Teachers in Assembly say tax policy should be set by lawmakers

Tuesday, July 25, 2000 | 10:05 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Schoolteachers who serve in the Nevada Assembly believe the Legislature, not their union, should set tax policy for the state.

Two of the four members of the Assembly, who are teachers and members of the Nevada State Education Association, won't sign the union's business tax initiative petition. Two will sign but believe the Legislature should be the one dealing with tax policy.

The association is circulating an initiative petition to gain 44,009 signatures by Nov. 14 to force the 2001 Legislature to vote on starting a 4 percent net profits tax with the money going to the public schools. And if the Legislature refuses, it goes on the election ballot in 2002 for the voters to decide.

This puts the schoolteachers, who are union members and who serve in the Assembly, on the spot in an election year. So far it hasn't been raised as a campaign issue. But the incumbent Assembly members are already staking out their positions.

And in a related development, John Cummings, formerly the top paid executive of the education association and its chief lobbyist in the Nevada Legislature, has signed on with the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce to help lead the fight against the business tax. Cummings, while a lobbyist, was able to direct extra state money into the pockets of schoolteachers. But now he's pitted against his old employer.

Assembly members Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, and Bonnie Parnell, D-Carson City, won't sign the initiative petition. Assemblyman Doug Bache, D-Las Vegas, says he will sign to show support for the organization but added, "I don't think the initiative petition is the best way to enact tax policy."

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, intends to sign the petition and said it's time to put something before the Legislature. "It's forcing the debate instead of putting their heads in the sand and not dealing with the problem."

Despite these developments, the union says it is close to gathering the 44,009 required signatures. Claudia Salas, a spokeswoman for the education association, said, "We're confident we will meet our goal by the appointed time."

Asked if the association might take some type of action against union members who oppose the petition, Salas said, "No. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. But we hope any member that does take this stand has thoroughly read all the information we have provided and gives it a fair shot."

She said, "We are doing this for our members." But this petition is not going to be a litmus test on which to punish members who don't support it.

Anderson, whose wife is president of the Washoe County Teachers Association, which is a subsidiary of the state organization, said, "You won't find my name on the petition." But he added the teachers have a "legitimate cause." The issue, he said, needs to be addressed by the Legislature, not by an initiative petition.

Parnell, a long-time teacher and association member, said Monday she won't support either the union's proposed tax nor the plan by Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, who wants to raise the tax on Nevada's major casinos. "I support public education to the hilt," said Parnell. But she's against earmarking of the money for one special purpose.

Bache says he expects the taxation committees of the Legislature to "take a different course of action" from the two initiatives. "I would like to see an alternative that is satisfactory and something everybody can live with," he said.

Giunchigliani, a former president of the state association, believes petitions have "gotten out of hand." But the initiative by the teachers is a way to "bring forth public debate." She said Gov. Kenny Guinn has already noted the state is short of money. She said the Legislature needs to deal with the important issues. Without these petitions, "there would not be any debate generated," she said.