Senate District 6

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2004 | 2:07 a.m.

Last year's legislative war over taxes isn't over yet -- the last battle will take place on Sept. 7 when incumbent Sen. Ray Rawson will face challenger and Assemblyman Bob Beers in the Republican primary.

The winner will go on to meet Independent American Cathie Lynn Profant in the general election.

Already, both candidates have pumped out mail pieces, some of them trading barbs.

Beers, 44, an account executive, led the so-called "fearless 15" in the 2003 legislative session. They were the group of legislators that blocked the proposed increase in gross receipts taxes.

Beers won glory among tax activists and vowed to take on Rawson, who voted for several proposed tax increases last session. Beers promotes the idea of a taxpayers bill of rights similar to one in Colorado, where government growth is limited to population growth and inflation.

He warns that the tax increases of the last session indicate that legislators want to continue increasing the size of government.

"Some of my colleagues have made no bones about it," he said. "This is merely progress toward their goal."

Rawson, 63, a retired community college professor, has served in the Legislature since 1985 and has made economic diversification and enhancing health care benefits two of his main objectives. He has worked extensively to fund the state's dental school programs.

Rawson's campaign slogan is "character still counts," and he touts a variety of legislation he has aided in passing -- from a parental notification law that requires physicians to notify parents if a woman under 18 requests an abortion to the Nevada Education Reform Act, which set school standards to identify failing schools.

"Republicans have long known that wasteful spending reduces the effectiveness of government programs and drains our prosperity," Rawson writes on his Web site.