Dems want to redirect K-12 money included in budget

Assembly Democrats Tuesday said they want to take unused school district bond funds and redirect them into a program to rehabilitate old schools and improve the learning environment.

Titled, "School Works," the legislation by Ways and Means Chairman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, would free up more than $400 million this biennium by cutting in half the statutory bond reserves school districts must maintain from 12 months to six months.

The problem with that plan, according to the governor's office, is that it creates a $425 million hole in the K-12 education budget. Gov. Brian Sandoval's proposed budget took that same money by making the same legal change but put it into school district operating budgets to backfill reductions in the state general fund appropriation to schools.

"It would appear that the plan released this morning leaves a $400 million hole in the state budget, taking additional money out of the classroom and teacher salaries," according to the statement issued by Sandoval's office. "In these difficult economic times, the reserve funds proposed to be redirected for construction under this plan should instead be spent helping school districts focus on their central mission of educating students."

Smith's proposal was accompanied by "Nevada Trades," legislation sponsored by Commerce and Labor Committee Chairman Kelvin Atkinson, D-Las Vegas, which is designed to enable creation of inland port zones as transportation hubs for manufacturers and other businesses. It is modeled after the program created in Dallas to make a distribution hub there.

The idea, Assembly leadership argued, would create numerous new jobs and send a message to logistics companies and manufacturers that state and local government is willing to work with them to enhance their business success.