Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: A grown-up problem

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2002 | 9:15 a.m.

WHAT DO YOU want to be when you grow up?

Who among us hasn't asked a young person that question at least once in our lives? It is a conversation starter and also an opportunity to probe a young mind before it has been jaded by adult society.

I also ask a similar question to the dozens of high school students each year who seek admission to Georgetown University. Now that they are mostly grown up, the question changes somehwat but the import is the same: What do you want to do with the substantive part of your life and how will you contribute to the society in which you will play a part?

I have been thinking about this question in the context of the Governor's Task Force on Tax Policy which, as of Friday, will forward its yearlong work product to both the governor and the Legislature, recommending a change in the tax structure for Nevada for many years to come. It is a bold product of eight independent Nevadans who worked many hours, overcame significant philosophical impediments and, ultimately, united around one overriding truth: Nevada is in fiscal trouble and, as grown-ups, it is our job to recommend a major part of the fix.

That we have done ... in well over 1,000 pages of charts, graphs and narrative that explains to all who are interested just exactly why we are in the mess we are in, how deep the hole is and how deep it could become, and what the Task Force believes is the best way to a more stable and equitable revenue plan for Nevada.

Our job is mostly done, save for the bill draft request and whatever opportunities we get to meet with citizens groups between now and the 2003 legislative session to explain the what and whys of our recommendations. After that, it will be the legislators' job to determine the quality of our work product, the depth of their own commitment to solving Nevada's economic problems and the strength of their political resolve to act in the best interests of the people of this state.

That is far easier said than done. Had any Legislature in the past 15 years chosen to undertake the challenge, it would have fixed the tax structure long ago, which would have made our work unnecessary. And had the state's top executive had the political will to forge ahead instead of allowing the state to languish behind the times, there would have been no need for a task force.

But that is all history. Gov. Kenny Guinn has made it clear that he understands the depth of the structural deficit and the need for new revenues to enable Nevada to take its proper place among the more enlightened states in the union. He is a grown-up and understands that free lunches are anything but free.

The question remains, in light of some legislators' unfortunate knee-jerk reactions during and following the recent elections, whether or not the governor will have the support he needs from the lawmakers to do the public's business. That is, as they say on television, the big question.

During the public comment period of Wednesday's task force meeting, two people spoke out against our recommendations. In fact, in a moment of blinding ignorance, they suggested that we propose ways to cut taxes or reduce spending in order to find a way out of the fiscal hole the state has dug for itself over the past two decades.

What struck me, besides the bigotry and small-mindedness of the speakers, was the fact that the last meeting of our task force was the first meeting they ever attended. Where were they while we and the other grown-up members of the public were struggling to sort through the mess?

It is childish to come in at the last moment, attack what has been done, offer nothing concrete by way of alternatives, threaten the entire Legislature and expose a narrow-minded bigotry that may underlie an already unsupportable position. I take that back, it isn't childish, it is un-American.

In a democracy, citizen participation is essential for the process to work. Knight Allen didn't get much of what he wanted but, unlike those other two men, he never missed a meeting or an opportunity to speak out in a respectful and helpful manner.

What I saw in those two guys was not only disrespectful but repugnant to good democracy at work. What bothers me about that is I think there are others who cannot wait to act the same way once the Legislature comes into session.

That's when the public will have to ask that question of our representatives in Carson City:

What, ladies and gentlemen, do you want to do now that you have a grown-up problem?

How about, for a start, acting like adults by stiffing the naysayers and doing the right thing for Nevada?

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