Bills making counties pay discussed
CARSON CITY — Members of a Senate panel said Wednesday that they were moved by the plight of the state’s mental health court system, which provides mentally ill offenders with a second chance to get their lives under control and avoid the revolving door of prison.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted not to recommend Senate Bill 469, which would push the burden of funding the $6 million program to cash-strapped counties. But the program faces an uphill battle before a budget committee.
“I know we’re all in a financial crisis,” said Sen. Don Gustavson, R-Sparks. “But we need to find a way to make this work.”
It was one of two bills discussed Wednesday that would implement some of the most feared cuts in the governor’s $5.8 billion proposed budget. The other was SB476, which would require counties to foot the $24 million bill for juvenile corrections over the next biennium; opponents said it amounts to “an annihilation of the juvenile justice system.”
Representatives from county governments said they can’t afford all the programs the budget proposes pushing on to their tabs. In this case, they said, it could lead to unequal services between richer and poorer counties.