Editorial: Leaders in GOP must be strong

Friday, Jan. 10, 2003 | 4:14 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: Jan. 12, 2003

The necessity of new and increased taxes for Nevada state government becomes certain when comparing the growth-induced need against the current revenue stream. Estimates from the governor's office, for example, show that an additional $311 million is needed just to keep even with school district enrollments. What is not so certain are the votes in the Legislature that will be necessary to close the state deficit, now minimally listed at $704 million. Because tax increases must be passed by a two-thirds majority in both houses, if just 15 of the 42 Assembly members, or eight of the 21 Senate members, vote against raising that much additional revenue, the state will be in a financial crisis.

The two-thirds majority rule gives power to minority coalitions, especially anti-tax Republicans. It presents a challenge to Gov. Kenny Guinn and Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, Republicans who have both acknowledged the deficit and the need to overcome it through increased taxation. The Assembly has 19 Republicans and the Senate has 12, meaning that it won't take too many anti-tax Republicans to defeat important new funding sources for education, mental health, Medicaid and other programs. Most Democratic candidates in the past election and several Republican candidates readily acknowledged the deficit and the need to bolster education and other state services. Quite a few Republicans, however, balked at increased taxation while advocating deep cuts in spending. This ideology was well represented at last week's Assembly GOP caucus, when Assemblyman Bo b Beers presented a list of state spending increases since 1997, with the suggestion that cuts are in order.

It will be a challenge for Guinn and Raggio to marshal support from their own party members. So far, however, they appear ready for that challenge. Raggio, who also chairs the Senate Finance Committee, is well known as a conservative Republican loath to raise taxes. Yet last week he said he supported Guinn's call for new revenue and dismissed budget cuts as an alternative, saying spending has been cut "down to the bone." It was once said that "only Nixon could have gone to China," a reference to the former president's 1972 groundbreaking trip despite his personal history of taking hard lines against communism. Perhaps only Guinn and Raggio can journey into their party's anti-tax ranks and return with enough votes. Bon voyage.