Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Some thinking Nevadans

Tuesday, June 17, 2003 | 8:21 a.m.

DURING THE PAST SEVERAL DECADES I have learned not to jump to conclusions about the actions of other people. What appears to be an obvious answer for a question may not be true or accurate. A good example was a recent NO vote by Sen. Maggie Carlton of Las Vegas.

Carlton has been a supporter of broadening the state's tax base for the good of education and other needed services. Her vote against a form of this tax came as a surprise. Asked why she voted against a business tax, she sent the following reply:

"In the late hours of Saturday, June 7, I cast the deciding vote in the Nevada State Senate against, what would have been, the first business tax in the history of Nevada.

"My vote certainly came as a shock to my colleagues, political pundits and other observers of the political process in our state capital.

"After all, I pride myself on being one of the few working class politicians in Carson City. In my regular job I work as a coffee shop waitress at Treasure Island. I serve as a Culinary Union shop steward. And I'm a Democrat.

"So the big question in everyone's mind is why would a working mom, union member, and Democrat vote against a business tax?

"For two simple reasons. The bill I voted against didn't make big corporations pay their fair share. And it taxed gaming too much.

"For all those in Nevada who say that gaming has too much political power, they should see what's happening here in Carson City. You have a bunch of politicians who are afraid or unwilling to make big corporations like Wal-Mart or Bank of America pay their fair share of taxes but these same politicians won't hesitate to raise gaming taxes because it's the politically safe thing to do.

"I wasn't elected to do the politically safe thing. I was elected to represent working families.

"Right now the entire banking industry contributes less than 1%. Gaming, on the other hand, contributes 38% of the state's tax base.

"For me it was a simple choice. Giant companies like Wal-Mart that pay low wages and most of whose workers don't have health insurance would end up paying very little in taxes. But the gaming industry, which provides hundreds of thousands of good jobs -- jobs with family healthcare and pensions -- ends up footing the tax bill once again.

"I have two daughters. I find it abhorrent that Nevada is 47th nationally in per pupil spending. That will only change when big corporations like Wal-Mart and Bank of America pay their fair share in taxes. I voted to make them do just that.

"State Senator Maggie Carlton"

Sounds like a reasonable answer from a legislator who is concerned about having a broader tax base that brings all of us into the mix.

Sun writer Erica Johnson took a look at laws that are designed to protect children from being left alone in cars. The deaths of children, drowning in swimming pools and dying in cars during the hot summer months, has become all too common in Southern Nevada.

Some suggestions for clearly written laws may be a step in the right direction. What could be counterproductive would be a law that doesn't allow for prosecutors and judges to handle each case on an individual basis.

Johnson quoted Sen. Mike McGinness giving a bit of wisdom. He told her, "I really think the prosecutors have to use their discretion in cases like these." The senator went on to say, "That parent, whether he is incarcerated or not, will pay for this for the rest of his life."

Sounds like McGinness has given the problem some very serious thought.

A note from the Nevada Office of Veterans' Services reminds us of the sweet and sour items on the agenda of the continuing legislative saga in Carson City.

"We were authorized to maintain cemetery staffing at 60% of the National Cemetery Administration staffing levels. However, this authority for additional positions was not accompanied with funding authority."

Sound familiar?