Group may be halfway there with petition against taxes

Dan Kulin

Tuesday, April 13, 2004 | 9:31 a.m.

The group pushing for referendums on last year's $836 million tax increase and government employees serving in the state Legislature has about half of the 85,000 signatures it wants on petitions to put those questions on the November ballot, George Harris, chairman of Nevadans for Sound Government, said Monday.

If Harris is right, that means the group is about 8,740 signatures short of the minimum needed to get those issues on the ballot. An exact signature count will be known after the group's leaders meet Thursday, Harris said.

The groups needs 51,244 signatures from registered voters on its petitions to qualify them for the ballot. But Harris said they are shooting for 85,000 signatures to offset any that may be disqualified.

The group's anti-tax effort also received the backing of the National Taxpayers Union on Monday, said Pete Sepp, spokesman for the Alexandria, Va.-based organization. It was a natural extension of the group's support for the original initiative petition pushed by former state Sen. Jim Gibbons that required a two-thirds vote to raise taxes.

"We view this as one way to defend the spirit of that initiative," Sepp said.

Harris said support from the national organization is "very important," and could lead to donations and additional petition signatures from its members.

Harris, probably best known as the axe-wielding man on roadside anti-tax signs, said his group plans to submit to the state the petitions on the tax increase and on government employees serving as lawmakers on June 15.

If enough registered voters have signed the petition, the question would go to the voters on the November ballot. If the anti-tax increase initiative is approved in the election, then the tax increase would be repealed.

If there are enough valid signatures to put that matter on the ballot, it would have to be approved in two consecutive elections to become law.

Harris and others have said the tax increase is due to government employees increasing state spending to benefit the agencies they work for.

The issue of whether state employees can serve in the Legislature is being taken to the state Supreme Court by Secretary of State Dean Heller and Attorney General Brian Sandoval.