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Speaker Buckley, Majority Leader Raggio, Lieutenant Governor
Krolicki, members of the Senate and Assembly, honorable Justices
of the Supreme Court, constitutional officers, distinguished
guests, and my fellow citizens: It is indeed a pleasure to be
here. As the 29th Governor of Nevada, I am humbled and
privileged to appear before you tonight and excited to share my
vision with you for the future of our great state of Nevada.
Before I do, I would like to thank my wife, Dawn, for her love,
insight, guidance and support. As a former member of this
Assembly, she’s no stranger to this process, and as First Lady
she has already shown her effectiveness, particularly in raising
public awareness of the dangers of methamphetamine use. I also
want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my entire family for
their many sacrifices and total dedication throughout my 18
years of public life. Thank you.
On this historic occasion, I would like to recognize a
remarkable Nevadan who has persevered every day since arriving
in Las Vegas in 1980. Please join me in saluting Barbara
Buckley as the first female speaker in Nevada history. She and
I have proven we can effectively work together, as we did in
suspending the nurses’ strike in Las Vegas last month, and I am
confident we can build upon our past success by mutually
rejecting the counterproductive tug and pull of partisan
politics. Please rise as I become the first Nevada Governor to
say these words: Madame Speaker, I congratulate you and
look forward to working with you to create long-term, meaningful
results for all Nevadans.
I was first elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1989 and I am
especially delighted to work again in this chamber. Tonight I
would like to recognize my colleagues from that 1989 Assembly,
who continue to devote countless hours working for the citizens
of Nevada. Mr. Marvel, Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Arberry and Senator
McGinness, it’s a pleasure to work with you again.
I want to also welcome incoming freshmen legislators Senator
Joyce Woodhouse and Assembly members Bob Beers, David Bobzien,
Ty Cobb, Ed Goedhart, Ruben Kihuen, James Ohrenschall, Tick
Segerblom, James Settlemeyer, Lynn Stewart and Rosemary Womack.
Welcome, and I look forward to working with you.
Lastly, I want to thank all of those people who agreed to serve
on my transition team, especially former Governors List and
Bryan and Lieutenant Governor Hunt. I value your input and
support. And, as my friends in the press have pointed out, for
the handful of you who are not on my transition team, I value
your input, too.
As many of you know, I grew up in the railroad town of Sparks,
Nevada, where I was raised by hard-working parents, Matilda and
Leonard. My parents instilled in me the core values that have
contributed greatly to my ability to fly a jet, become a lawyer,
serve in Congress and now be a governor. They taught me at an
early age about the power of partnership and the can-do pioneer
attitude that makes us Nevadans different.
Nevada
has changed so much since my childhood years in
Sparks.
I remember as a kid we would joke that there is one person for
each of our 110,000 square miles in Nevada. Today, that ratio
would be 22 times greater. When I graduated from Sparks High
School in 1962, Washoe County had a population of 85,000,
Clark
County had 127,000, and Ormsby County had about 8,000.
By the year 2010,
Clark
County will have nearly two million residents and 170,000 hotel
rooms--nearly as many rooms as in the combined cities of
New York
and Chicago. In that same period, Washoe County will grow to
500,000 residents and
Carson City
will have nearly 65,000.
It’s hard to believe that in less than 50 years our state has
grown tenfold and Clark County 15-fold. These statistics force
us to think differently, to adjust our mindset and become more
innovative, especially when it applies to government. We simply
cannot run the government the same way we’ve been doing it.
As I said in my inaugural speech, we now have a unique
opportunity and challenge – to take the 143 years of growth and
progress that has created the Nevada of today, and set a course
for the future. A future that brings together the diverse
communities and citizens of this great state into a common cause
– One Nevada.
As a fighter pilot in Viet Nam and the Gulf War and former Vice
Commander of the Nevada Air National Guard, I want to salute the
men and women serving in our military around the globe. Nevada
has one of the highest percentages of National Guard members
serving in foreign lands, and a large number of them are engaged
in the fight on terror in Iraq. On behalf of a profoundly
grateful State, we appreciate everything they do to continue to
defend our liberty.
At this time I would ask for a moment of silence for the 48
fallen Nevadans who, since 2001, have given their lives to
protect ours.
On March 23, 2003, Nevada lost Marine Lance Corporal Donald J.
Cline in Iraq, but his memory continues to live on through his
family who joins us this evening. We must always remember those
who have fallen for our freedom and we express our gratitude by
recognizing Lance Corporal Cline’s two sons, Dillon and Dakota,
and his loving wife, Tina. Thank you for being here. I also
want to thank the Nevada Patriot Fund for raising private funds
to support families like the Clines who have lost loved ones in
war.
Because I have such confidence in the Guard and the lessons
associated with military service, I am including in this budget
$1.7 million to the Nevada National Guard Youth Challenge
Program, where troubled youth can be educated and given the
ability to start over.
My fellow Nevadans, our economy is robust, our workforce is
teeming, our job growth is healthy and the unemployment rate is
low; and for the first time as Governor, I am proud to announce
that the state of our state is strong.
Over the past biennium, Nevada has once again exceeded the
nation in economic growth. While Arizona has moved ahead of
Nevada as the fastest growing state in the U.S., we’ve added
more than 100,000 residents annually since 2004. Both personal
income and employment have continued to grow at rates far above
the national average.
While our state economy has greatly diversified over the past
decade, gaming remains a driving force behind our revenue base.
Several large new gaming projects are underway in Clark County
and promise to further strengthen Nevada’s economic status. In
this 75th year of legalized gaming in Nevada, optimism in the
tourism markets remains high. It is estimated more than 41
million people will visit Las Vegas in 2009 – up from 35 million
at the beginning of the decade.
The total number of jobs in Nevada grew by 58,000 between
November 2005 and 2006 and job gains in Nevada continue to
outpace the nation as a whole.
In order to sustain this economic strength, I firmly believe we
need to form a new kind of government; one that is leaner, more
responsive, a combine for new ideas, and most of all, a
government that gives Nevadans the tools they need to make the
most of their lives. This is my vision for Nevada.
I have submitted to you a seven-billion-dollar budget that does
not include new or increased taxes, but squarely focuses
attention on innovation and new thinking. During the campaign,
I met with thousands and thousands of Nevadans, who think as I
do, that we must streamline our government and make it more
responsive –all while living within our means. I respectfully
submit to you a budget that meets those objectives.
Additionally, this budget is $158 million below the spending cap
that was first enacted in 1979, but has not affected the budget
process until now. For the first time in our state’s history, a
spending cap will govern how we build budgets and how we spend
money. This is the new budget reality in Nevada, and I believe
we should embrace it.
My budget also includes one-time appropriations to support vital
areas of statewide community interest, including Opportunity
Village in Las Vegas for $12 million; $10 million for the Nevada
Cancer Institute; $10 million for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute
in Las Vegas; $6.5 million for courthouse improvements in White
Pine County, $3.5 million for the Institute for Neuro-Immune
Disease at the School of Medicine and $2 million for the Nevada
Discovery Museum in Reno. These are critical Nevada assets, and
I urge your approval.
Exercising fiscal discipline demands more than a promise of no
new taxes; it requires having the willpower to save in good
times for those downturns and unexpected hardships that will
inevitably come.
We all recall the financial impacts our state absorbed after
9/11. To protect ourselves from man-made or natural
catastrophes in the future, we must set aside money to shield
our citizens from harm. My budget includes an additional $36
million to the rainy day fund for a total of $303 million.
Some will argue it is not enough or too much, but nary a person
can say this is not prudent planning.
The 9/11 Commission made many recommendations to promote the
security of the nation. One of its findings concluded that the
nation and the states are vulnerable because public safety
responders cannot communicate as one entity in a time of
crisis. We need to address our lack of radio capability among
all first responders. I will work with the Legislature to find
the necessary funds to construct the Nevada Four Core Public
Safety Radio Network. The security of Nevadans, our tourists,
and our economy demand this action.
During the campaign I promised Nevadans I would save them
money. I will stand by my word. Tonight, I am proud to
announce that I will be seeking a 4.6 percent decrease in the
modified business tax, from .65 to .62 percent, resulting in $28
million in tax relief for 55,748 Nevada businesses. In
addition, I am proposing to eliminate the $1,750 per branch
excise tax for banks.
Key among the Nevada workforce are dedicated public employees,
including state employees, university employees and teachers. We
must continue to invest in this important group of workers, and
I am proposing a six percent increase in pay for these
hardworking individuals. I propose a two percent increase in
the first year and a four percent increase in the second year,
which will free up an additional $31 million in funds, which I
will reallocate to cover future pension and health care costs
for retired public employees.
If we don’t address the multi-billion-dollar health care
liability today, we will be sticking our heads in the sand and
pretending this serious issue doesn’t exist. As Nevada
government leaders, we cannot afford to pretend.
Hand in hand with paying down the four-billion-dollar health
care liability, I will be urging you to pass legislation to
reconstitute the nine-member public employees benefit plan board
in order to establish a new panel of experts and professionals
who have the appropriate skill set to lead our state through
what is a looming financial storm. Send me this legislation and
I will sign it immediately.
Nevada has one of the highest rates of methamphetamine addiction
in the country and the highest rate for people 12 years old and
older…and everyone--I repeat, everyone--is at risk. The
addiction has had a devastating impact on Nevada families,
schools, the criminal justice system and the economy. However,
with the right balance of awareness, treatment and prevention,
this seemingly untamed demon drug can be overcome. Please join
me in applauding Kendra Furlong, who appeared in the recent TV
documentary Crystal Darkness, for her courage and honesty
in talking publicly about meth addiction. Kendra, you and
others like you who are conquering the addiction, are an
inspiration to us all.
Earlier today, by executive order, I established a meth working
group to be chaired by Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto
and to consist of law enforcement, state agencies, legislators,
the First Lady and others who are on the front lines fighting
this epidemic. I have asked the working group to make
recommendations to the Legislature on or before April 1 so that
the Legislature can swiftly authorize the appropriate action and
funding to strike a decisive blow against the traffickers of
meth, while also helping those hooked on meth to break free.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the colossal struggle of our
times, and it will require uncommon collaboration, compassion
and coordination. Additionally, I have placed in this budget 10
new public safety officers to fight the rise of meth use and
distribution in our communities, particularly in our rural
communities, where the problems appear to be most acute. I have
also included $2 million for the Department of Health and Human
Services for meth education and treatment for a grand total of
$17 million in this budget directed toward fighting the scourge
of methamphetamine.
A top priority of my Administration will be to develop more
affordable housing in Nevada. How often do we hear that
workforce housing is not available for new hires or that a
teacher or nurse can’t find an affordable home so they decide
not to relocate? It is, in my opinion, far too frequent, and we
must do something about it. I am directing that we establish a
program to support the housing needs of teachers, nurses and
other first-time homebuyers through the sale of tax-exempt
bonds. It will be modeled after the California Housing Finance
Agency and be self-supporting by selling bonds repaid by
revenues generated through mortgage loans, not by tax dollars.
Let’s start a similar program so we can help all Nevadans
achieve the American dream of home ownership.
I am also proposing a major improvement to the Homestead Act by
raising the amount of protection for property from $350,000 to
$550,000. Nevada's escalating home prices require such a
change. In our larger counties, I am proposing to do away with
the fee for filing a homestead exemption for your primary
property, and instead, allowing homesteading for second
residences or vacation homes with a voluntary fee of 1/10 of 1
percent. This will stimulate real estate investment in Nevada
and potentially create new revenue to be shared between the
counties who collect it and the state.
No natural resource in the State of Nevada is as critical or as
controversial as water. We have the driest state in the nation
and one of the highest rates of growth – a combination that
places tremendous stress on our precious water resources.
I will be asking the Desert Research Institute to conduct a
water inventory for Nevada. Two key collaborators, the State
Engineer’s office and the Desert Research Institute, will
identify priority needs and collect information to reduce
potential future conflicts. The initial two-year phase of this
program will be funded with an appropriation of two million
dollars. One clear way to enhance the current process is to
ensure that the best scientific information is available for
making decisions. There is no question that water data requires
updating and expansion to ensure our economy grows and the
quality of life is maintained in our rural counties.
This much needed updating is essential for future planning
purposes, but must not be allowed to interfere with pending
decision making in the State Engineer’s Office.
And, as the demand for water continues to increase, water
conservation measures become critical in managing and extending
our water resources. Conservation programs do not require the
public to necessarily give up certain water uses; rather they
encourage the public to engage in those uses more efficiently.
We must become more water aware, and I urge all Nevadans to
participate in using this resource more wisely.
I call upon the Legislature to pass a bill to prohibit the
government from taking private property without the consent of
the owner, and then conveying it to another private person or
entity for redevelopment purposes.
I also respectfully request that the Legislature pass a
constitutional amendment as an alternative to Question 2 on last
year's ballot. This amendment should contain most of the
provisions of Question 2 to protect property owners, but should
modify some of the language which could cause significant delays
and cost increases for our state and local transportation
projects. Through the legislative hearing process, we should be
able to find the proper way to balance the rights of property
owners, taxpayers and motorists.
The Guinn Millennium Scholarship is one of the most important
tools we have to enable the best and the brightest Nevada
students to remain in Nevada for their higher education. The
reality is that if we did nothing to save the program, it would
be insolvent by 2013. I am directing an additional $5.6 million
from unclaimed property receipts to shore up the scholarship
fund and secure it for Nevada students far into the future.
Part and parcel to stabilizing the Millennium Scholarship is
acknowledgement that it must be streamlined in terms of
eligibility standards, with greater emphasis placed on nursing,
math, science and teaching degrees. I urge you to strengthen
scholarship guidelines so Millennium Scholarships are available
for our children’s children.
We have opened the doors to higher education through Millennium
Scholarships, so we must be equally dedicated to raising
standards, expectations and accountability in kindergarten
through the 12th grade.
Although full-day kindergarten has been labeled a top priority
by the state’s superintendents and others, I respect their
opinion, but I believe the fiscally responsible approach is to
continue to support the existing pilot program at current
funding levels in at-risk schools and, therefore, I have
committed $50 million to do so. I strongly support maintaining
this pilot program and look forward to utilizing the next 24
months to assess its benefits, to measure how effective the
program is, and to gauge the infrastructure demands of
introducing full-day kindergarten throughout the state. If the
results are positive, we will pursue it next session. If they
are not, we will have exercised good fiscal policy.
Today the institution of public education needs bold and
decisive leadership to better respond to the challenges that
confront us. Our current standings in education on a national
and worldwide front are simply unacceptable.
I propose an innovative yet proven education plan known as
Empowerment which will directly address the majority of the
long-standing challenges in public education today: falling
graduation rates, parental participation, teacher recruitment,
funding inequities and lack of resources in the classroom.
Parents will be empowered with school choice for their children,
while principals and teachers will be able to decide at the
individual school level how best and most effectively to teach
their own unique population of students. Through this powerful
program, we will empower our educators to be more responsive to
their schools’ individual circumstances and the diversity of
their student populations. And, teachers will be equitably paid
for a job well done, based on tangible measures, and rewarded
for results in student achievement.
Sitting with us tonight is the architect and father of the
Edmonton Empowerment Program, Michael Strembitsky, who, for the
better part of his adult life, has worked to change the
education system parent by parent, teacher by teacher and
student by student. We are so honored to have him here with us
tonight. As Mr. Strembitsky can attest, in addition to raising
achievement, the education empowerment model is fundamentally
designed to increase both teacher pay and the prestige of
becoming a teacher.
I will, therefore, be redirecting $60 million in the budget for
an extensive Empowerment pilot program initially involving 100
schools that will be converting their operations to this bold
new approach--an approach started in Canada 30 years ago and
successfully working in New York City, Houston and San
Francisco, where after five years, the San Francisco school
district has shown steady growth and is now the top performing
urban district in California.
Join me in changing our education system with a single bold
stroke.
Two weeks ago, an incident in Las Vegas served us with yet
another stark reminder of the constant danger gun violence
presents on or near our school campuses. I will work with the
Legislature to increase funding for school security throughout
the state. If children don’t feel safe at school, we cannot
expect them to feel secure enough to learn.
Our higher education system has eight institutions – two
universities, one state college, four community colleges and one
research institute. One has a medical school, one a dental
school, seven have nursing colleges, and there are at least 200
programs spread throughout all eight institutions that are
directly related to health sciences. Not only have these
programs never been coordinated under one administrative
structure, they have competed against each other to the
detriment of the entire System.
We need to centralize these health science programs under one
coherent management plan, and to do it, I am providing $110
million for the University of Nevada Health Sciences System,
while another $47 million in matching funds will be raised
through private donors across the state. This model of
public-private partnership will set a valuable precedent for the
future of higher education for Nevada.
There are too many Nevada highways becoming gridlocked, and
transportation issues are increasingly central to the quality of
life we enjoy. A well-functioning highway system is vital to
Nevada’s economy and will be a major factor in how we move
forward in the future.
My administration will aggressively pursue opportunities created
through public-private cooperative efforts. To facilitate this,
I have directed the Department of Transportation to create an
Advisory Panel on Public-Private Initiatives to explore new
opportunities for transportation improvements. Moreover, I have
asked NDOT Director Susan Martinovich to make southern Nevada
needs a priority for her department, including spending a
considerable amount of her own time in Las Vegas, and she has
agreed with great enthusiasm.
I am committing $170 million for highway projects that will be
dedicated to help widen I-15 from the Spaghetti Bowl to the Apex
Interchange, build new ramps at the I-15/215 Beltway interchange
and an I-15 Freeway Management System, including message signs
and closed-circuit television cameras. And in northern Nevada,
we will be working toward widening I-80 from Robb to Vista and
US 395 from the Spaghetti Bowl to Stead Boulevard.
An effort to fast-track proposed transportation projects must
become the rule instead of the exception because bureaucratic
delays dramatically increase the cost of each project, create
job losses, and ultimately, we all suffer.
The Blue Ribbon Task Force evaluated Nevada’s growing
transportation crisis and concluded that projects planned for
2008-2015 require at least an additional $3.8 billion in
revenue. The Task Force’s “Roads to the Future” report was
particularly useful and we will rely on it as a guideline going
forward.
I wish to restate, however, that I will not support raising the
gas tax.
No budget discussion is complete without working through the
thicket of Medicaid and healthcare issues. Nevada’s Medicaid
program provides essential health care services to low-income
families as well as the frail, elderly and disabled. However,
this entitlement program is increasingly consuming a larger
share of the state budget. It is essential we reform Medicaid
to assure it continues to provide health care services to so
many in our community.
Many Nevadans in our Medicaid program find it increasingly
difficult to access physician services they need. Fewer
physicians are taking new Medicaid patients. Declining access
is directly tied to how much Medicaid pays its physicians. On
the national level, Congress recognized that reductions to
Medicare physician fees would result in fewer doctors seeing
patients.
Therefore, I am proposing to increase Nevada Medicaid physician
payments up to the most recent federal Medicare fee schedule
while also holding physicians responsible for the care they
provide. At the same time, we need to encourage quality
healthcare professionals and private healthcare providers to
move to and stay in Nevada.
My budget proposes that individuals have access to a
professional health care coordinator that would help them sort
out our confusing health care system. Coordinating health care
services in Medicaid is a key part of controlling Medicaid
spending. However, we also need to explore alternatives for
better managing what consumes almost 70 percent of the Medicaid
budget. I propose we give Nevadans on Medicaid a choice in how
they access their health care.
Clark County emergency rooms continue to have large numbers of
mental health patients occupying beds in spite of significant
service improvements, including the opening of the new Rawson
Neal Psychiatric Hospital and the use of a state mobile crisis
Assessment team to service local hospitals.
I am providing $7.5 million to assist in alleviating the ER
crisis by opening an additional 22 acute care beds, bringing the
total state funded beds in Clark County to 238.
My budget also provides for the continued funding of $2.8
million for triage centers in northern and southern Nevada.
Triage centers reduce overcrowding and provide more efficient
use of public and private resources.
My budget also provides six million dollars for funding of the
mental health courts in Las Vegas, Reno, and Carson City. These
programs have contributed to reduced criminal activity and
hospitalization of the severely mentally ill.
I am also providing ongoing funding for the 90 community
residential beds in Las Vegas that were temporarily funded by
the 2005 Legislature. The availability of these community beds
allows for reduced inpatient stays in psychiatric hospitals,
saves tax dollars, and reduces overcrowding of local emergency
rooms.
Nevada continues to stand out as having the fastest growing
senior population in the nation. I want to enhance the
availability of community based services to allow seniors to
live in their homes and communities, rather than in nursing
homes. I propose to increase the three Medicaid waivers serving
Nevadans age 60 plus by 15 percent to allow seniors more options
for community living.
I agree with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike
Leavitt, who said, “Every American should have access to a full
range of information about the quality and cost of their health
care options.” I believe everyone deserves to know both the
quality and cost of his or her health care. Our communities,
health care leaders and partners can join together to define and
establish benchmarks for measuring quality care, understanding
healthcare price, and the cost for care.
The 2005 Legislature passed Senate Bill 357 to fund treatment
and prevention programs for problem gambling. Treatment
programs previously available only in Las Vegas or Reno are now
available in Elko, Ely, Fallon, Hawthorne, Lovelock, Pioche, and
Stateline.
My budget includes funding to continue state-supported
initiatives with full-time administrative staff to move Nevada
from the back seat to the driver’s seat in responsible gambling.
Two strategic areas that will receive special attention in my
administration will be the needs for greater economic
development and energy independence.
I have included in the executive budget $10 million in unclaimed
property receipts to create a dynamic new economic development
program, modeled after the hugely successful program in
Georgia. Working with Lieutenant Governor Brian Krolicki, we
will launch this new program to work with the best of Nevada’s
research facilities in creating new high-tech/biotech and
renewable energy types of industries. Funds will be used to
hire world-class researchers who will bring their work to
Nevada. This will provide high-end jobs for Nevadans and is
ideally suited for the current 38,000 millennium scholars
graduating in the coming years.
Rural Nevada businesses are often the engines for economic
development and tourism in their rural communities, and my
administration is examining creative ways to provide economic
stimulus in rural Nevada. We need to look for more ways to
increase energy independence because Nevada offers one of the
best opportunities for the development of renewable energy. I
applaud the action the Legislature took last session to ramp up
the incentives for greater production of solar, wind, biomass
and geothermal energy, but we also must increase the diversity
and supply of all fuels and not allow ourselves to become too
reliant on one fuel source.
After visiting with Wyoming Governor Freudenthal and seeing what
his state is doing, I will encourage the creation of a
coal-to-liquids fuels plant in Nevada, similar to the successful
plant in Wyoming. It would use existing rail to transport coal
to the plant and convert that coal to diesel and jet fuel for
use at airports. It could also create natural gas to be
injected into a natural gas pipeline for domestic use.
I will recommend continuing to provide incentives to the
utilities to improve the environment, reduce greenhouse gases,
stimulate job growth, hedge against fossil fuel volatility and
help guarantee availability. Additionally, through executive
order, I will direct State Purchasing to do more
performance-based contracting on all state buildings for energy
and water conservation retrofits. These efforts will be
financed through the savings generated by conservation and
require no additional state funds. And to accomplish these
energy goals, we will need a stronger state energy office.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the first Lake Tahoe
Summit, where our delegation, along with California, recognized
the national treasure of Lake Tahoe and collectively made a $908
million commitment to protecting and enhancing this wonder of
the Sierra.
I am pleased to report that Nevada has made good on that
promise. To date, we have committed $72 million to
environmental improvement projects in the Tahoe Basin, and the
Lake is cleaner and clearer as a result. I support the final
installment for the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program
and, this summer, at the annual summit, we will reaffirm
Nevada’s commitment to the protection of Lake Tahoe.
I will also be working with our delegation and the BLM toward
preserving wildlife habitat after wildfires blackened more than
1.3 million acres across Nevada last year, primarily in Elko
County, where most of the habitat damage occurred.
The last two years have seen significant tactical victories in
our long and tough battle to keep Nevada from becoming the
nation's nuclear waste dump. That effort, with the leadership
of our delegation, must continue, which is why I have doubled
Nevada's legal effort. As Senator Reid has said, now is not the
time to claim victory, but rather to finish the job and end this
unwise, unscientific and politically punitive program.
The voting public is concerned that there is not enough
transparency in Nevada’s election process. These concerns often
frustrate voters to a point where they choose not to participate
in the political process altogether.
I intend to work with the Legislature and Secretary of State
Ross Miller to develop an on-line system in which contributions
are reported more frequently. Current state law only requires
disclosure of contributions in excess of $100 three times
annually.
That is not good enough. I will ask the Legislature to require
that state candidates show their full Contributions and Expenses
Report before early voting begins. Voters have a right to
know who is financing campaigns before they cast a ballot.
During last year’s campaign, I met with many concerned Nevadans
regarding legislation protecting our families from sex
offenders. I will ask the Legislature to require out-of-state
sex offenders to submit DNA samples, require registration prior
to release from prison and 30-day re-registration for transient
offenders, and expansion of the global positioning system
program that forces pedophiles and sex offenders to wear
bracelets so that they do not go undetected in our communities.
As it should be, offenders would pick up the cost of the GPS
bracelet as a condition of parole. I ask for your support in
aggressively tracking these sexual predators that live among
us.
The surplus revenue that we have today came about because Nevada
remains one of the best places in the world to relocate or grow
a business. I believe it is my job to foster a business climate
that encourages investment in our state and to have government
help when necessary and get out of the way where possible.
Changing the way we view and fund education, creating fresh
alternatives for affordable housing, broadening the Homestead
Act, cracking down on sex offenders, strengthening the
importance of public-private partnerships in government
planning, reforming Medicaid, prioritizing transportation
funding and doing it all without raising taxes…some have
reported it as radical; I consider it responsible.
There is much to do – and tomorrow the budget committees begin
their work. It will require a valiant effort by each of us, and
a willingness to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds;
to believe that together, as one Nevada, we can do anything.
We will not always agree, but I give you my solemn word that
when we do disagree, it will be with honor, respect and
civility. Nevadans deserve no less.
In closing, I can assure you that I have not forgotten my early
life lessons about the power of partnership and the importance
of the pioneer can-do attitude that makes us Nevadans
different.
I am proud to be your Governor. God bless America. And God
bless the Great State of Nevada. Thank you.
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