Sandoval meets with protesters camping outside Nevada Legislature
CARSON CITY -- Gov. Brian Sandoval met Wednesday morning with students and activists in "Sandoville," a tent encampment on the lawn of the Legislative Building erected to protest the governor's policies.
Sandoval, a Republican, visited the tent city for about 25 minutes to deliver coffee and doughnuts to the protesters and get an earful from the group, which wants him to go back on his promise to oppose tax and fee increases.
"I think a recovering economy is the best thing for our state," Sandoval told about two dozen protesters gathered around a picnic table.
The visit came on the students' third and final scheduled day of encampment, during which they protested cuts to education and social services included in Sandoval's proposed $6.1 billion general fund budget for 2011-13.
"It is not because we have nothing to do, it is because we think this is serious business," Carla Castedo, a 23-year-old student at the University of Nevada, Reno, said of the protest. "We have jobs, we vote and yet we are not being heard."
Sandoval answered questions with examples of businesses, schools and communities he has visited that he said are recovering from the recession that sucked about 170,000 jobs out of the Nevada economy.
He said his promise to oppose tax increases will help the recovery continue by encouraging businesses to spend money hiring workers.
"That is what I am fighting for, to get people back to work, which will help solve all of these issues you brought up," Sandoval said.
Activist Laura Martin told Sandoval that fallout from his budget proposal will cause damage that he isn't acknowledging.
"You are very optimistic," Martin told Sandoval. "You visit these neighborhoods, and we live in them."
The protest comes as Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature are struggling to produce a budget of their own in time for the June 6 conclusion of the 120-day legislative session.
Democrats want to spend about $7u2007billion, a figure that includes about $571 million in new taxes on business revenue and services and $626 million from postponing the expiration date on existing taxes.
They would use the money to boost spending over Sandoval's proposal by about $700 million in grades K-12, $120u2007million in higher education and $80 million in health and human services.
Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at
bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.
