government employees

Finally! That’s the word now heard on almost every newscast as we wrap up this tumultuous year. It’s the thought that precedes every thought when speaking of 2020.

This is the fifth in a series of columns summarizing my Controller’s Annual Report (CAR) for fiscal year 2018 (FY18).

The first two columns showed that since FY06 state spending has grown faster than Nevada’s economy, thus imposing an ever-larger real burden on Nevada families and businesses, whose real per-capita incomes are lower now than in FY06. The other two analyses reviewed spending on health and social services and on K-12 education, the two largest budget items by far and the only major areas on which spending has grown faster than Nevada’s economy.

Reno-Tahoe International is accepting donations of gift cards and cash from the public to help government employees who are not being paid during the federal government shut down. A major donor has kicked off the program with an impressive donation.

We have just issued the Controller’s Annual Report (CAR) for fiscal year 2017 (FY17). Here we provide an overview of it. Future columns will discuss individual sections.

The CAR provides Nevada citizens, officials and others a summary of key facts, data, analysis and issues about the state’s fiscal condition and challenges. The Controller has a statutory charge to recommend plans for: support of public credit; promoting frugality and economy; better management of the state’s fiscal affairs; and better understanding of them.

Just five days before Christmas, the state of Nevada has ensured something under the tree for hundreds of local children in the Carson City area this year.

Every two years, the Cato Institute in Washington, DC ranks the recent changes in state fiscal policies to give readers an understanding of the trends prevailing in each state. Last week, Cato released its newest Fiscal Report Card, and Nevada fares poorly.

Of the 50 states plus Washington, DC, Nevada ranks 47th due to its unfavorable shifts in tax rates and spending in the last legislative session.
Study author Chris Edwards notes that large unfunded liabilities for public-employee pensions and ballooning Medicaid costs are putting upward pressure on state budgets.

All workers have the constitutional freedom of association and may form labor unions if they so choose. Under the same constitutional right, employees should be free not to join the union. And employers, public or private, should have the right to bargain with a union or not.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the “Hack Tahoe” Code for America Brigade are partnering to enhance the effectiveness of government through the use of technology.

This new partnership brings community members together through Code for America, a non-profit organization on a mission to make government services simple, effective, and easy to use. Code for America has launched more than 2,300 projects with 100 government partners. Local Code for America chapters are called brigades and are organized by local volunteers.

The Assembly Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday heard a bill that would allow government employees to quit their union membership whenever they wish....

Last week, Assistant Controller Geoffrey Lawrence and I presented to the Legislature the state budget we developed with some Assembly members, professionals and business people as an alternative to the Governor’s proposal.

Las Vegas left-wing pundit Steve Sebelius trashed it and us. No surprise because he’s an aggressive tax-spend-regulate statist PC liberal, while our proposals are the antidote to such maladies. What was surprising is the ignorance, laziness, carelessness and possible malice and dishonesty in his attacks. They demonstrate the sorry state of much journalism today.

In what unions are slamming as an Armageddon for workers, legislative Republicans today vetted a bill that would weaken collective bargaining for police, firefighters, teachers and other local government employees. A panel of state lawmakers ......

Paying Clark County government employees for time spent doing union business cost taxpayers $346,000 in 2013....

Nevada's state and local government employees are retiring at a much later age than just a decade ago, a trend that will have ramifications for the financial health of the $33.5 billion public pension plan.

Leadership at the state's highest court will change Jan. 5 when Chief Justice Michael A. Cherry ends his term and Justice Kristina Pickering begins the administrative role of Chief Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court.

Pickering will represent Nevada’s courts at the 2013 Nevada Legislature and will give the State of the Judiciary address to lawmakers early in the session. She will serve as Chief Justice until January 2014.

Now here is a story that SHOULD make your blood boil, especially because for some reason the story “hit” on Christmas Eve.

Pension Politics: California system plays hard ball in court – Opinion – ReviewJournal.com
http://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/pension-politics-california-system-...

As a matter of law, the Nevada state constitution requires a balanced budget. As a matter of economic law and history, raising taxes will never balance a budget. It never has and never will. If a budget cannot be balanced without tax increases, it will never be balanced afterwards. The reason is simple, raising taxes decreases tax revenues and strangles growth. Many Nevada taxpayers believe that our legislators seek to redistribute our tax dollars to buy votes or political power rather than serve the public good.

This is in reference to the Letter: Think before you vote, Carson City Nevada News - Carson Now.

This information is in response to several recent letters to the editor that have proposed the consolidation of libraries in Carson City. Our goal is to provide our community a better understanding of the types of libraries in Carson City. It is true there are libraries who serve the public in Carson City, but Carson City Library is the only “public library.” The other libraries are not “public libraries” and here is how they differ:

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Division of Insurance (NVDOI) is seeking public input on what should be included in Nevada’s essential health benefits plan under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Division of Insurance is seeking public input on the selection of Nevada’s essential health benefits plan.
The essential health benefits plan for Nevada will be the benchmark set of health care services that will be required in all individual and small group health insurance plans starting in 2014.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s Public Employees’ Retirement System earned an estimated 2.9 percent return on its investments in the fiscal year ending June 30, and is now valued at $25.8 billion, an official with the plan said today.

The 2012 return is below the 8 percent anticipated annual return for the system’s investments over the long term.

CARSON CITY – Board of Regents candidate Ron Knecht confirmed today he was let go from his state job with the Public Utilities Commission in March, saying no cause was given despite his request for an explanation.

“I can’t tell you a lot,” he said. “I’m no longer working there.”

CARSON CITY – A little-known benefit of Nevada’s public employee pension plan is the right to purchase up to five years of service towards retirement.

Referred to by some as “air time,” or the ability to add years of retirement without actually putting in the time in a public sector job, the benefit can allow state and local government workers to retire early, collecting annual pensions years before they would be eligible otherwise.

CARSON CITY – The state of Nevada’s tough financial situation is holding up two separate interim studies approved by the Legislature because of the requirement for alternative funding sources to assist in conducting the reviews.

CARSON CITY – A Nevada think tank investigation shows that Clark County taxpayers are contributing $4.6 million a year to fund union activities by local government workers.

by Guy Rocha, former Nevada State Archivist
Why all the fuss about Nevada's birthday on October 31? The battle lines were drawn between "traditionalists", and the "grinches" who would steal Nevada Day by calling for the last Friday of October to be the state's official holiday. The parade and other festivities would follow on Saturday; thus making for a three-day weekend for some Nevadans as well as state and local government employees. With the passage of AB396 by the 1997 legislature, Nevada voters, on November 3, 1998 advised the 1999 legislature they wanted to celebrate Nevada Day on the last Friday in October beginning in 2000. The legislature, after much heated debate, complied.

When he visits Las Vegas on Oct. 24, President Barack Obama will continue his nationwide tour urging Congress to pass the Americans Jobs Act, his $450 billion plan to create jobs and stimulate the economy.
“Pass this jobs bill, and there will be funding to save the jobs of up to 13,000 North Carolina teachers, cops, and firefighters,” Obama said earlier this month to thousands of supporters at North Carolina State University.

CARSON CITY – Scott Beaulier is no fan of states borrowing money, but in his new working paper on transitioning public pensions to 401(k) style plans to reduce taxpayer liabilities to pay retirement benefits, the Troy University professor says it is an option worth considering.

CARSON CITY – Anyone with an interest in what Nevada’s state and local government employees make in salary and benefits can review the 2010 data that has been posted today by a  Nevada think tank.

(You can view all Carson City salaries here)

Carson City Chamber of Commerce presents "State of the City" featuring Mayor Robert Crowell, Supervisor & Redevelopment Chair Shelly Aldean, Sheriff Kenny Furlong and School Board President Joanna Wilson on Wednesday, June 29 at the Gold Dust West.

If you live or work in Carson City, this will be an important luncheon meeting for you to assess how we will fare during this next fiscal year.

You will learn how Carson City has managed to maintain its equilibrium during these economic times. You will learn what challenges the legislature has posed on the taxpayer, if any.