New Highway Bill Leaves Nevada with $4 Billion Deficit
On June 7, Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) signed Assembly Bill 595 into law, giving the state a $1-billion infusion for highway construction funding. It includes a $20-million yearly commitment from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, plus a reallocation of car rental and property taxes. Gov. Gibbons had threatened to veto any bill raising new taxes. Yet the measure falls well short of Nevadas estimated $5-billion highway construction deficit through 2015. The plan drew strong criticism from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman who called it "irresponsible." "I dont know how you build roads by robbing Peter to pay Paul, without something breaking," Goodman says. Proponents, however, claim its a step in the right direction that will serve as a stop-gap funding measure until the state Legislature reconvenes in 2009.
"This is a start," says Brent Boynton, a Gibbons spokesman. "Its all that could realistically be done over the next two years by starting projects."