Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo sparked a budget firestorm ahead of the legislative session by proposing a budget with a deficit and naming a recent budget chief.
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo replaced his budget chief just days before Nevada lawmakers convene on Feb. 3 for his or her regular legislative session, where they are going to discuss the governor’s budget proposal.
The identical day he made the announcement, Lombardo, a Republican, faced criticism from Senate majority leader Nicole Cannizzaro, a Democrat, for proposing a deficit budget.
Lombardo’s proposed $12.7 billion budget, she said in a budget subcommittee, would create a $335 million deficit. The state’s structure requires lawmakers pass a balanced budget.
Democrats retained control of each houses in Carson City in November, continuing the divided government that has existed since Lombardo’s 2022 election.
“I even have been here for a brief bit, and I cannot recall a time where the governor sent the Legislature a budget that just simply didn’t add up,” Cannizzaro, an eight-year veteran of the state Senate, told the Nevada Independent. “I’m very nervous about what this process looks like going into the legislative session, and the way we fix this, and pass a budget.”
Lombardo announced in a press release Tuesday that he had promoted Tiffany Greenameyer to director of the governor’s Office of Finance, replacing Amy Stephenson.
“Tiffany’s deep expertise in budget and monetary issues can be an incredible asset, and I stay up for her leadership,” Lombardo said in a press release.
Greenameyer was deputy director for fiscal services on the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, where she provided oversight over fiscal, audit, budget development and contracting activities. She has worked in high level state positions for greater than 20 years, including as deputy director within the Governor’s Finance Office, based on the governor’s office.
The state has a part-time legislature and meets every two years for a 120-day session to approve a biennium budget.
In his roughly 45-minute State of the State speech Jan. 15, Lombardo proposed making teacher pay raises everlasting, splitting the state’s health care agency, enhancing crime-fighting and spending $1 billion on housing.
Lombardo’s fiscal 2025-27 budget represents a 9% increase from the last budget, but he says the state has accrued a record-high reserve fund of $1.3 billion.
In contrast, the state rainy day fund reached $904 million headed into budget negotiations for the 2023-25 biennium, Nevada Treasurer Zach Conine told The Bond Buyer on the time.
Lawmakers have until June 2 to pass a budget. The method, which involves separate bills for major budget priorities, often begins with passage of the K-12 education budget bill, then a bill funding state agencies, and eventually a capital improvement budget.
Nevada general obligation bonds are rated on the AA-plus level across the board, based on the State Treasurer’s Office.