We're in the final stretch of the Legislative Session and tensions are high.
It was minutes before midnight on Thursday when Republican Governor Joe Lombardo vetoed the $7-billion dollar state Appropriations Act -- a bill drafted by the democratic-controlled legislature.
Bottom line - a lot of people are going to feel this if this budget doesn't pass.
It's a sweeping funding package for the state government of of Nevada to administer critical services, like foster care, Medicaid, veteran's housing assistance, University of Nevada Reno, and benefits for our National Guard.
On Saturday the Senate Finance committee reintroduced it as SB511, giving legislators now just three days to push it through before the ultimate deadline of June 5th.
Democrats are slamming Governor Joe Lombardo for vetoing the $7 billion appropriations budget, saying he's putting politics before Nevadans.
"It's appalling and it's devastating. We have spent months working on these budgets to pass bills that reflect a balanced budget. These aren't conversations that started when the legislative session started, the money committees started meeting before to hear from state agencies on what their needs were, so these conversations have been ongoing for more than four months," said (D-Las Vegas) Majority Floor Leader Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui.
Lombardo and republicans argue the democrats' appropriation budget falls short of fiscal balance and responsibility because it utilizes one-time money to fund recurring programs which creates the potential for Nevada to face a fiscal cliff.
"I mean we have a lot of money, no doubt. But, it needs to be spent on things that we do one-time. You know, we can't fund ongoing things with money we aren't going to have come in," said (R-Sparks) Assemblywoman Jill Dickman.
Democrats are pushing back, saying not only is Lombardo incorrect but that he contradicted himself in his veto statement.
"They are sustainable. We passed a balanced budget that the state can afford and largely based on the recommendations and the priorities that were in his recommended budget. The governor acknowledges that in his veto statement that this budget reflects the priorities that were in my recommended budget," said Jauregui.
Senate democrats tells us their the plan is to introduce the exact same budget.
But republicans says where it stands now, it is not acceptable.
"What I have seen and been told it's almost the exact same verbiage and so there's going to be ongoing talks as there has been you know to this point, so we'll see what happens, I really hope that they can come to table and support the Governor so we can all move together on a bill that works for our state," said (R-Dayton) Assemblyman Ken Gray.
With just three days until "Sine Die," sources tell us the budget stalemate could force a specials session.
In a worst case scenario, if this budget is not passed by July 1st some state employees could go unpaid and state programs un-funded.
