The Nevada State Legislature Building at the state Capitol complex on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, in Carson City, Nev. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto
CARSON CITY - - Lawmakers had their very first opportunity Wednesday to consider 2 sweeping costs proposed by Gov. Joe Lombardo, hearing more than 6 hours combined of statement late into the evening.

The costs, one encompassing much of the guv's education-focused goals and the other associated to governmental administration, existed in two different committees by Lombardo's Chief of Staff Ben Kieckhefer.

Joined by Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert, the former state senator fielded questions for roughly 2 hours from legislators on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee on Assembly Bill 400, an extensive education expense meant to act as a buddy to Lombardo's $2 billion budget proposal for a boost in financing for K-12 education over the biennium.

Press to expand alternatives

The proposed legislation, if passed, would make great on pledges made by Lombardo on the campaign path to broaden school choice, a policy that allows moms and dads to choose where their kids go to school regardless of their residence through a range of opportunities.

The bill would develop the Office of School Choice within the Department of Education, which would "function as a clearinghouse of readily available options and info for households," Kieckhefer stated.

The legislation would likewise increase financing for Opportunity Scholarships, which assist cover tuition for independent schools, and would broaden which families can access those scholarships. Tribal and local governments would have the ability to sponsor charter schools under the expense.

The proposed legislation would likewise fulfill a Lombardo campaign promise to reinstate the Read by Grade 3 program, and would create the Early Childhood Literacy and Readiness Account to fund "evidence-based" literacy programs.

The proposal also would increase financing for certain scholarships implied to deal with the state's instructor scarcity and would broaden the duties of the Commission on School Funding to include an accountability arm to guarantee dollars are used to increase student earnings.

Issue for public schools

Democrats on the committee raised interest in several arrangements of the costs. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, questioned why legislators should not put the cash towards the state's underfunded public school system.

Kieckhefer pressed back on his concern.

" You're not funding independent schools, he said. "You're moneying their children's education and you're providing the opportunity to select the academic environment that's finest matched for their child."

The expense drew assistance from the Nevada Republican Party, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and Power2Parent, to name a few.

" Parents with kids and stopping working schools are desperate to discover options. They include their names to long waiting lists for charter schools and magnet schools, wishing luck in the lotto," stated Power2Parent President Erin Phillips.

Numerous groups opposed the expense, including the Nevada State Education Association, the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional Technical Employees, the Public Employees Retirement System and Battle Born Progress.

" If I don't approve of the task that the firemens do, should I get my taxpayer dollars back?" asked Battle Born Progress Executive Director Annette Magnus. "That's not how taxes work. That's not how funding public education must work either."

‘‘ More active, more tactical, more responsive'

And it wasn't the only bill officials from the guv's office fielded questions about for over an hour.

Throughout the Senate Government Affairs hearing, Kieckhefer presented Senate Bill 431, a proposition from the governor that would make several changes to the executive branch and state workers in an effort to make the executive branch "more nimble, more tactical and more responsive," he stated.

The costs would get rid of the wage cap of 95 percent of the guv's salary in an effort to "create a more efficient pay structure," would increase the Rainy Day Fund cap from 20 percent to 30 percent and would create the Nevada Way Account, which is indicated to be utilized for critical facilities projects.

The proposed legislation would make several other changes, including creating a primary development officer, reorganizing the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, and developing the Office of Councils, commissions and boards.

Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on Twitter.