Governor Jim Gibbons applauded Republicans serving on the Legislative Interim Finance Committee for their leadership at yesterday’s (August 25) special IFC meeting.

Senator bill Raggio and Assemblywoman Heidi Gansert questioned issues raised by the Governor since the last IFC meeting on August 13, including the appropriateness of the action taken by the IFC on August 3, whether the IFC violated Nevada’s open meeting law, and why the IFC even scheduled to approve a work program already approved by the Governor by Executive Oder and under Nevada Law.

Republican legislators were unified in their position that the Governor has the authority to process work programs to push federal stimulus funding out to Nevada communities, and that IFC action was unnecessary.

“Our Republican legislators showed true leadership today.  They stood up for the Nevada Constitution.  They stood up for what is right.  They stood for the citizen’s of Nevada,” Gibbons said in the August 25 press release.  “With their support, I will continue to work to get federal stimulus funds out to Nevadans to maintain jobs and create new jobs for those out of work through no fault of their own.”

The governor plans to make a full financial report regarding the nine federal stimulus work programs he has already approved at the next regular meeting of the IFC on September 17, 2009, when these programs should be appropriately scheduled as information items for review by the IFC.