Columnist Jon Ralston: Tax committee is just a cover

Friday, Nov. 16, 2001 | 5:06 a.m.

Jon Ralston hosts the public affairs program "Face to Face" on Las Vegas ONE and also publishes the Ralston Report. His column for the Sun appears on Sundays and Wednesdays. Ralston can be reached at 870-7997 or through e-mail at ralston@vegas.com

WHAT'S IN A NAME? That which the craven political class calls the Governor's Task Force on Tax Policy would still smell as foul.

A more accurate moniker for the eight-member panel appointed last week would be The Governor and the Legislature's Committee for Political Cover.

This panel was born out of fear, will be guided by a tendentious goal and will be euthanized before it reaches its first birthday.

It matters little that the goal is a good one -- to broaden the state's tax base and to infuse more money into education, social services and many other areas. Nor is it of great import to me that the committee has some excellent members, including Chairman Guy Hobbs, the former Clark County budget maven who understands the state's shaky tax system as well as anybody, and Mike Sloan, the Mandalay Resort Group executive who has been pounding on this issue on behalf of his industry since the late 1980s.

What is critical is that while this committee is designed to let candidates for governor and the Legislature ignore the issue during Campaign '02, its ultimate findings mean nothing if the elected officials don't finally summon the fortitude to address the most important issue to the state's future.

It's not like this issue has not been examined before -- nowhere better does the cliche "studied to death" apply as state policymakers have been repeatedly admonished to broaden the tax base -- or else. Or else, for example, an act of terrorism that decapitates the travel and tourism industry will have a disproportionate impact here, forcing budget cuts and maybe a special session.

Ah, but like the trembling politicians who have ignored the repeated warnings, these studies have died many times before their deaths. And now, we have to hope, this one will finally give life to real change, despite its political purpose, which is to shield Gov. Kenny Guinn and the Gang of 63 (and any of their opponents) from having to answer questions about the topic during their campaigns (the committee report isn't due until after the election), lest they be forced to be demagogues or, worse, have to tell the truth. (For the record, any candidate who does not address the question should be labeled a frightened little weasel. Methinks we'll see lots of scared political animals this cycle.)

One reason for optimism is the wording of the resolution that created the committee, assuming it is heeded:

"The rate of growth of Nevada's population is much faster than the rate of growth of its public revenue ... Nevada is falling behind in the revenue collections needed for funding K-12 education, for meeting the long-term care needs of its growing senior population, and for keeping pace with soaring energy demands and the costs of those demands ... The development of a broad-based tax structure that is reflective of the diversity of Nevada's economy is a desirable policy and worthy of study."

The legislation that created the panel compels it to "develop one or more definitive proposals to carry out the state's need to provide additional revenue for state programs, to stabilize the tax base and to reduce the long-term structural deficit of the state budget."

That's all well and good. And I have no doubt this panel could come forth with some effective recommendations. But what will a governor, who has talked about doing something but now avoids the topic, and a Legislature that has followed his lead, do with the findings?

If they are scared of media criticism, which will affect voters, this will be purely a political exercise that (probably) allows them to duck an issue for another election cycle. This would be a good time to address the issue of Las Vegas Sun Editor Brian Greenspun's appointment to the panel. I think Speaker Richard Perkins was foolish to appoint Greenspun, who happens to be my boss. Make no mistake: Greenspun has his mind right on this issue and actually seems to have been plagiarizing my insightful columns on the topic.

He thinks Nevada needs a more stable tax base and even says that property taxes should be considered, which doesn't help him since one of his interests is development. But Greenspun's appointment is likely to make the rival Review-Journal even more vehement and intractable in its anti-tax position, and (alas) the R-J has the most political clout of any media outlet and can scare politicians into inertia.

In the end, I'm not worried about the The Governor and the Legislature's Committee for Political Cover reaching the right answer, since it is so obvious. What worries me is that the elected folks we charge with making these tough decisions won't have the courage to do so when the time comes.

That would take leadership. There is no other name for it.