Board of Regent Ron Knecht files for Nevada State Controller

Ron Knecht filed Thursday to run for Nevada State Controller as “one plain-speaking nerd” who will bring to the job new energy and wide experience in public service to voters and taxpayers.

“In my public-service and professional career, I’ve proven I’m detail-oriented, assuring voters of excellence in the nuts-and-bolts work of Controller,” Knecht said. “But Nevadans deserve more – someone who already has plowed through the deep gray mass of financial reports to find and highlight the key information voters and taxpayers need. I’ve got an unmatched record there, and I’m running for Controller – the state’s chief fiscal officer and source of information for taxpayers and voters -- because it’s the best place to do that kind of public service I so love.”

Knecht [roughly pronounced “connect”] is currently in his eighth year on the Board of Regents, Nevada’s public higher education governing body. In the Assembly in 2002-04, he was a leader of the “Mean 15” Republicans who defeated a huge proposed gross receipts tax.

“Long ago, I signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge,” Knecht noted, “and I consider it still binding. For 20 years, I’ve been a dependable limited-government constitutional conservative working for taxpayers and the broad public interest.” For three years, he has led the fight against university tuition and fee hikes, noting that they have doubled in real terms while incomes of families paying them have declined.

Knecht has spent half his 43 working years in public service and half in entrepreneurial small business, all in senior professional, supervisory or management positions. He’s been a founder, executive or director of six business firms and various charitable and public-interest groups.

Knecht is serving his second term chairing the regents’ audit committee, where he has led in making audits tools for improving performance of colleges and universities.

He initiated audits of faculty workload and space utilization to assure that taxpayers get their money’s worth and of account balances to improve accountability. Republican Knecht and Democrat Allison Stephens, audit vice-chair, work well together and were publicly thanked by the regents chairman at the last meeting for leading NSHE through difficult times after its largest college failed an audit.

Knecht has twice served as chairman and once as vice-chair of the regents’ budget and finance committee. In that role and others, he has become well-known around the state for insightful tax and spending analyses, usually featuring colorful graphs that debunk common misconceptions. For example, he pointed out that in recent years, real per-person state general fund spending has risen by 30 percent while the incomes of Nevada families and businesses that pay taxes to support that spending have declined.

On the regents investment committee, overseeing more than $900-million of funds, Knecht has led the way toward modern portfolio management focused on earning maximum returns while keeping risk levels low and keeping investment fees low. The regent chairing the most recent committee meeting publicly recognized Knecht’s investment and financial expertise.

As an expert witness in economic, financial, technical and policy matters, Knecht has testified about 150 times in regulatory and court dockets and legislative hearings. As a senior staff witness at the Nevada and California public utilities commissions and an independent expert witness in 20+ other jurisdictions, his testimony has helped save utility ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars. He has co-taught numerous two-day seminars on utility finance, cost of capital, economics and policy for regulators, professionals, managers and securities analysts, and has taught seminars on valuations.

As examples of new things he would do as Controller, Knecht pointed to the proposed margins tax. “If I were Controller now, the web site would carry in-depth economic and fiscal analysis of the damage this proposal would do to Nevada families and businesses and to our state. Also, analyses debunking budget-cut claims made as a pretext for increasing taxes, and much more.” Although the Controller does not levy taxes, one of his jobs is to inform taxpayers how their dollars are being spent and ensure they are always spent efficiently and cost-effectively.
Knecht was re-elected in 2012 by a strong margin to the regent district that includes eight Sierra front and nearby counties (Carson City, Churchill, Douglas, Esmeralda, Lander, Lyon, Mineral and Storey), plus the south end of Washoe County. He has been a member of the Carson City Republican central committee since 2001, served as county chairman, and has been an active member of the state GOP central committee.

Knecht holds a Master of Science degree from Stanford University in Engineering-Economic Systems, a Juris Doctor (law) degree from the University of San Francisco and a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts & Sciences (Math major; Physics/Chemistry minor) from the University of Illinois. For 28 years, he’s been a Registered Professional Mechanical Engineer in California.

Noted for a sense of humor, Knecht has been a columnist for various print and on-line Nevada newspapers. His columns are known for their variety: from deep, rigorous public policy, budget and economic analyses, often including colorful graphs, to pure humor and inspirational stories such as a young doctor saving a still-born baby’s life or remembering great athletes and movies.

Knecht lives in Carson City with his wife Kathy, their 12-year-old daughter Karyn and Kathy’s mother. Ron’s own mother still lives in Belleville IL, where he was born, and his four siblings are scattered from Indiana to Texas. All his life, Ron has been active in a wide range of athletics and outdoor activities, but his skills being very modest, he had to get his high school letters and college numerals as a distance runner. He enjoys various hobbies.