Columnist Erin Neff: 2003 Legislature will decide our future

Erin Neff

Friday, Jan. 10, 2003 | 4:17 a.m.

NEVADA IS AT a crossroads, between its image as a small Western state and the reality of its big city problems.

Thus the 2003 Legislature will not only be a referendum on taxes, but on what kind of state and government Nevada will have.

Political leaders are already discussing the imagery of "two Nevadas."

There's the one we have which, despite good weather and a decent cost of living, is replete with failing schools, polluted water, clogged roads and hazy air.

And there's the one that we could have depending on how the 120-day session plays out.

Political visionaries see a Nevada that can attract new businesses because its schools meet the needs of all students. They see a Nevada, not flush with cash, but resourceful enough to tap into all sources of revenue to ensure that there will be a contingency account in the event of a financial "rainy day."

But at any crossroads there are choices.

One option takes us on a road to maturity, a place where Nevada can grow up and pay for services that cover the neediest -- children, seniors, mentally ill. That road is paved thanks to increased taxes everyone in Nevada must shoulder.

The other path, potholed and dangerous with its washboard ripples, is for those who continue to believe we still fit in britches -- several sizes too small -- that expose the sad truth that we can't cover ourselves with what we have.

But in Nevada the billboards screaming from the roadside (on Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce placards) are encouraging lawmakers to walk the wrong path.

Those urging another re-examination of government are those who think a few hundred thousand dollars here or there are going to be enough to fill the whopping $704 million hole -- the amount of the state's budget shortfall to maintain existing services for the next two years.

Las Vegas isn't a small town anymore, despite what many want you to believe. It is an urban city with real urban problems, including homelessness and a blighted downtown.

The state already falls near the bottom or dead last on most indices ranking quality of life. Children born now in Nevada are ranked 49th, ahead only of Mississippi, in their chance for future success.

Is that the kind of Nevada you want?

If you're a rare native, does that make you proud to be Battle Born? If you're a newcomer like me, without blue license plates, does it make you want to stay?

There was a time to play Old West in Nevada. But the state needs to grow up, and while we can still dress in bolo ties and boots, it's time to act a bit more civilized.

When Gov. Kenny Guinn issues his State of the State address next week, it should not just be about why more than $1 billion in new taxes are needed, it should be proof irrefutable that failing to grow up will have a bigger price tag.

Lawmakers, not lobbyists and not anti-tax Libertarians hiding behind an editorial page, should make the choices for Nevada. That's why they were elected, and that's why we entrust them with the state's future.

Never has a legislative session in modern times carried such importance. It will be 120 days of decisions about what programs should be cut, continued or supported.

It will be an election of sorts, about the kind of government we want and the kind of state we choose to have.

The answers depend upon which way lawmakers go, and how they go will determine who will survive the 2004 elections to lead us in the years beyond.