While the much of the attention of the legislative session that opens next week will be on the state's budget crisis, a top banker says lawmakers mustn't lose sight of the need to invest in Nevada's network of higher education.
A key decision, says Nevada State Bank President William Martin, will be development of the Nevada state college system.
Both the University of Nevada-Reno and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas increasingly see themselves as research institutions and will be raising their admission standards, Martin told members of the Northern Nevada Development Authority in Carson City last week.
That development calls for creation of a state college system focused on teaching and preparation of students who don't meet the admissions standards of the two universities, Martin said.
The state college system is off to a modest start with a single small campus at Henderson, and the school has drawn little attention in northern Nevada.
But Martin said the need for a state college system will become more apparent statewide as admission standards rise at the two big universities.
"It's an issue that's going to show up in northern Nevada," he said.
The Nevada State Bank president acknowledged that supporters of a state college system will face tough going in a legislative session dominated by budget problems.
"In tough economic times, it's easy to focus on short-term goals," Martin said.
But he said the long-term economic health of Nevada depends on its ability to provide a well-educated workforce, and lawmakers can't lose sight of the state's long-term needs while they deal with this year's issues.
In other remarks to the NNDA members, Martin noted: * The state's economy appears to be performing "very, very well," and that's reflected in delinquency rates on loans that are some of the lowest in his memory.
* Nevada is one of 44 states facing some type of budget crunch this year, and higher taxes on business are a strong likelihood.
"What we have always enjoyed, a very attractive tax environment for new business, is going to be effected by whatever system we devise," he said.
* Nevada State Bank, like other business organizations, still is sorting out the effects of the proposed gross receipts tax and will develop its position once those effects are detailed.
