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Published Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010 | 2:10 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010 | 2:48 p.m.
Bill Raggio
In a brief interview today, Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said the state’s budget crisis is so great that a tax increase and an extension of the temporary 2009 tax increase may be necessary to keep government afloat.
Raggio’s comments came amid a growing chorus of state officials saying the reality of Nevada’s looming $3 billion shortfall will necessitate a tax increase.
“I do think we will have to have some infusion of new revenue,” Raggio said today. “But first, we must determine the essential services at the state level.”
Raggio also said lawmakers will have to consider lifting the sunset on the 2009 tax increase, which could take care of nearly a third of the budget hole. Raggio, whose vote was critical to passing the 2009 tax increase, insisted that the tax hike be temporary.
Last week, Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, said a $1.5 billion tax increase and $1.5 billion in spending cuts would be needed in 2011.
On Friday, state budget director Andrew Clinger agreed a tax increase would be needed to balance the state budget, but has since backed off those comments. He now says the budget could be balanced if state lawmakers looked to local governments for revenue and new services.
Meanwhile, both gubernatorial candidates continue to vow not to raise taxes during the state’s worst recession since the Great Depression.
Mary-Sarah Kinner, spokeswoman for Republican Brian Sandoval, said Saturday that Sandoval would veto any budget that came with a tax increase.
Democrat Rory Reid said he refuses to speculate on what he would do in such a scenario, but repeated his promise not to raise taxes.
No courage anywhere.
In 2009, Bill Raggio stopped Nevada Senate Bill 398 which could save hundreds of millions of dollars by diverting low-level drug offenders to probation instead of prison.
So much for being fiscally conservative.
Any tax increase MUST be coupled with long-term budget and spending reforms.
Give me the budget. I could balance it without raising taxes.
That's like saying my small business has lower revenues (which it does), so I should raise prices.
God forbid we actually cut the size of government. He does realize that there is 14% unemployment right? That means you have 14% less people able to pay whatever tax increase you create. Idiots....everyone needs to sacrifice, except government.
Billy Boy how about you show us a billion dollars in cuts first as a good faith effort to show taxpayers you have the intestinal fortitude to do what private business has done. Just because all of you are standing in lock step now advocating more taxes that doesn't in any way indicate that we're going to go along. Put your pom-poms down and get to work. Frankly I'm tired of paying everyone else's mortgage payments and seeing my money go to fix up decrepit homes that are then resold to low income folks while I struggle to maintain my home.
How about this headline in rebuke:
"Taxpayers warn of a storm on the Horizon in November for Politicians"
or
"Public Employees May Feel More Pain Since Private Sector Trapped Under Regulatory Boot of Government Gone Wild"
How about eliminating lifetime pensions for public employees who actually only work for 20 years.
Let them eat cake, RAISE ALL TAXES NOW, FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL! GOVERNMENT WORKERS COME FIRST, PENSIONS, LIFE TIME HEALTH CARE.
Redraw the boundary to about Mercury and give Vegas to California. That oughta solve the budget problem.
stop giving money to welfare moms. problem solved.
lets see,,,14.8% unemployment and they'll raise everyones taxes? only one person said cut $1.5 billion in spending and increase $1.5 billion in taxes..everyone else talks of raising taxes..if people can't afford it now, what makes them think they can afford it in another few months?
No worries, the Fed is giving states facing short falls, billions of dollars in state aid. The states that the good sense to manage their money well will have to bailout the loosers. Just passed the House today.
LasVegas2009 must of been one of the fired teachers last year.
Anyone whose informed would probably agree that Arizona leans to the right politically, especially after the passage of the state's immigration law.
Well guess what? In that same election AZ voters passed a SALES TAX INCREASE with 54% approval, an increase from 5.6 to 6.6 per dollar. The same people, many conservatives, who voted to have Latinos questioned about citizenship decided to do the right thing and prevent more severe cutbacks of govt services and teachers.
In other words sanity won out over rigid "JUST SAY NO!" ideology.
"Today, Pelosi and crew TOOK FOOD MONEY from millions, to keep UNION teachers in pencils.
Nice try, biggie, but you know full well, that the package passed was a combination of aid for public workers (including teachers, firefighters, police, paramedics and state workers in stated that were on the verge of laying them off), and aid to close the gap in Medicaid for states.
The price tag for this aid was balanced by closing the loophole that large corporations were using to avoid paying anything in taxes (think about it - BP as a company has the right to sue, if anyone besmirches it's name, can donate unlimited amounts of money to any political candidate, yet because of this tax loophole pays less in income tax that your average McDonald's worker. this is the loophole that was closed by the bill. No federal money was tapped - not even the repaid TARP money.
It would be so nice if you would stop LYING TO THE PEOPLE - it might bolster your credibility. You are free to show us your FACTS, where you got your claim. However, I know you will come back with some useless ad hominem attack, which proves your ignorance.
fire away.
Bill Raggio is one of the last statesmen this state has and probably will have, now that it appears both parties have retreated into their ideological corners and refuse to negotiate and/debate on anything. The Dems seem to want to do everything for everybody and the Republicans... well... just seem to hate everybody.
I can only hope that those who will actually attempt to solve these problems have more intelligence and compassion than all of us who post on this board, cause most of us don't have a clue what we're talking about... just read the posts!
Thanks very much for stating what is obvious to virtually all! Someone has the courage to state that we cannot pay our obligations without an infusion of new revenue.
who's going to pay it no one is working stupid idea cut the cost of the polticins salries
Just can't trust them lying GOPers. "No new taxes", he promised. They've been sticking it to us in small portions all along.
The $1.5 billions in spending cuts could be easily achieved by cutting them six figure salaries of our government workers down to five figures. It's absolutely absurd to pay $1,7225,44.70 on salaries for two UNLV head coaches. It's amazing to see what salaries our public employees pulling. The private sector has been bleeding profusely, while the public sector is living the high live.
See for yourself:
Source: http://transparentnevada.com/salaries/
He looks like a flaccid penis about to deflate. Let's just hope it happens before he gets a chance to screw Nevada again.
Republicans are not good with Money. Bush crashed the economy and now Nevada republicans are demanding tax increases.
Chunky says:
How about cutting the budget to match your revenue?
Chunky also predicts a storm of backlash on the horizon come election time!
That's what Chunky thinks!
Chunky adds:
Please don't send Vegas to the Californians! Chunky likes his freedom!
That's what Chunky thinks!
Every cut in govt. services = more lost jobs (& less services). Each lost job = lost revenue. Each lost revenue = more cuts to govt. services.
Not the Nevada I want to live in.
I'm not afraid of the boogyman (taxes), but we must demand transparency in govt. spending. Every expenditure, including amount, should be posted on their websites.
Raggio is a moron like the rest of the clowns in the legislature. They have been screwing your state over. Keep voting for the Reids, Sandovals, and other parasites that have been breeding and running rampant over your rights and there will be no more Nevada. Insolent people wake up and heed my warning already. If the other founding fathers were this messed up you would be english citizens still.
Nobody, leastwise the author of the article, explained it very well. The $3B is (roughly) (a) $1B in taxes you ALREADY pay, but are supposed to go down, (b) a half billion in federal stimulus money that goes away, (c) a half billion in accounting tricks they can't do again, and (d) $1.5B in cuts they've already made.
Assuming today's bill in Congress flys, we might get (b) back again. They could steal $0.5B from the cities and counties. Stop the taxes from going down, and leave the current cuts in place, and the budget is balanced.
The downside of doing that is it makes DMV keep shorter hours, it makes the county and cities lay off workers, and it keeps the 30% budget cut in place for UNLV.
Frankly, I am glad that Senator Raggio has the cajones to tell the truth about the state of affairs in Nevada. All you people crying about paying taxes, really, what taxes do you pay? No income tax, a small amount of sales tax on certain items, but the heavy lifting of taxes in this states is done by tourists. So, we need to make it more fair to everyone than to place the burden on tourists and state workers. And these people who think all the state workers are making six-figure salries, get a grip! Most state workers are paid well below those in the private sector, not matter what the LV Chamber of Commerce and the Sage Commission tell you.
Also, in case some of you don't know, many state agencies are funded through fees and receive no General Fund monies.
As usual, there are those AM Radio people who look at a news story and immediately bring other political issues into the forum. This is a news story about Nevada and has noting to do with Wahington, D.C., Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Bush, Cheney, Clinton, Carter, Reagen or Abe Lincoln.
yukonstevespeaktruth.
Blood sucking Democrat party big government socialist commie tax and spend elitists!
What, Republican you say?
It's good for Nevada. I support this measure 100%.
There is no end to the folly that the de-stimulating stimulus bill has wrought. Not only has unemployment consistently remained at 9.5 percent and above, but hundreds of thousands of additional potential workers have just given up looking. Some analysts say the real unemployment rate is above 15 percent.
The folly of the stimulus spending..... On the list is $554,760 for the Forest Service to replace windows in a closed visitor's center at Mount St. Helens, $762,372 to create Dance Draw interactive dance software, $62 million for a tunnel to nowhere in Pennsylvania that the state's Democrat Governor Ed Rendell called a "tragic mistake," $1.9 million for international ant research and $308 million for a joint clean energy venture with BP.
Tragically, there are many more just like these. And what's worse, the money that didn't go to this type of foolishness was used to pay off Obama's union thug supporters like the Service Employees International Union
huh:
If you think its proper to manage a small business like a $7B state budget, its no wonder your having problems with your business.
gbigs, I can't figure out if your thick headed or misrepresent the facts intentionally. The tax hike passed yesterday was to close loopholes for "exporting jobs". It won't cost jobs, it will stop them from being sent overseas! Are incapable of understanding any nuance?
athun:
Your 100% correct that there is waste in government. The examples you cite and many more are all part of the patronage system in our governement. The problem is that your facts are pulled out of context by some right wing think tank like NPRI that is paid to carry the water of big corporations.
The reality is that despite the $1 B or so in waste, the Stimulus saved millions from being added to unemployment lines. Nevada alone received over $1B to avoid layoffs of teacher, firefighters, cops, corrections officers etc. The bill also provided both tax cuts and tax incentives to small businesses which hire far more than big businesses. Had that not happened, had that bill and the auto bailout not happened, the Congressional Budget Office (the non-partisan part of congresssional staff) estimates that unemployment nationally would have been close to double what it is. The drain on the economy from the reduction in consumer spending would have doubled the length of the contraction in GDP and unemployment costs would have pushed state budgets into oblivion. There is uniform agreement among economic professionals (outside of right wing think tanks sponsored by corporate interests) that without the stimulus and the auto bailout, we would be in a long term depression.
Personally, if the price of a stimulus bill to save millions of jobs amd keep us out of a depresssion is a billion in pork, I'm not willing to throw the baby out with the bath water. Our per capita share of that pork is less than $5.00 per person over two years. Where do I send the check? If keeping our schools open and operating at a reasonable level and keeping cops and firefighters on the job is keeping last years $800M tax hike and adding another $700M with new revenue, lets not discourage prospective employers looking at opening or relocating to seek out other states that don't solve their problems by taking an ax to the state budget.
The rhetoric touting all things government =bad has become a nightmare in this country by stupid, ignorant people who post about Obama's illegal presidency, democratic conspiracies, etc. etc.
The negativity and misdirected rage is enough to keep talented and bright people away from working in government so the idiocy of the Angles of the world can be welcomed in.
This man served your government for thirty years and I appreciate his commitment and dedication to Las Vegas as it moved from backwater status to one of the nations largest cities.
Those who complain, rage and rail against government will have your wish, the crumbling of the country's infrastructure, education, the corruption of business (not government) and the dumbing down of the general population drives us to third world status quicker than imaginable.
Now, thank the Chief for his thirty years of service, gracefully, and your stupidity will be rewarded soon enough.
cnev
I think you missed the point. While you are correct that the right sees all things government=bad, what they are really saying here is, don't ask me to pay to keep essential state services afloat becuase i'm selfish and I have swallowed hook line and sinker the myth that our incredibly low state tax structure will bring jobs to Nevada but if you tax large Nevada businesses, the price of a Big Mac will automatically jump and cost more than it would in other states.
I used to think you could cure "stupid" but posts here by the right are proving me wrong.
Many thanks to a Traditional republican, Bill Raggio for speaking the truth to the Nevada citizens.
Bill Raggio is like Ulysses S. Grant.
Lincoln sent Grant some whiskey or Bourbon and another General complained to Lincoln. Lincoln responded by basically saying "If I thought that Bourbon/Whiskey would help you fight, I would send you some."
Were can I find this utopia of a place that has small or no government, no taxes, no schools, no EPA, no police,fireman, No sewer system, running water etc. etc. etc.
Lets try Mogadishu Somalia, Ahh that's paradise there my friends. No worries there, You will be on your own, You can even carry as many guns as you please.
If someone comes and takes something of yours well handle it your self cause there ain't no police.
Taxes are needed unless you like living in Anarchy Park.
Nevada's looming $3 billion shortfall ???
What have the GOP told you in the past?????
"If you cut taxes you will increase revenue"
Let us SEE the GOP cut taxes to fill a 3 BILLION dollar hole. Prove to the people that cutting taxes will increase revenue to cover a 3 billion dollar debt.Cut the heck out of taxes and reap a bonanza of revenue to pay the debt. BawHaHaHa!!!
Lastthroes: And our sales tax is over 8%, significantly more than the new higher AZ rate. So what's your point, because they raise theirs we must do so too?
Many governments raise taxes on those who can afford to pay to get out of a recession or Depression.
Many of he rich and very rich no longer are the stewards of our society. They have lost the art of creating a rising tide that lifts all boats.
The bush/cheney tax cuts benefited the richest 400 by $700,000,000,000 over the eight years of the illegal miserable failure administration of bush/cheney.
The excuse for thos tax cuts was they were supposed to invest in the manufacturing infrastructure that would make us more competitive. That was pure Hooey.
They took the money and bought Euro's and when the dollar plummeted they made out like bandits. Then they invested in the Wall St. stock market fraud and when it collapsed they should have taken a haircut, but they were bailed out.
A lot of the tax cut was borrowed money that increased the deficit/National Debt. The citizen taxpayer was left holding the bag by having to pay interest on that National Debt increase to foreign countries and business entities.
We are not going to get out of this deep recession unless those tax cuts are restored back to where they were before bush/cheney, or even higher.
The middle class and the working class just do not have the funds to get us out of this economic morass because all the money has flowed upward and very little has trickled down over the last 25 plus years.
As to Steven Smith fire chief you can look up their earnings at
http://transparentnevada.com/
Type in any name, Doug Gillespie, Steven Smith etc.
Below is Nevada news bureau report on the newer pew report
http://www.nevadanewsbureau.com/2010/03/...
I have a simple solution; and remember federal law including bankruptcy trumps all city, county, state so if a federal judge nullifies the current contracts the unions will be left with fight or compromise because they could loose EVERYTHING IN A BANKRUPTCY.
SOLUTION SIMPLE; file bankruptcy, admit we are broke, FIRE all public personnel and re-hire any who wish to work for the national average (NV cost-of-living is 100 or exactly national average) GIVE same benefits , pay, pensions or- lack- there- of;; that the private sector gets. AND for those who whine say "thanks 4 your service and BYE BYE" and get rid of the wh0res called politicians who put the citizens in this place by selling themselves for the public unions votes to keep them in office
1. Time is soooon to be here that HUGE decisions will be made because we have the largest budget shortfall in the U.S. and by a factor of 3 times the national average. Most money is spent on people and pensions so the wh0res who sold out Nevada to the unions will have to admit the gravy train stops here. The state will no doubt steal $ from the cities and counties and those wh0res will have to admit to the public unions that the gravy train stops here.
There are easy ways to fix this problem but it takes brains and not arrogence.
I could explain the simple fix for revenues but U will never get there if U can not start w/ salaries, pensions, illegas and the wh0re politicians
BANKRUPTSY must be decared, all gov. employees contracts and pensions must be nullified.
public employees need to be fired en mass and rehired at the national average (no execeptions)
NV needs a law for illegals like Arizona as those illegas are on the move and coming here
We are 3 billion short and loose at least 1 billion because of illegals alone, if u can't start with the obvious u will NEVER get there
Since the largest parts of budgets are personnel, start with the most egregious;
FIRE FIGHTERS AND COPS
The solution is SIMPLE; FILE BANKRUPTCY, FIRE all cops and FF, offer to re-hire at the national average 50K, THIS IS SALARY-NO OVERTIME-they can work what is needed or "THANKS and goodbye"...AND NATIONAL AVERAGE means they get the same sort of pensions private sector on average gets, same insurance, contribute the same to their retirement. Hell it cost 23% more to live in Boston and they work for 50K. You can have 3 FF at 50K or 1 pampered baby at 150K. Note 70% of all FF in U.S. are volunteers. Then move onto the rest of the employees and do the same with them.
Finally remember the bought and paid for elected officials who brought us here.