Senate Resolution No. 4–Senators Raggio and Titus

 

FILE NUMBER..........

 

Senate RESOLUTION—Acknowledging the petition for a Writ of Mandamus filed by the Governor of the State of Nevada requesting the Nevada Supreme Court to direct the Senate and Assembly to fulfill certain constitutional obligations.

 

    Whereas, Section 1 of Article 4 of the Nevada Constitution

provides that the legislative authority of the State of Nevada is

vested in a Senate and Assembly which shall be designated as the

Legislature of the State of Nevada; and

    Whereas, Sections 2 and 6 of Article 11 of the Nevada

Constitution require the Legislature of the State of Nevada to

provide for a uniform system of common schools and to provide for

the support and maintenance of those schools; and

    Whereas, In accordance with this constitutional duty to fund

schools, the Senate of the State of Nevada, during this 20th Special

Session of the Legislature, passed Senate Bill No. 4, to make

appropriations to the State Distributive School Account for the

purposes of class-size reduction, and Senate Bill No. 5, to apportion

the State Distributive School Account and to authorize certain

expenditures for educational purposes; and

    Whereas, Section 2 of Article 9 of the Nevada Constitution

requires the Nevada Legislature to provide by law for an annual tax

sufficient to defray the estimated expenses of the State for each

fiscal year and to provide for a tax that is sufficient, with other

sources of income, to pay the estimated expenses of the State; and

    Whereas, To carry out this constitutional duty, the Senate of

the State of Nevada, during the 20th Special Session, passed by a

constitutional two-thirds majority vote Senate Bill No. 2 and Senate

Bill No. 6, which together would provide for sufficient revenues to

ensure that the State Distributive School Account and the program

for class-size reduction are adequately funded; and

    Whereas, The Attorney General of the State of Nevada, on

behalf of the Governor of this state, has filed in the Supreme Court

of the State of Nevada a petition for the issuance of a Writ of

Mandamus that would direct the Legislature to act by a time certain

to comply with Section 6 of Article 11 and Section 2 of Article 9 of

the Nevada Constitution by appropriating an amount sufficient for

the support of the common schools and providing by law for an

annual tax that is sufficient to defray the estimated expenses of the

State for the fiscal years commencing on July 1, 2003, and July 1,

2004; and

    Whereas, During this 20th Special Session of the Nevada

Legislature, the Senate of the State of Nevada has carried out its

constitutional duties on behalf of the residents of this state by

passing legislation to support the common schools of this state and

to provide sufficient revenues for a balanced budget; now, therefore,

be it

    Resolved by the Senate of the State of Nevada, That this

body hereby acknowledges the filing by the Governor of the State of

Nevada of a petition for a Writ of Mandamus directing the Senate

and Assembly to fulfill their constitutional obligations to provide for

the support and maintenance of schools and for a balanced budget;

and be it further

    Resolved, That the members of the Senate hereby direct the

Legislative Counsel to take such actions as are necessary and

appropriate to respond on behalf of the Senate of the State of

Nevada to the Governor’s petition for a Writ of Mandamus; and be

it further

    Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate prepare and

transmit a copy of this resolution to the Clerk of the Supreme Court.

 

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