Groups protest proposed budget cuts

Nevada branches of organizations from AARP to the AFL-CIO and Washoe Legal Services joined forces Monday to protest President George W. Bush's proposed federal budget cuts.

Jan Gilbert of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada said the proposals will cost Nevada $166 million over the next 10 years and that many of those cuts will hit the state's seniors, disabled and low-income children.

Carla Sloan of AARP said she was especially concerned about the president's proposed $60 billion in Medicaid reductions over the next decade. That program depends on both state and federal money.

"We want to make sure these cuts do not simply shift the burden to the states," she said.

Gov. Kenny Guinn said he and every other governor in the nation are just as concerned about the proposed federal cuts.

"Everybody's going to get hurt," he said, adding that both Republican and Democrat governors are together on the issue.

"We're all on the same line with this," he said. "We know we're going to lose something. We just want to make sure that the highest priorities don't get hurt."

Those, Guinn said, include Medicaid and other programs that serve seniors, the disabled, and people with low incomes.

He said they'll get their chance when they meet with the president Feb. 28 at the White House.

Veterans Advocate Chuck Fulkerson said he is worried because of the number of amputees and injured veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. He said reductions to their programs "fails to live up to our nation's obligations to veterans.

"It is truly without heart," he said.

Ken Lange, of the Nevada State Education Association, said cuts in education would damage or eliminate after-school and nutrition programs for low-income children, special reading and math programs among others.

Given the goals the president outlined for his No Child Left Behind Act, Lange said the cuts would "truly leave a trail of broken promises."

Danny Thompson of the AFL-CIO said 350,000 union members and their families might be affected by proposed budget's effects on health-care access and costs.

"All of our major conflicts have come over health care," he said.

n Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.