NSHE student pleas reach legislators in joint hearing

March 24, 2011 by Haley Etchison 

Testimonies highlight current economics, individual struggles

As college students and higher education advocates from across Nevada gathered outside the Legislature building in Carson City on Monday, some were already speaking to lawmakers about alternatives to what some are calling a “selective tax.”

At a special hearing before a joint meeting of the Senate Finance and the Assembly Ways and Means Committees, student leaders and their allies called on state decision-makers to reject Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget proposal, which would likely result in fee increases across the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Kyle George, president of UNLV’s Graduate and Professional Student Association and chair of the Nevada Student Alliance, told the committee chaired by Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Reno, that amid popular calls for no new taxes, students are being asked to shoulder an unfair portion of the responsibility for balancing the state’s budget.

“There has been a selective tax in the form of student tuition and fees,” George said, “… and today we say, ‘No more.’”

In accordance with the NSA’s official stance, George called for exploration of new funding options at the state level in lieu of proposed cuts.

“Restore funding to NSHE and explore funding options,” he told the committee.

The NSA has not taken an explicit stand against cuts of all kinds to higher education, but some students argued that the revenue solution would eliminate the problem of NSHE funding altogether.

“Raising revenue would make it possible to not make any cuts,” said Stacy Shin, a social work graduate student from the University of Nevada, Reno who also works for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.

Jessica Lucero, a Ph.D. student in English at UNLV who served as GPSA president for the 2009-2010 school year, told the lawmakers that asking students to pay more would mean a downgrade for the state.

“Nevada will be the only state in this nation that does not offer affordable higher education to its students,” she said, referring to the possibility that the Legislature could pass a budget containing cuts similar to Sandoval’s recommendations.

Some students offered personal stories to show the committee how increasing the cost of higher education would make it difficult or impossible for them to finish college. Others argued that regardless of the human cost of the proposed cuts, Sandoval’s budget would be bad for business.

“If no taxes were honestly the key to business creation in the state of Nevada, we would be absolutely flooded,” said Christopher Gmereck, another UNR graduate student in social work. He argued that a strong public education system would attract job-makers more than low business taxes, adding that if NSHE is strong, he will consider staying in Nevada to start a private practice after he earns his degree.

However, the prospect of continuing to provide quality education to Nevadans would be diminished if NSHE is asked to endure the proposed $163 million reduction in state funding over the next biennium, argued Brandon Bishop, speaker of the Senate for the UNR undergraduate student government.

“We’ve outpriced education in the state at an alarming rate,” he said, referring to year-upon-year increases in student fees at every NSHE institution since 2007, amounting to cost hikes of up to 53 percent.

Horsford, who has been a vocal opponent of the executive recommendations regarding higher education funding since the release of Sandoval’s budget, asked students at the hearing to lend accounts of their personal struggles to the discussion on the effects of the proposition.

Students from Western Nevada College alluded to a controversial recommendation to consolidate institutions in order to preserve services at UNLV, UNR and some community colleges. They said they could not afford to attend UNR or the Northern Nevada junior college Truckee Meadows Community College.

Others told the committee that they work two and three jobs to make ends meet and that increased costs would count them out of higher education entirely.

Two sisters attending UNR, who testified that they work three jobs apiece and go to school full-time, argued that the lawmakers are morally culpable for the actions they take and suggested that reducing access to college by demanding funding cuts would be tantamount to inhumanity.

“You are saying with senseless and bureaucratic actions that we are not worth it,” one said. “… You want nothing to do with us.”

She called on the legislators to consider tax reform rather than slashing NSHE allocation.

“Actions not words, ladies and gentlemen. That’s what we elected you for,” she said. “… And we’re worth it.”

Horsford thanked all those who testified for their support of higher education, and he restated his opposition to the executive recommendations.

“You are worth it,” he said. “[Your testimony] is important so we can hear what [message] our action or inaction sends to you.”

Still, other testimonies alluded to inequality in the executive budget’s allocations.

“If hope were a person, a lot of you would be locked up for murder,” said Lydia Scherr, pointing out that acceptance of Sandoval’s plan, which she characterized as immoral, would disadvantage higher education while increasing funding to state prisons — a service that ostensibly would be in less demand by a more educated citizenry.

Scherr’s comment drew a laugh from attendees of the joint committee hearing but prompted Horsford to comment on its irony.

“We will fund prisons but we won’t fund your education,” he said, alluding to Scherr’s later argument that investing in higher education would decrease crime in Nevada.

Horsford said Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget would send $11 million more to prisons in the next biennium.

Meanwhile, the executive plan would reduce state support for NSHE by 16.3 percent in the 2011-2012 fiscal year (from $558 million in fiscal year 2010-2011 to $467 million) and by an additional 29 percent in the 2012-2013 fiscal year (to $395 million).

Sandoval has expressed that the best way to improve the state is to encourage the development of business through lower taxes.

Haley Etchison reports on the Nevada System of Higher Education for The Rebel Yell. Contact her at news@unlvrebelyell.com.