Friday, Jan. 17, 2003 | 5:47 a.m.
MY FELLOW Nevadans: The state of our state is sorry.
For more than two decades your Legislature has ignored a budget structure that everyone said would lead to the trouble we're in right now.
I am not proud to say that our economy is sluggish and our state ranks near the bottom of every major social index.
We are smoking ourselves to death, we are failing our seniors and we are ignoring our children.
For a decade we led the nation in growth and were only barely able to fund programs. A tax shift 22 years ago has forced our state to rely on the whims of the national economy with little stability.
The much-lauded Millennium Scholarship program is possible only because of the state's tobacco settlement, not because our leaders have been careful stewards of our finances.
That is what you won't hear from Gov. Kenny Guinn on Monday night. The picture it paints is as ugly as the truth lawmakers have ignored. The state is in shambles and needs both a dramatic solution and the leaders with the courage to implement it.
It's not as if they haven't been warned.
Most recently, in 2001, the 63 lawmakers were urged to do something to end the crisis.
"During this past year," Guinn said on Jan. 22, 2001, "I have made no secret of my belief that Nevada must explore new revenue streams and establish a broader economic base."
But Guinn held the line on new taxes in 2001, citing a potential softening of the national economy. And without a strong voice leading the way to resolution, the Legislature adjourned again having done nothing.
After Sept. 11, 2001 and two years of recession, it is no longer a time for what Guinn then termed "moderation and restraint." We've restrained our spending to points few would argue are even moderate.
Our teachers, our children, our seniors can no longer wait on a government to simply be watchful of the money it has.
Now is the time to put some stability back into our budget by doing what Guinn has said he would do from the time he first contemplated running for governor.
If left again to the Legislature, there would likely be another tinkering with fees, like last year's tax solution involving secretary of state's office fees and rental car taxes.
You might be the owner of one of the minority businesses in Nevada that would have to pay a miniscule one-quarter of 1 percent tax on gross receipts over $350,000.
Sixty percent of all businesses, and all of what I would call small businesses, are exempt from the tax already.
It's time that businesses pay their fair share.
That means banks, Wal-Marts and casinos.
There's no good reason the Legislature can't subject our casinos to a 1 percent increase in the gross gaming tax. That's moderate and restrained compared to the hike Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, will seek.
We know residents are going to pay more in property taxes. Smokers will be hit hard and anyone who buys even a glass of wine will end up paying more for liquor.
It's time for a realistic tax plan that includes everyone.
The state needs $704 million in new revenue simply to run in place.
Nevada cannot just plug a $704 million deficit and provide what is needed for its residents. If you think that our children deserve the national average -- that's AVERAGE -- it'll cost another $353 million.
That's without any raises for state employees or new raises for teachers. That's without any new programs.
It may sound like a huge burden, but the taxes Guinn will seek Monday are spread out so that no one shoulders a huge burden. The average taxpayer will probably be tapped for about $1 a day.
So if your governor stands tomorrow night and seeks $1.3 billion in new taxes from everyone, he won't really be asking a lot to make our Silver State shine again.
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