Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Not alone in tax woes

Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2003 | 9:01 a.m.

IT IS A TALE of two cities, er, two states.

"The battle begins soon to solve a budget crisis so ingrained in Nevada government that firing all state workers wouldn't solve it and closing all state agencies would fix only half of it."

"The remedies are expected to affect the lives of most Nevadans, from schoolchildren who need books, buses and computers to thousands of people who visit the state parks every year."

I could go on quoting and, unless I substitute Arizona back into the story for Nevada, most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between very similar state budget crises that loom large for our neighbor to the south as well as our own state. What differences there are between the two states may be in the solution each will employ to solve its problems. Or maybe not.

You see, at least according to news stories as late as this past Sunday, Arizonans think they can fix their $1.4 billion dollar problem over the next two years by cutting government services. Those services include public education, prisons and a host of others the public has come to expect in one of the fastest-growing states in the country.

According to a spokesman for the newly elected governor, Janet Napolitano, it is time for digging into whatever sacred cows are left. "It's like a family that has $60,000 worth of bills to pay, including mortgage and car payments, but they only have $48,000 to get it done. ... They've done all the easy things, like cutting out vacations and an addition to the house. Now they have to decide which daughter they can send to college and how much they can spend on food. This won't be any fun."

Does all this sound familiar?

If there is one major difference between the two sunbelt states, it is in the methods available to try to fill the hole that they have dug or allowed to be dug for themselves. In Arizona's case, large tax cuts a few years ago coupled with the recent economic downturn has left our neighbors in a giant fix. As for Nevada, we didn't cut taxes during the good times -- we don't have that many that could have been cut -- but the downturn in the economy has taken a big toll on whatever bottom line we once had.

That leaves Arizonans with scant few choices because the Republican-controlled Legislature has vowed not to increase one cent of taxes. That means that the new governor will be tested severely because in practically all cases, the cuts she makes will be hitting bone. What is it about our GOP friends down there that makes them knee-jerk their way away from the responsibility they have to protect and care for the citizens of that state?

Moving a bit north, Nevadans are preparing for the 2003 Legislature, which will have multiple tax increases on its plate for consideration. We have some Republicans in Nevada who sound a lot like their counterparts in Arizona -- "if it has the word tax attached it is DOA."

We have many others, however, who understand that the time for cutting is long over and the time for meeting the growing needs of the citizens of this state is upon us. By the way, Democrats can demagogue this tax issue, too. But, for the most part, they aren't, choosing instead to leave the job of corralling the necessary support to our Republican governor, Kenny Guinn.

The fix to Nevada's substantial economic woes is in the hands of our chief executive and it appears, once you get past the bluster, that he will be able to pull this thing off. In Arizona, however, an untested Democrat governor will not be getting any favors from the GOP-heavy lawmakers. They will take the low road, forcing her to choose among school books, buses and cells for bad people as part of the billion-dollar answer.

So the story will unfold very soon in both states. Which one, if either of them, will do the right thing and ask the citizens to step up to the plate and show that they are worthy of the immigration that continues to keep them at the top of the fastest-growing-states list?

And, if only one of us makes the right call while the other chooses to continue finding refuge in the sand, whither goest the honors for continued growth? This is a tale of two states, the unfolding for which, Nevadans have a front row seat.

Better buckle up.