Teachers discover bizarre recipe for raises

Erin Neff

Wednesday, June 6, 2001 | 10:51 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada laws are chock full of ingredients they don't teach kids in civics classes.

Yet those very elements pervaded the 71st Legislature, which adjourned early Tuesday morning.

They were evident in the squashing of a bill supported by Henderson fourth graders who wanted to name the mustang as a state animal. And in the success some Northern Nevada high schoolers had in getting Orovada soil blessed with official status.

What makes soil more special than the animal who grazes on its plants? What did Orovada kids have that Henderson lacked?

Not courage.

Ranchers shot down the mustang bill when they worried granting the beast official state status could lead it down the environmental path toward protected species. And since grazing by wild mustangs takes dinner from the mouths of cattle, it also took a bill from the mouths of babes.

Never mind that Nevada issues game tags to hunt the current state animal -- the desert bighorn.

One of the most twisted examples of how an end product got into a casing suitable for consumption is a look at the tax that wasn't and the increased fees that were.

Long before anyone made the trek to the state capital for Gov. Kenny Guinn's State of the State address and the legislative session that followed, teachers and parents alike were decrying the state of schools.

Meanwhile, economic forecasts predicted a massive state budget shortfall (which turned out to be $121 million in this biennium) and restated the well-known fact that Nevada's tax structure is severely flawed.

The simple answer would be a shift from a dependence on sales tax revenue to more property taxes. But because none of the 63 lawmakers could win easy re-election on that plank, other ideas surfaced.

The Nevada State Education Association decided to launch an initiative petition seeking to raise business taxes to fund teacher raises in an effort to attract the estimated 1,200 instructors needed in Clark County alone.

Guinn helped fuel that effort when he outlined a proposed budget with raises for state and university employees, but not for teachers.

The teachers' union used the example to highlight the petition, and begged lawmakers to take action.

Two little problems showed up on the way to the pay raise. The first was the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the second was the state Supreme Court.

The chamber rallied against the initiative as unfair to business, and the high court struck the petition down as invalid.

The teachers' union began wining and dining the elected officials, encouraging someone to come up with a tax hike that would fund education. They were largely ignored.

On the last day lawmakers could introduce new bills, Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, and David Goldwater, D-Las Vegas, gave it a try with a proposal to shift motor vehicle taxes from local governments to schools.

Teachers said thanks, but local governments revolted with a public relations campaign fronted by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who denounced the plan and claimed it would force local governments to cut fire and police services.

The teachers kept griping, the chamber kept saying the issue needed study and lawmakers quietly said something had to be done. They just didn't know what.

Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas, decided to raise funds by hiking business fees. Fees aren't really taxes. And although the initial hike he proposed would cripple small businesses, the average person wasn't going to lose fire protection.

But small businesses have powerful lobbyists, too. They did their work and soon the fee proposal was undergoing another draft.

Then another. And another.

When James unveiled his final version, it was suddenly part of a big plan by Guinn to enhance education. The first step was James' proposal to raise sundry business fees. The second was stealing an auto rental bill sponsored by Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, to recapture money from that industry.

The overall package would fund teacher raises. Suddenly the other lawmakers thought they might be able to find some crazy fee to raise even more money.

So both of the other proposals fired up partisan battles over wording and amendments as legislative leaders searched for ways to increase the total revenue generated.

Finally, the money committees decided to approve an education funding plan complete with revenues obtained in the bills. It didn't matter that those bills hadn't passed and were the subject of political fighting.

Since the plans had been well covered by media, and the budget was suddenly based upon them, they had to pass.

Last-minute conference committees got the bills on solid ground, and they were finally approved early Tuesday among the last items in a frantic, closed session bogged down with reapportionment fighting.

It may not be chorizo or taste as good as kielbasa, but teachers think the plan will smell pretty good at summer barbecues.

And maybe it will whet some appetites for 2003.