Bill sets up scholarship honoring late governor

CARSON CITY -- A memorial scholarship set up in honor of late Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn will be a lasting tribute to his legacy and passion for education, his widow said Wednesday.

Former first lady Dema Guinn testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Senate Bill 220. The bill authorizes the Kenny C. Guinn Memorial Scholarship, which will provide one Nevada college senior majoring in education with a $4,500 scholarship.

"He told people education wasn't on his agenda, it was his agenda," Dema Guinn said.

The son of a migrant family, Kenny Guinn often spoke of how his parents insisted they go to school as children, even if it was for just a short while wherever they were.

He worked his way through college and earned a doctorate. Through his career, he served as Clark County school superintendent and interim president at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Kenny Guinn also was a former bank chairman and utility company executive.

A former Democrat who turned moderate Republican, he served two terms as governor, ending in 2007. In 1999, he pushed for the creation of Nevada's Millennium Scholarship Program. Funded largely by tobacco settlement money, it has provided Nevada high school graduates up to $10,000 to go to college.

"Whenever he met a young person he would always ask them if they were going to be a Millennium Scholar," Dema Guinn said.

Kenny Guinn died in July after falling from the roof of his Las Vegas home while making repairs. He was 73.

After his death, the family requested donations to a new scholarship account within the Millennium Scholarship program. To date, about $120,000 has been donated, including a $5,000 check Dema Guinn brought to Carson City on Wednesday.

Trustees of the state's college saving program will choose the recipient each year. Recipients must be Millennium Scholars in their senior year, have a 3.5 grade point average and be committed to becoming a teacher in Nevada.

SB220 was passed by the committee Wednesday and taken up as an emergency action on the Senate floor, where it received unanimous approval.

Dema Guinn and the late governor's sister, Shirley Blair, were in Senate chambers as the bill was passed.

As governor, Kenny Guinn "made education the hallmark of his administration and fought for it in good times and bad," said Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas.

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, who serves as president of the Senate, said Kenny Guinn was adamant about education and relentless in his pursuit of the Millennium Scholarship program. Krolicki was state treasurer at the time and helped set up the program.

"Thank you so very much," Krolicki told the Guinn family members. "This is from the heart, and we miss him terribly."