Budget deal still in the works

For the second time in two legislative days, the Higher Ed subcomittee cancelled its hearing to close the NSHE budget.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reports the discussion is over a 12% or a 13% cut, with Senator Horsford (and, we hear from other sources, Senator Coffin) making the case that education has been cut enough. Don't be impatient; the longer the negotiations continue, the better their chances of prevailing.

Also this afternoon, the General Government subcommittee of the Senate Finance committee pushed back its hearing of SB415, which authorizes state support of PEBP. This bill will set the formal dollar amounts and determine any changes in the policy governing qualification for retirement health care benefits. We're urging legislators not to raise the requirement to 15 years but instead to 10 or 12, out of recognition of the importance of this issue in recruiting mid- and late-career faculty from other institutions.