CARSON CITY, NV (FOX5) -
First term Gov. Brian Sandoval made his second State of the State address Wednesday evening, following two years of recovery in the Silver State.
"The last two years have been a success story, not fully realized, but undeniably on track," Sandoval said in a 45-minute address to the legislature.
Sandoval said the state is growing stronger every day and is more than half way toward his goal of creating 50,000 new jobs by the end of 2014.
"Nevada's employers have created nearly 30,000 new jobs in the last two years," he remarked. "And, in October-November of 2012, Nevada's job growth was the second strongest in the nation."
It wasn't all positive news, however, as the governor acknowledged that education is still a major problem. Using photos of second-graders to illustrate his point, Sandoval pledged to take steps to ensure that every child in Nevada can read by the third grade, and he plans to spend $20 million to do it.
"My budget, therefore, includes an aggressive expansion of all-day kindergarten among the state's most at-risk schools."
The governor also pressed the need to grow the graduation rate and boost investment in programs to recruit top teachers.
"We're very disappointed in the direction he seems to want to take education," said Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada State Education Association, following Sandoval's speech.
Peck believes a better idea is to increase state revenue and dedicate that money to K-12. One way the NSEA would like that to happen is through The Education Initiative, which would impose a 2 percent margins tax on business revenue.
"The governor himself acknowledged that what he is proposing constitutes very small, incremental, first steps in the direction we need to be headed," Peck argued. "And the problem is, in that process, we're going to leave tens of thousands of children behind."
State Senate Majority Leader Mo Denis shared his thoughts on Sandoval's speech in a recorded response.
"With very little new revenue, we don't know how the governor plans to pay for these expenditures while cutting taxes," Denis said.
Sandoval's proposed budget calls for $6.5 billion over the next two years - an increase over the last budget.
But, he pledged not to support new taxes on employers.
"We cannot cut our way out. We cannot tax our way out. We can only grow our way out," Sandoval remarked.
The 120-day legislative session begins in February.
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