Some Nevada government jobs could be in question.

The State of Nevada is hoping to cut $73 million from its budget in a effort to make it through the current recession, according to an article by KRNV. The state currently has a plan to consolidate its government, avoid salary increases and downsize the state’s workforce, meaning layoffs are most likely coming.

“The most important thing is: Government of the future will look different than it does today,” Chief Spokesman Dan Burns said in the article. “We’ll do everything we can to not lay people off.”

The state recently announced it had to decrease in size because revenue forecasts don’t look good. A recent special session approved cuts, fund transfers and a $160 million credit line to cover a $340 million shortfall until mid-2009. On top of that, upcoming mergers could force some workers to be laid off. One idea includes merging the Commission on Tourism and Commission on Economic Development, as well as other parts of the state government.

“I can’t give you a list of what’s going to be changed or what’s going to be merged,” Burns added, maintaining instead that government will look different and slim down.

Overall, the state plans to cut its budget by 34 percent, a move that could cut hundreds of jobs, with State Health and Human Services taking the majority of the cuts. Cuts in state government are likely to trickle down to local governments.
“We’re in a little better position than the state,” Carson City Mayor Marv Teixeira said in the article. “The state takes a double hit. It’s sales tax that we live and die on.”

According to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nevada’s government industry employed 163,700 workers during October, up from 163,300 during September, and an increase of 3.7 percent from last year.