Columnist Jon Ralston: Garcia to lawmakers on taxes: ‘We Can’t Wait’

Wednesday, March 14, 2001 | 8:36 a.m.

Jon Ralston, who publishes the Ralston Report, writes a column for the Sun on Sundays and Wednesdays. Ralston can be reached at 870-7997 or through e-mail at ralston@vegas.com

SO CARLOS Garcia has decided to do what the governor, legislators and business leaders refuse to do on the Great Tax Question: talk.

As everyone else participates in a craven conspiracy of silence, the Clark County schools superintendent has decided to pull out his megaphone. And when he appears in front of two legislative committees today, Garcia will emphasize a theme that is cacophonous to Carson City ears: "We Can't Wait."

Gov. Kenny Guinn wants to wait until the economy settles and the voters re-elect him. The Gang of 63 wants to wait until they can please everybody. And the Chamber of Commerce set wants the state to spend money on a needs review so it can discover what is manifest to everyone, which is that the state needs money. Go figure.

Not Garcia, though. Despite patronizing pats on the head from everyone from Guinn to Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, Garcia actually believes it is his responsibility to step up and lay out the state's educational needs. With the state Supreme Court eradicating the teachers tax, the Legislative Building has become a debate vacuum and the governor has stopped privately pressing for a small business tax. The gamers are hesitant to push the business tax agenda, lest the idea die under the casino albatross or lest the chamber folks be called to arms.

So who's left? Maybe a few murmuring legislators, who are immediately muzzled by their leaders. So Garcia is it. And at least he has an idea -- it's called the Clark County Educational Stability Plan. OK, it's not the sexiest name. But at least it is something.

But what is it?

The plan calls for raising $426.2 million over the biennium to pay for a variety of needs. Yes, needs. They include: a modest 2 percent annual cost-of-living adjustment for teachers ($95 million), adding 19 minutes to the school day ($144 million), augmenting textbooks and other equipment ($68 million) and a literacy program ($10 million).

According to district calculations, the additional hours added to the school year and the COLA would translate into a 6.5 percent annual raise for teachers, thus bringing the average statewide beginning salary to just under $48,000 by the end of the second year of the biennium. Now that could help the recruitment problem that is becoming more acute every year. And, the district says, per pupil expenditures would increase by just over $600, raising Nevada's national ranking from 37th to 27th. That's nothing to brag about, but a C-grade is better than a D.

"This plan clearly communicates to the state Legislature the significant needs facing our district and the state of Nevada," Garcia wrote in a memo to the board of trustees. "Additionally, the plan will serve as the foundation for a statewide discussion regarding the growing needs of our state and the current tax structure."

In that missive, and another sent to a couple of key legislators, Garcia emphasizes the damage that can be done by passing the issue to an interim study -- a favorite legislative delaying tactic. Hence the slogan: "We Can't Wait."

"Given the severe fiscal constraints facing the district, I hope the plan will stimulate a candid discussion of the education needs of the state of Nevada," Garcia wrote to a variety of lawmakers, including Senate Human Resources Chairman Ray Rawson and Assembly Taxation Chairman David Goldwater.

A candid discussion? In Carson City? Of education needs? And the tax structure? We can always hope, I suppose.

The sad fact is that Garcia's presentation is likely to be dismissed by some, including powerful players in the capital, as the ravings of a self-serving, empire-building educrat. And the truth is that education should be only part of this tax structure debate, albeit the core of it.

Others can baldly distort the situation because they don't want to face the music. But that sound you will hear today in Carson City may not be mellifluous, but it cannot be ignored. It is, courtesy of Carlos Garcia, the blare of the truth.