CARSON CITY — Gov. Jim Gibbons pledged in his State of the State speech Thursday to work with state lawmakers as they consider his bare-bones $6.2 billion budget — unless they propose new taxes as a way out of Nevada’s economic turmoil.

Gibbons favors shifting some property taxes from local governments to the state and collecting higher room tax receipts — already endorsed by voters in Las Vegas and Reno. But he said increased taxes “are solutions that I just cannot accept and that Nevadans should not accept.”

“The simple fact is that higher taxes kill economic growth and job creation,” Gibbons said in remarks prepared for a joint meeting of the state Senate and Assembly. “And I will not raise taxes on people and businesses that are already struggling to get through these times, jeopardizing our state’s growth and prosperity tomorrow.”

The Republican governor has proposed a 36 percent cut in funds for Nevada’s state community college and university system. While he acknowledged that will “bring challenges to the system,” he said the funding still accounts for nearly 14 percent of all state General Fund spending — higher than the national average of about 11 percent.

The big cut in higher education funding was among various reductions needed to ensure adequate funding for K-12 schools and human services programs, Gibbons said. K-12 funding is down 2.6 percent while human services funding is up 4.2 percent.

K-12, higher education and human services spending account for 83 percent of all General Fund dollars in the governor’s spending plan for the coming two fiscal years. The proposed budget is about 9 percent lower than the current two-year budget, the first time in at least 35 years a governor has proposed a budget smaller than the current spending plan.

Gibbons has proposed 6 percent pay cuts for state employees, plus suspension of longevity and merit pay increases and other benefit reductions. But he said he’s cutting his own pay by the same amount and he will ask lawmakers to restore the cuts — assuming they OK them — once the economy permits.

The governor said the cuts were needed to avoid massive layoffs in state government. But even with pay reductions, some 375 employees will be laid off out of a total state work force of about 25,000.

In promising to restore funding when the economy turns around, Gibbons said special legislative sessions, usually reserved for crises in government, “can be called in good times, too.”

The governor also said he wants to reduce government expenses through agency consolidations and he proposed a “Sunset Commission” to review agencies and boards to see whether they are necessary.

In discussing the state’s human services programs, Gibbons said he wouldn’t balance his budget “on the backs of those ... who can least afford to shoulder the burden.” The combined budget for such programs accounts for one-third of all state funds.

While human services funding would increase 4.2 percent over all, spending on mental health services would decline 5 percent and a program that offers Medicaid insurance to low-income pregnant mothers would be eliminated.

The biggest item in human services, Medicaid, would see a funding increase from about $911 million to $930 million. Welfare grant funds also would increase.

Gibbons also said he favors legislation to speed permits for energy projects, and will ask lawmakers to require utilities to further increase their use of energy produced by solar, geothermal, wind or other alternative sources.

He also praised efforts by the Nevada Spending and Government Efficiency Commission, which produced a report that suggested various moneysaving steps, including cuts in benefits to state workers and retirees. He incorporated many of the suggestions into his budget proposal.

The governor asked the Democratically-controlled Legislature, which convenes its 2009 session Feb. 2, to “look at this budget with an open mind and in good faith.” Both the Assembly and state Senate must approve the budget and send it to Gibbons for his signature before it becomes law.

“Grandstanding and partisan bickering help no one in this state, and Nevadans deserve better,” he said.

“I ask that each and every one of us remember that we are all in this fiscal crisis together, and we will find the solutions together.”