Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Jon Ralston: Anger and fear blind legislators

How, after a year-plus of a tax task force and 120 days-plus of a reasonable facsimile of legislating, could they have taken so long to not have done anything (at least as I write this Friday evening shortly after Gov. Kenny Guinn extended the special session)?

How, after having so much time to deliberate can they be acting as if this is being thrust upon them, not like greatness but like some burden that they cannot bear?

Too many in the Gang of 63 are stumbling around in a fog of their own dyspepsia and fear -- some have been doing it for so long they have forgotten who they are angry at (the governor and gaming) and what frightens them (fear of not being given a return ticket to this Eden where snakes rule).

How did we get here?

We got here because of a resolution adopted unanimously last session that urged lawmakers to appoint a tax task force to recommend proposals "to carry out the state's need to provide additional revenue for state programs, to stabilize the tax base and to reduce the long-term structural deficit of the state budget."

Additional revenue. Stabilize the base. Reduce the deficit. This is their charge and instead they have charged for cover, amassing scapegoats, excuses and cover stories like Martha Stewart used to accumulate wealth.

How did we get here?

We got here because we have come full circle now, from the teachers' union initiative for a corporate income tax that was thrown off the ballot during Session '01, thus allowing lawmakers to run away from their task, and now with a similar tax apparently the only solution to meet the mandate of that resolution.

How did we get here?

We are here because a governor who should have started this process in 1999, but listened to timorous political advisers, finally stepped up after winning a second term in 2002. And for doing the unpopular thing, he has been pilloried as a pawn of the powers that anointed him on the Las Vegas Strip, nearly run out of his own party and reviled by lawmakers who can't handle a lame-duck asking them to say yes to the largest tax increase in history.

Guinn has exacerbated the normal legislative-executive branch tensions by his occasional open disdain for the process -- his insinuation that lawmakers who didn't come along with his billion-dollar baby were "irrelevant" has been repeated more times in the Legislative Building by angry lawmakers than "Which of you lobbyists is buying me lunch today?"

How did we get here?

That task force report is rigorous, thorough and illuminating. And few of these folks have even cracked it. Guy Hobbs and Jeremy Aguero put in long hours with no pay to craft the document that no one has read. And they have been thanked by being disrespected by lawmakers, who see the task force as reporting not to them or to the governor but to the Nevada Resort Association.

Yes, gaming wants a business tax -- as the casinos have for 15 years. Yes, gaming influenced the task force process -- as the state's largest industry influences every process in this state, as it should. And, yes, gaming lobbyists can be arrogant and condescending -- almost as much as some lawmakers.

But, folks, here's some advice: Get over it. As they show indignation and lambaste the lobbyists for having too much influence -- as they always do this time of year -- perhaps lawmakers should remember that Cassius was right about why those who seek power are underlings. They can point to the stars of the lobbying corps for their problems, but these legislators have only themselves to blame.

How did we get here?

We are here because lawmakers allowed the voters to tell them how long it should take them to do their business and then found they can't do their business in 120 days. It puts an artificial time limit on their deliberations, complete with phony deadlines and will continue to result in special sessions, even when such a gargantuan issue as this tax increase is not on the agenda.

How did we get here?

We arrived at this point -- so soon we forget -- because of what happened in November 2002. Eleven freshmen Republicans were elected to the Assembly, a majority of the 19-member GOP minority, and some of them are the reason a tax package cannot be passed. Remember, none of them voted for that tax resolution last session and don't feel bound by it -- although many of them are ignorant of the budget and cannot specify where it should be cut. And they have developed a messianic zeal to tear down the budget, as if they have been promised the same kind of post-kamikaze delights as the suicide bombers of 9-11-01. But are they committing political hara-kiri or ensuring they take over the lower house in November 2004?

One other November 2002 reminder vis-a-vis the other house: The addition of Barbara Cegavske and Sandra Tiffany to the anti-tax convent started long ago by Ann O'Connell has changed the dynamic of the Senate. Majority Leader Bill Raggio's iron fist has been weakened in the last few years by changes to his caucus. But to have a Mother Superior with an almost Svengali-like control of her nuns has caused near-chaos this session. That's mostly how we got here. The question is: Where do we go from here?

My guess is we won't know that answer until long after the end of this special session.

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