Nevada's budget is so deep in the red that by one account the state could layoff every worker paid from the general fund and it still must deal with a $300 million deficit. The economic downturn has struck so hard that prisons may be shut down, while colleges close and thousands get stuck without jobs.

"Against this backdrop of an imploding economy and an $881 million shortage," the Washington Post reports that, "Gov. Jim Gibbons will try ina na emergency 'State of the State' address Monday to exxplain the depth of the state's financial crisis and how to fix the gaping hole in the budget."

It looks ugly. Nevada maintains a heavy dependence upon discretionary spending through gambling and sales taxes, which has bee particularly hard hit by the recession as gamblers and tourists hold on to their cash. Nevada's unemployment rate has struck 13 percent, and a one-time booming housing market that created thousands of high-paying construction jobs has gone to bust, with Nevad topping the country in foreclosures.

According to the Washington Post, "in his address, Gibbons plans to call the Legislature into a special session in late February and instruct lawmakers on areas they can focus on. It will be left to the state Assembly and Senate to tackle painful education and social services cuts."

Daniel Burns, a spokesman for Gov. Gibbons, said, "Nevadans need to get used to the idea of shrinking state government."

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D.-North Las Vegas, confessed that Nevada must contend with "very, very ugly" choices. He will give the Legislature's response immediately after Gov. Gibons' televised 6 p.m. speech.

To read the entire article from the Washington Post, link here:

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