BUDGET CRISIS

Gov. John Lynch (D-Hopkinton) says that New Hampshire is on track to have a balanced budget at the ending of the fiscal year.

Lynch said the state has taken "appropriate steps" to deal with the budget crisis.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley (D-Las Vegas).LAS VEGAS - In a bitingly critical response to his televised address Thursday, Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley (D-Las Vegas) portrayed Gov. Jim Gibbons as indecisive and uncooperative and suggested that any solution to the state's budget crisis will be reached by the legislature without the governor's help.

Buckley began her speech by praising Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio (R-Reno) whom she credited for working with her on a plan to meet a budget shortfall she estimated at more than $250 million.

"[Raggio] is an honest and dedicated public servant," said Buckley. "I want to publicly thank him for working in a bipartisan manner to reach a solution to our short-term problem."

"I cannot say the same for our governor," she added.

Gov. Jim Gibbons.LAS VEGAS - In a televised address Thursday, Gov. Jim Gibbons challenged lawmakers to come up with a plan for dealing with a $275 million budget deficit without raising taxes, cutting education or reducing state services.

He would like this plan finished by Sunday.

Gibbons laid out several options for lawmakers to consider when they meet in special session tomorrow and a general blueprint of how to address the shortfall, but broke little new ground in the speech. And despite repeated claims that he was giving the legislature "full latitude to consider all reasonable options" he limited them in several key ways.

PHOENIX -- A day after Arizona House Speaker Jim Weiers (R-Phoenix) announced a proposal to resolve the roughly $2 billion budget shortfall the state faces in fiscal year 2008-2009, the state Senate has followed suit, rolling out its own plan to cover the gap. State Senate President Tim Bee (R-Tucson) and state Senate Minority Leader Marsha Arzberger (D-Willcox) appeared jointly at a capitol press conference to announce the Senate version, which Legislature Democrats and Gov. Janet Napolitano are likely to find more palatable.

"We believe this budget is reasonable, responsible and sustainable," said Bee at the press event announcing the breakthrough. 

The Senate proposal calls for a $361 million in cuts to state agencies - $140 million less than what the House plan calls for. It also includes a K-12 rollover, in which payments to public schools are delayed by four weeks, which has the effect of pushing some payments into the next fiscal year. Coupled with reductions in building renewal, bonding for new school construction and $106 million in transfers out of the Highway Users Revenue Fund, the budget package totals $2.02 billion, which should make up the projected shortfall.

CARSON CITY - Gov. Jim Gibbons announced today that a special session of the Nevada legislature, originally scheduled to begin Monday, will instead begin Friday, June 27.

In announcing the delay, Gibbons said that new unemployment numbers and "much more new information" released today reinforces the need for a special session.

"I believe it's prudent to give lawmakers and the staff from the Executive and Legislative branches the time to let this information sink in," said Gibbons. "A brief delay to the Special Session will also give lawmakers the opportunity to work together with me and my office as we seek consensus on a comprehensive solution to our unprecedented budget shortfall."

The Economic Forum, left, meets in Carson City Friday.CARSON CITY - At the request of Gov. Jim Gibbons, the Economic Forum is meeting today to come up with a projection for the state's budget shortfall.  The forum is examining projections on a dozen different revenue sources from the legislative counsel bureau, the budget division and the various governmental agencies that oversee revenue collection.

Since Gibbons' call for a special session of the legislature last week, key legislators and the governor's office have remained far apart on estimates of just how much in spending cuts or increased revenue will be necessary to make the state solvent.  The governor's budget office predicts a shortfall of approximately $240 million, while the LCB expects closer to $100 million.

Key Democratic legislators, including Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley and Senate Minority Leader Steven Horsford, have said that a special session of the legislature is unnecessary, that their estimate of the budget shortfall can be addressed through the Interim Finance Committee process.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley (D-Las Vegas).LAS VEGAS - On her way into a rush meeting with the Democratic legislative caucus, Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley (D-Las Vegas) predicted Wednesday that Democratic legislators would produce their own plan to meet Nevada's budget shortfall and took issue with Gov. Jim Gibbons' call for a special session to address the problem.

"It's very odd to run a special session this way," said Buckley.  "Usually a governor identifies a problem, identifies a solution, works with legislative leaders on developing a consensus for that solution and then, if legislative action is required, calls a special session.

"To have done none of that?  I've never seen that happen before."

State Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio (R-Reno).LAS VEGAS - State Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio (R-Reno) called Wednesday for Democratic legislators to work with him to come up with a consensus proposal to fix the state's budget shortfall.

"I have asked the Democrats in both the Assembly and the Senate," said Raggio. "I want to work with them-we want to work with them to make this an apolitical session. It should be a short session. It should be dealing with how we deal with whatever the number is and not be a partisan fight."

Gov. Jim Gibbons.LAS VEGAS - In the hectic scramble before the 25th Special Session of the Nevada state legislature convenes next week, Gov. Jim Gibbons' office is giving legislators a green light to come up with their own proposals to fix the state's budget shortfall.

"Anything that's a viable option, [legislators] will be able to consider," said Gibbons press secretary Ben Kieckhefer Wednesday. "If there's something that we weren't able to encapsulate for some reason in our proclamation or in the agenda we set forth, we'd be willing to amend it so it could be considered."

Control of the agenda is one of the strongest tools Gibbons holds to either push his own plan to fix the shortfall or support efforts by Republican allies. By sticking to his pledge that "no options are off the table," Gibbons could be inviting a drawn-out, acrimonious special session.

LAS VEGAS - Gov. Jim Gibbons' office announced today that the governor will hold an emergency budget meeting with legislative leaders and state officials on Thursday to discuss Nevada's worsening budget crisis.

"I believe we are in the midst of the worst fiscal crisis in the state's history," Gibbons said in a statement. "It's important that all state leaders are on the same page about where we stand and together we consider our options moving forward."