Controller Knecht running again

State controller Ron Knecht has formally announced he will run for a second term in that office.

He said he has kept his original campaign promise to cut costs and save taxpayer money, cutting spending and, in his first two years, returning more than $1 million to the state treasury.

Working with the Governor’s Finance Office, he said they’ve delivered on the contract to modernize and improve debt collection and are preparing to put the state’s checkbook on line for all to see. That project was stalled originally when they found many state agencies had put personal identifying and confidential information into the system.

He also pointed to his efforts in league with Las Vegas city councilman Bob Beers to repeal the commerce tax on gross revenue of major businesses. He said they’re working to get the signatures to put that issue on the 2018 ballot for voters to decide.

Knecht, a Carson City Republican, spent eight years as a member of the state Board of Regents. Before that, he served one term in the Nevada Assembly.

He has degrees in engineering, economics and law.