Lawmakers gave final approval to four bills that had been worked out in advance of the session. The measures, two from the Assembly and two from the Senate, were routed to Gov. Jim Gibbons who said he would sign them later this week.
The Republican governor said he joined with leaders of the Democrat-controlled Legislature in a bipartisan effort to develop the short-term revenue plan. He added the state has so far avoided major layoffs of government workers to save money or tax increases to raise more revenue.
"It's a blueprint of working together and coming to a resolution on a budget shortfall and getting it done quickly," Gibbons said after the day-long special session ended.
Earlier in the day, more than 200 people, chanting "No more cuts," protested against government service reductions — especially deeper cuts that may be needed in the state's next two-year budget cycle, which starts July 1.
Organizers of the demonstration, held outside the Nevada Capitol and the adjacent Legislative Building, said long-term solutions are needed rather than short-term fixes which tend to be the norm in Nevada.
The total revenue shortfall for the current two-year budget, including the $340 million-plus that legislators dealt with on Monday, is about $1.5 billion. That represents a 22 percent reduction in an approved $6.8 billion budget.
Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said the lawmakers on hand for the special session had the job of "crisis managers." She added that when lawmakers meet Feb. 2 for the regular 2009 session "there will be no Band-Aids left."
"This is a big (budget) hole, a big black hole, and we have to fill that void," said Assembly Ways and Means Chairman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, adding that lawmakers "have to bite the bullet and deal with it."
Three of the measures faced mostly Republican opposition in the Assembly. That included AB2, creating a $160 million credit line for use as needed this fiscal year, which passed the Assembly on a 32-10 vote. GOP opponents said more money needed to be cut from the budget.
Besides the credit line, which draws on a local government investment fund, about $150 million comes from new budget cuts and remaining budget reserves. A speed-up in mining tax collections accounts for $28 million of the total.
SB1, dealing with revenues from land leases, and SB2, the tax collections plan, drew no opposition in the Senate but were approved on 28-14 votes in the Assembly, with Republicans opposing them.
The overall plan is designed to get the state through the end of June, when the fiscal year closes. The economic problems are expected to be worse in the coming two-year budget cycle, with the state Economic Forum predicting revenues will decline by a third.
"The economy will turn around," Buckley said. "It is just a matter of when."
The Economic Forum has predicted the state will get nearly $5.7 billion in taxes, fees, fines and interest income over the next two fiscal years. That's $1.1 billion less than the amount approved for the current two-year cycle.
To maintain current government service levels and deal with growing demand for those services, budget requirements for the upcoming two-year cycle could be $2 billion more than revenues, based on the forum's projections.
Absent a rapid and dramatic economic turnaround, tax increases are the most obvious source of new funds for state coffers, but Gibbons said he remains opposed to higher levies and would veto such proposals. However, any tax hike requires a two-thirds' vote in the Legislature, and that's also what's needed to override a veto.
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