State savings proposals outlined

Nevada's state coffers could see as much as $500 million in savings and additional revenue over five years under steps recommended by a commission tasked with finding ways to make government more efficient.

The recommendations, the first to come from the Spending and Government Efficiency Commission, were made Thursday at a meeting of the panel in Las Vegas and now go to Gov. Jim Gibbons.

In some cases, the SAGE commission simply called for studying the possibility of savings, and steps could be months or years away. And some of the recommendations are bound to be controversial because they touch on social and health services.

"This is sort of a seminal meeting," said Bruce James, chairman of the commission. "This is the first meeting where we're going to discuss issues we can take to the governor."

Commission members forwarded 11 of 12 ideas, holding one back for further study.

The recommendations include closing the Nevada State Prison in Carson City, studying a four-day work week for state employees and going after federal matching funds for existing state programs that help poor people who are severely injured.

State corrections chief Howard Skolnik already has recommended closing Nevada State Prison. The aging building costs $19 million a year to run and "has just outlived its usefulness," said Frank Partlow, the commission's executive director.

Most members of the commission saw potential in moving to a four-day work week, something Utah is experimenting with.

The bulk of the savings would come from being able to shut down buildings for an extra day each week, and some thought that such a move would encourage agencies to improve their online offerings to help those needing state services.

"The world has changed so much," James said. "The majority of the services that the state provides can be done electronically."

That could be a tough sell for the public, cautioned commission member Steven Hill. He said people outside state government might say they're already working 10 hours a day, and still have to go to work on Fridays.

Nevada is missing out on $25 million to $50 million a year in matching funds for health care because of the way programs for the poor and for children are structured, according to one recommendation. A legislative change could connect the programs to Medicaid, which in turn would attract federal dollars to bolster services.

But some concern exists that the change would divert money away from its current use of helping the indigent, and the recommendation was not specific about how the legislative change would be made.

Commissioners spent the most time wrangling over one of the most complicated recommendations, which suggests studying the staff-to-patient ratios at state psychiatric facilities.

The state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services has budget plans to cut 110 full-time positions at two of its four facilities and convert another 10 to contract positions for a savings of $7.3 million a year. A study by a company interested in operating one of the hospitals said the state is not operating the facilities as efficiently as possible.

"This is going to be a hot item," said Perry Comeaux, the commission's deputy director. "There will be mental health advocates who are going to say, 'The quality of care is going to suffer."'

Some commission members said dissecting staffing levels at psychiatric facilities was beyond the group's mission. They voted to strip language regarding specific staff ratios and projected savings from their recommendation, which now states only that the ratios should be checked against private sector and national norms.