.,
we’ve added more than
100,000 residents annually
since 2004. Both personal
income and employment have
continued to grow at rates
far above the national
average.
While our state economy has
greatly diversified over the
past decade, gaming remains
a driving force behind our
revenue base. Several large
new gaming projects are
underway in Clark County and
promise to further
strengthen Nevada’s economic
status. In this 75th year
of legalized gaming in
Nevada, optimism in the
tourism markets remains
high. It is estimated more
than 41 million people will
visit Las Vegas in 2009 – up
from 35 million at the
beginning of the decade.
The total number of jobs in
Nevada grew by 58,000
between November 2005 and
2006 and job gains in Nevada
continue to outpace the
nation as a whole.
In order to sustain this
economic strength, I firmly
believe we need to form a
new kind of government; one
that is leaner, more
responsive, a combine for
new ideas, and most of all,
a government that gives
Nevadans the tools they need
to make the most of their
lives. This is my vision
for Nevada.
I have submitted to you a
seven-billion-dollar budget
that does not include new or
increased taxes, but
squarely focuses attention
on innovation and new
thinking. During the
campaign, I met with
thousands and thousands of
Nevadans, who think as I do,
that we must streamline our
government and make it more
responsive –all while living
within our means. I
respectfully submit to you a
budget that meets those
objectives.
Additionally, this budget is
$158 million below the
spending cap that was first
enacted in 1979, but has not
affected the budget process
until now. For the first
time in our state’s history,
a spending cap will govern
how we build budgets and how
we spend money. This is the
new budget reality in
Nevada, and I believe we
should embrace it.
My budget also includes
one-time appropriations to
support vital areas of
statewide community
interest, including
Opportunity Village in Las
Vegas for $12 million; $10
million for the Nevada
Cancer Institute; $10
million for the Lou Ruvo
Brain Institute in Las
Vegas; $6.5 million for
courthouse improvements in
White Pine County, $3.5
million for the Institute
for Neuro-Immune Disease at
the School of Medicine and
$2 million for the Nevada
Discovery Museum in Reno.
These are critical Nevada
assets, and I urge your
approval.
Exercising fiscal discipline
demands more than a promise
of no new taxes; it requires
having the willpower to save
in good times for those
downturns and unexpected
hardships that will
inevitably come.
We all recall the financial
impacts our state absorbed
after 9/11. To protect
ourselves from man-made or
natural catastrophes in the
future, we must set aside
money to shield our citizens
from harm. My budget
includes an additional $36
million to the rainy day
fund for a total of $303
million. Some will argue
it is not enough or too
much, but nary a person can
say this is not prudent
planning.
The 9/11 Commission made
many recommendations to
promote the security of the
nation. One of its findings
concluded that the nation
and the states are
vulnerable because public
safety responders cannot
communicate as one entity in
a time of crisis. We need
to address our lack of radio
capability among all first
responders. I will work
with the Legislature to find
the necessary funds to
construct the Nevada Four
Core Public Safety Radio
Network. The security of
Nevadans, our tourists, and
our economy demand this
action.
During the campaign I
promised Nevadans I would
save them money. I will
stand by my word. Tonight,
I am proud to announce that
I will be seeking a 4.6
percent decrease in the
modified business tax, from
.65 to .62 percent,
resulting in $28 million in
tax relief for 55,748 Nevada
businesses. In addition, I
am proposing to eliminate
the $1,750 per branch excise
tax for banks.
Key among the Nevada
workforce are dedicated
public employees, including
state employees, university
employees and teachers. We
must continue to invest in
this important group of
workers, and I am proposing
a six percent increase in
pay for these hardworking
individuals. I propose a
two percent increase in the
first year and a four
percent increase in the
second year, which will free
up an additional $31 million
in funds, which I will
reallocate to cover future
pension and health care
costs for retired public
employees.
If we don’t address the
multi-billion-dollar health
care liability today, we
will be sticking our heads
in the sand and pretending
this serious issue doesn’t
exist. As Nevada government
leaders, we cannot afford to
pretend.
Hand in hand with paying
down the four-billion-dollar
health care liability, I
will be urging you to pass
legislation to reconstitute
the nine-member public
employees benefit plan board
in order to establish a new
panel of experts and
professionals who have the
appropriate skill set to
lead our state through what
is a looming financial
storm. Send me this
legislation and I will sign
it immediately.
Nevada has one of the
highest rates of
methamphetamine addiction in
the country and the highest
rate for people 12 years old
and older…and everyone--I
repeat, everyone--is at
risk. The addiction has had
a devastating impact on
Nevada families, schools,
the criminal justice system
and the economy. However,
with the right balance of
awareness, treatment and
prevention, this seemingly
untamed demon drug can be
overcome. Please join me in
applauding Kendra Furlong,
who appeared in the recent
TV documentary Crystal
Darkness, for her
courage and honesty in
talking publicly about meth
addiction. Kendra, you and
others like you who are
conquering the addiction,
are an inspiration to us
all.
Earlier today, by executive
order, I established a meth
working group to be chaired
by Attorney General
Catherine Cortez-Masto and
to consist of law
enforcement, state agencies,
legislators, the First Lady
and others who are on the
front lines fighting this
epidemic. I have asked the
working group to make
recommendations to the
Legislature on or before
April 1 so that the
Legislature can swiftly
authorize the appropriate
action and funding to strike
a decisive blow against the
traffickers of meth, while
also helping those hooked on
meth to break free.
Ladies and gentlemen, this
is the colossal struggle of
our times, and it will
require uncommon
collaboration, compassion
and coordination.
Additionally, I have placed
in this budget 10 new public
safety officers to fight the
rise of meth use and
distribution in our
communities, particularly in
our rural communities, where
the problems appear to be
most acute. I have also
included $2 million for the
Department of Health and
Human Services for meth
education and treatment for
a grand total of $17 million
in this budget directed
toward fighting the scourge
of methamphetamine.
A top priority of my
Administration will be to
develop more affordable
housing in Nevada. How
often do we hear that
workforce housing is not
available for new hires or
that a teacher or nurse
can’t find an affordable
home so they decide not to
relocate? It is, in my
opinion, far too frequent,
and we must do something
about it. I am directing
that we establish a program
to support the housing needs
of teachers, nurses and
other first-time homebuyers
through the sale of
tax-exempt bonds. It will
be modeled after the
California Housing Finance
Agency and be
self-supporting by selling
bonds repaid by revenues
generated through mortgage
loans, not by tax dollars.
Let’s start a similar
program so we can help all
Nevadans achieve the
American dream of home
ownership.
I am also proposing a major
improvement to the Homestead
Act by raising the amount of
protection for property from
$350,000 to $550,000.
Nevada's escalating home
prices require such a
change. In our larger
counties, I am proposing to
do away with the fee for
filing a homestead exemption
for your primary property,
and instead, allowing
homesteading for second
residences or vacation homes
with a voluntary fee of 1/10
of 1 percent. This will
stimulate real estate
investment in Nevada and
potentially create new
revenue to be shared between
the counties who collect it
and the state.
No natural resource in the
State of Nevada is as
critical or as controversial
as water. We have the
driest state in the nation
and one of the highest rates
of growth – a combination
that places tremendous
stress on our precious water
resources.
I will be asking the Desert
Research Institute to
conduct a water inventory
for Nevada. Two key
collaborators, the State
Engineer’s office and the
Desert Research Institute,
will identify priority needs
and collect information to
reduce potential future
conflicts. The initial
two-year phase of this
program will be funded with
an appropriation of two
million dollars. One clear
way to enhance the current
process is to ensure that
the best scientific
information is available for
making decisions. There is
no question that water data
requires updating and
expansion to ensure our
economy grows and the
quality of life is
maintained in our rural
counties.
This much needed updating is
essential for future
planning purposes, but must
not be allowed to interfere
with pending decision making
in the State Engineer’s
Office.
And, as the demand for water
continues to increase, water
conservation measures become
critical in managing and
extending our water
resources. Conservation
programs do not require the
public to necessarily give
up certain water uses;
rather they encourage the
public to engage in those
uses more efficiently. We
must become more water
aware, and I urge all
Nevadans to participate in
using this resource more
wisely.
I call upon the Legislature
to pass a bill to prohibit
the government from taking
private property without the
consent of the owner, and
then conveying it to another
private person or entity for
redevelopment purposes.
I also respectfully request
that the Legislature pass a
constitutional amendment as
an alternative to Question 2
on last year's ballot. This
amendment should contain
most of the provisions of
Question 2 to protect
property owners, but should
modify some of the language
which could cause
significant delays and cost
increases for our state and
local transportation
projects. Through the
legislative hearing process,
we should be able to find
the proper way to balance
the rights of property
owners, taxpayers and
motorists.
The Guinn Millennium
Scholarship is one of the
most important tools we have
to enable the best and the
brightest Nevada students to
remain in Nevada for their
higher education. The
reality is that if we did
nothing to save the program,
it would be insolvent by
2013. I am directing an
additional $5.6 million from
unclaimed property receipts
to shore up the scholarship
fund and secure it for
Nevada students far into the
future. Part and parcel to
stabilizing the Millennium
Scholarship is
acknowledgement that it must
be streamlined in terms of
eligibility standards, with
greater emphasis placed on
nursing, math, science and
teaching degrees. I urge
you to strengthen
scholarship guidelines so
Millennium Scholarships are
available for our children’s
children.
We have opened the doors to
higher education through
Millennium Scholarships, so
we must be equally dedicated
to raising standards,
expectations and
accountability in
kindergarten through the
12th grade.
Although full-day
kindergarten has been
labeled a top priority by
the state’s superintendents
and others, I respect their
opinion, but I believe the
fiscally responsible
approach is to continue to
support the existing pilot
program at current funding
levels in at-risk schools
and, therefore, I have
committed $50 million to do
so. I strongly support
maintaining this pilot
program and look forward to
utilizing the next 24 months
to assess its benefits, to
measure how effective the
program is, and to gauge the
infrastructure demands of
introducing full-day
kindergarten throughout the
state. If the results are
positive, we will pursue it
next session. If they are
not, we will have exercised
good fiscal policy.
Today the institution of
public education needs bold
and decisive leadership to
better respond to the
challenges that confront
us. Our current standings
in education on a national
and worldwide front are
simply unacceptable.
I propose an innovative yet
proven education plan known
as Empowerment which will
directly address the
majority of the
long-standing challenges in
public education today:
falling graduation rates,
parental participation,
teacher recruitment, funding
inequities and lack of
resources in the classroom.
Parents will be empowered
with school choice for their
children, while principals
and teachers will be able to
decide at the individual
school level how best and
most effectively to teach
their own unique population
of students. Through this
powerful program, we will
empower our educators to be
more responsive to their
schools’ individual
circumstances and the
diversity of their student
populations. And, teachers
will be equitably paid for a
job well done, based on
tangible measures, and
rewarded for results in
student achievement.
Sitting with us tonight is
the architect and father of
the Edmonton Empowerment
Program, Michael Strembitsky,
who, for the better part of
his adult life, has worked
to change the education
system parent by parent,
teacher by teacher and
student by student. We are
so honored to have him here
with us tonight. As Mr.
Strembitsky can attest, in
addition to raising
achievement, the education
empowerment model is
fundamentally designed to
increase both teacher pay
and the prestige of becoming
a teacher.
I will, therefore, be
redirecting $60 million in
the budget for an extensive
Empowerment pilot program
initially involving 100
schools that will be
converting their operations
to this bold new
approach--an approach
started in Canada 30 years
ago and successfully working
in New York City, Houston
and San Francisco, where
after five years, the San
Francisco school district
has shown steady growth and
is now the top performing
urban district in
California.
Join me in changing our
education system with a
single bold stroke.
Two weeks ago, an incident
in Las Vegas served us with
yet another stark reminder
of the constant danger gun
violence presents on or near
our school campuses. I will
work with the Legislature to
increase funding for school
security throughout the
state. If children don’t
feel safe at school, we
cannot expect them to feel
secure enough to learn.
Our higher education system
has eight institutions – two
universities, one state
college, four community
colleges and one research
institute. One has a
medical school, one a dental
school, seven have nursing
colleges, and there are at
least 200 programs spread
throughout all eight
institutions that are
directly related to health
sciences. Not only have
these programs never been
coordinated under one
administrative structure,
they have competed against
each other to the detriment
of the entire System.
We need to centralize these
health science programs
under one coherent
management plan, and to do
it, I am providing $110
million for the University
of Nevada Health Sciences
System, while another $47
million in matching funds
will be raised through
private donors across the
state. This model of
public-private partnership
will set a valuable
precedent for the future of
higher education for Nevada.
There are too many Nevada
highways becoming
gridlocked, and
transportation issues are
increasingly central to the
quality of life we enjoy. A
well-functioning highway
system is vital to Nevada’s
economy and will be a major
factor in how we move
forward in the
future.
My administration will
aggressively pursue
opportunities created
through public-private
cooperative efforts. To
facilitate this, I have
directed the Department of
Transportation to create an
Advisory Panel on
Public-Private Initiatives
to explore new opportunities
for transportation
improvements. Moreover, I
have asked NDOT Director
Susan Martinovich to make
southern Nevada needs a
priority for her department,
including spending a
considerable amount of her
own time in Las Vegas, and
she has agreed with great
enthusiasm.
I am committing $170 million
for highway projects that
will be dedicated to help
widen I-15 from the
Spaghetti Bowl to the Apex
Interchange, build new ramps
at the I-15/215 Beltway
interchange and an I-15
Freeway Management System,
including message signs and
closed-circuit television
cameras. And in northern
Nevada, we will be working
toward widening I-80 from
Robb to Vista and US 395
from the Spaghetti Bowl to
Stead Boulevard.
An effort to fast-track
proposed transportation
projects must become the
rule instead of the
exception because
bureaucratic delays
dramatically increase the
cost of each project, create
job losses, and ultimately,
we all suffer.
The Blue Ribbon Task Force
evaluated Nevada’s growing
transportation crisis and
concluded that projects
planned for 2008-2015
require at least an
additional $3.8 billion in
revenue. The Task Force’s
“Roads to the Future” report
was particularly useful and
we will rely on it as a
guideline going forward.
I wish to restate, however,
that I will not support
raising the gas tax.
No budget discussion is
complete without working
through the thicket of
Medicaid and healthcare
issues. Nevada’s Medicaid
program provides essential
health care services to
low-income families as well
as the frail, elderly and
disabled. However, this
entitlement program is
increasingly consuming a
larger share of the state
budget. It is essential we
reform Medicaid to assure it
continues to provide health
care services to so many in
our community.
Many Nevadans in our
Medicaid program find it
increasingly difficult to
access physician services
they need. Fewer physicians
are taking new Medicaid
patients. Declining access
is directly tied to how much
Medicaid pays its
physicians. On the national
level, Congress recognized
that reductions to Medicare
physician fees would result
in fewer doctors seeing
patients.
Therefore, I am proposing to
increase Nevada Medicaid
physician payments up to the
most recent federal Medicare
fee schedule while also
holding physicians
responsible for the care
they provide. At the same
time, we need to encourage
quality healthcare
professionals and private
healthcare providers to move
to and stay in Nevada.
My budget proposes that
individuals have access to a
professional health care
coordinator that would help
them sort out our confusing
health care system.
Coordinating health care
services in Medicaid is a
key part of controlling
Medicaid spending. However,
we also need to explore
alternatives for better
managing what consumes
almost 70 percent of the
Medicaid budget. I propose
we give Nevadans on Medicaid
a choice in how they access
their health care.
Clark County emergency rooms
continue to have large
numbers of mental health
patients occupying beds in
spite of significant service
improvements, including the
opening of the new Rawson
Neal Psychiatric Hospital
and the use of a state
mobile crisis Assessment
team to service local
hospitals.
I am providing $7.5 million
to assist in alleviating the
ER crisis by opening an
additional 22 acute care
beds, bringing the total
state funded beds in Clark
County to 238.
My budget also provides for
the continued funding of
$2.8 million for triage
centers in northern and
southern Nevada. Triage
centers reduce overcrowding
and provide more efficient
use of public and private
resources.
My budget also provides six
million dollars for funding
of the mental health courts
in Las Vegas, Reno, and
Carson City. These programs
have contributed to reduced
criminal activity and
hospitalization of the
severely mentally ill.
I am also providing ongoing
funding for the 90 community
residential beds in Las
Vegas that were temporarily
funded by the 2005
Legislature. The
availability of these
community beds allows for
reduced inpatient stays in
psychiatric hospitals, saves
tax dollars, and reduces
overcrowding of local
emergency rooms.
Nevada continues to stand
out as having the fastest
growing senior population in
the nation. I want to
enhance the availability of
community based services to
allow seniors to live in
their homes and communities,
rather than in nursing
homes. I propose to
increase the three Medicaid
waivers serving Nevadans age
60 plus by 15 percent to
allow seniors more options
for community living.
I agree with U.S. Health and
Human Services Secretary
Mike Leavitt, who said,
“Every American should have
access to a full range of
information about the
quality and cost of their
health care options.” I
believe everyone deserves to
know both the quality and
cost of his or her health
care. Our communities,
health care leaders and
partners can join together
to define and establish
benchmarks for measuring
quality care, understanding
healthcare price, and the
cost for care.
The 2005 Legislature passed
Senate Bill 357 to fund
treatment and prevention
programs for problem
gambling. Treatment
programs previously
available only in Las Vegas
or Reno are now available in
Elko, Ely, Fallon,
Hawthorne, Lovelock, Pioche,
and Stateline.
My budget includes funding
to continue state-supported
initiatives with full-time
administrative staff to move
Nevada from the back seat to
the driver’s seat in
responsible gambling.
Two strategic areas that
will receive special
attention in my
administration will be the
needs for greater economic
development and energy
independence.
I have included in the
executive budget $10 million
in unclaimed property
receipts to create a dynamic
new economic development
program, modeled after the
hugely successful program in
Georgia. Working with
Lieutenant Governor Brian
Krolicki, we will launch
this new program to work
with the best of Nevada’s
research facilities in
creating new
high-tech/biotech and
renewable energy types of
industries. Funds will be
used to hire world-class
researchers who will bring
their work to Nevada. This
will provide high-end jobs
for Nevadans and is ideally
suited for the current
38,000 millennium scholars
graduating in the coming
years.
Rural Nevada businesses are
often the engines for
economic development and
tourism in their rural
communities, and my
administration is examining
creative ways to provide
economic stimulus in rural
Nevada. We need to look for
more ways to increase energy
independence because Nevada
offers one of the best
opportunities for the
development of renewable
energy. I applaud the
action the Legislature took
last session to ramp up the
incentives for greater
production of solar, wind,
biomass and geothermal
energy, but we also must
increase the diversity and
supply of all fuels and not
allow ourselves to become
too reliant on one fuel
source.
After visiting with Wyoming
Governor Freudenthal and
seeing what his state is
doing, I will encourage the
creation of a
coal-to-liquids fuels plant
in Nevada, similar to the
successful plant in
Wyoming. It would use
existing rail to transport
coal to the plant and
convert that coal to diesel
and jet fuel for use at
airports. It could also
create natural gas to be
injected into a natural gas
pipeline for domestic use.
I will recommend continuing
to provide incentives to the
utilities to improve the
environment, reduce
greenhouse gases, stimulate
job growth, hedge against
fossil fuel volatility and
help guarantee
availability. Additionally,
through executive order, I
will direct State Purchasing
to do more performance-based
contracting on all state
buildings for energy and
water conservation
retrofits. These efforts
will be financed through the
savings generated by
conservation and require no
additional state funds. And
to accomplish these energy
goals, we will need a
stronger state energy
office.
This year marks the tenth
anniversary of the first
Lake Tahoe Summit, where our
delegation, along with
California, recognized the
national treasure of Lake
Tahoe and collectively made
a $908 million commitment to
protecting and enhancing
this wonder of the Sierra.
I am pleased to report that
Nevada has made good on that
promise. To date, we have
committed $72 million to
environmental improvement
projects in the Tahoe Basin,
and the Lake is cleaner and
clearer as a result. I
support the final
installment for the Lake
Tahoe Environmental
Improvement Program and,
this summer, at the annual
summit, we will reaffirm
Nevada’s commitment to the
protection of Lake
Tahoe.
I will also be working with
our delegation and the BLM
toward preserving wildlife
habitat after wildfires
blackened more than 1.3
million acres across Nevada
last year, primarily in Elko
County, where most of the
habitat damage occurred.
The last two years have seen
significant tactical
victories in our long and
tough battle to keep Nevada
from becoming the nation's
nuclear waste dump. That
effort, with the leadership
of our delegation, must
continue, which is why I
have doubled Nevada's legal
effort. As Senator Reid has
said, now is not the time to
claim victory, but rather to
finish the job and end this
unwise, unscientific and
politically punitive
program.
The voting public is
concerned that there is not
enough transparency in
Nevada’s election process.
These concerns often
frustrate voters to a point
where they choose not to
participate in the political
process altogether.
I intend to work with the
Legislature and Secretary of
State Ross Miller to develop
an on-line system in which
contributions are reported
more frequently. Current
state law only requires
disclosure of contributions
in excess of $100 three
times annually.
That is not good enough. I
will ask the Legislature to
require that state
candidates show their full
Contributions and Expenses
Report before early
voting begins. Voters have a
right to know who is
financing campaigns before
they cast a ballot.
During last year’s campaign,
I met with many concerned
Nevadans regarding
legislation protecting our
families from sex
offenders. I will ask the
Legislature to require
out-of-state sex offenders
to submit DNA samples,
require registration prior
to release from prison and
30-day re-registration for
transient offenders, and
expansion of the global
positioning system program
that forces pedophiles and
sex offenders to wear
bracelets so that they do
not go undetected in our
communities. As it should
be, offenders would pick up
the cost of the GPS bracelet
as a condition of parole. I
ask for your support in
aggressively tracking these
sexual predators that live
among us.
The surplus revenue that we
have today came about
because Nevada remains one
of the best places in the
world to relocate or grow a
business. I believe it is
my job to foster a business
climate that encourages
investment in our state and
to have government help when
necessary and get out of the
way where possible.
Changing the way we view and
fund education, creating
fresh alternatives for
affordable housing,
broadening the Homestead
Act, cracking down on sex
offenders, strengthening the
importance of public-private
partnerships in government
planning, reforming
Medicaid, prioritizing
transportation funding and
doing it all without raising
taxes…some have reported it
as radical; I consider it
responsible.
There is much to do – and
tomorrow the budget
committees begin their
work. It will require a
valiant effort by each of
us, and a willingness to
believe in our capacity to
perform great deeds; to
believe that together, as
one Nevada, we can do
anything.
We will not always agree,
but I give you my solemn
word that when we do
disagree, it will be with
honor, respect and
civility. Nevadans deserve
no less.
In closing, I can assure you
that I have not forgotten my
early life lessons about the
power of partnership and the
importance of the pioneer
can-do attitude that makes
us Nevadans different.
I am proud to be your
Governor. God bless
America. And God bless the
Great State of Nevada.
Thank you. |
