End of applause

Last fall, during the NFA endorsement process, the southern NV endorsement committee spent quite a bit of time on one particular race, that for state senate district 12. We found compelling reasons to support both candidates -- and said so publicly at the time.

We are now ending our applause.

The republican candidate in that race, during the campaign, publicly asserted his support for a balanced approach to the state budget, and specifically to funding for education.

He said publicly that he would support not just maintaining current levels of taxation but increased taxes -- so long as they did not burden business.

But now, presumably because it is time for the "endgame", he is refusing to discuss any budget other than the Governor's proposal to give a tax windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars to gaming, mining and out of state retail corporations.

A windfall those same companies by and large said today they do not need and do not want.

This Republican Senator of course represents a district that has two NSHE campuses both facing severe cut backs, both of which have been concerned about possible closure of a site or even the entire campus.

So there is every reason for NFA members, NSHE faculty and students, and anyone concerned with simply the future of our state to ask Senator Joe Hardy -- what happened?