| News Release: Buckley launches tour promoting state government overhaul |
|
|
|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 22, 2008  Buckley Begins Process to Overhaul State Financial Structure Assembly Speaker announces town hall meetings and discussion groups When Speaker Barbara Buckley gave an address to the state prior to the beginning of the special legislative session this past June, she announced that she wanted the 2009 Legislature to undertake a complete overhaul of Nevada's financial structure. Buckley said in her address that the overhaul is necessary to break Nevada of its "boom and bust" cycle that includes draconian budget cuts such as the ones made during the special session. She said the first step would be to get public input. "I will work with any and all Nevadans to make the 2009 Legislative Session the most important in Nevada's history. Those who agree that our system is broken can work together with me to, once and for all, make meaningful change. We must fully examine our financial structure, which cannot sustain our state," Buckley said in her address.  Today, she announced the first step in that process: town hall meetings in Las Vegas and Reno. The Las Vegas town hall will be held September 29 and the Reno town hall October 6, with subsequent meetings to be held in several rural communities. The public is invited to attend. Topics will include state spending priorities and accountability, the re-examination of tax exemptions and abatements, uncollected taxes and state revenue, including the establishment of a Revenue Stabilization Fund. Buckley said the town halls would be the first of a series of public forums and that she has asked a number of community leaders to conduct smaller meetings throughout the state to get public input. "During the recent round of very painful budget cuts, some of the best ideas we received came from state workers, teachers, school district representatives and just plain citizens," Buckley said. "A critical element of the overhaul process is to get as much input as possible from as many people as possible. While this is not a complete list, some of the discussion leaders include Thom Reilly, Steve Hill, Assemblyman John Carpenter, City Councilwoman Jessica Sferrazza, Deborah Campbell, Rose McKinney James, Mike Cate, Emma Sepulveda and Dick Morgan. "We want input from the widest range of perspectives as possible," Buckley said. "We want solid proposals to take to the next session of the legislature." ### |