Gibbons and his budget director, Andrew Clinger, said Tuesday there would be some employee layoffs due to consolidation of government agencies that Gibbons will propose in his State of the State speech. But Gibbons said he doesn't want to see "wholesale" layoffs.
The governor's spending plan for the next two fiscal years will be just over $6 billion. That's lower than the $6.8 billion approved for the current two-year budget cycle — and more than $2 billion lower than what's seen as necessary to maintain current service levels while accounting for inflation, population growth and other factors that drive up government spending.
Gibbons said his spending plan was designed to tie in with revenue projections from the state Economic Forum, which has projected revenues over the coming two fiscal years at about $5.8 billion. Additional revenue sources not considered by the forum pushed the governor's budget total to just over $6 billion.
"We have made this budget fit within the limits of the Economic Forum," Gibbons said, adding, "Whether it's a recession or a depression doesn't matter because in the end there's always a recovery, and that's what we're preparing for."
Gibbons said there's a need now to "re-engineer government so that it is smaller and more efficient and better able to deliver the services that are needed." That echoes comments in his 2007 State of the State speech.
As for layoffs, Gibbons said legislators will have the final say — but "if it were up to me, I think we will have avoided layoffs" of state workers and educators in public schools and universities. Clinger added he was still working on an estimate but figured the total would be "limited."
Public employee and educator unions have reacted angrily to reports that Gibbons will propose the 6 percent pay cuts, and Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, has said such a step — which would save about $430 million over the next two fiscal years — "doesn't make sense." She said lawmakers will seek "a better solution."
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