Wednesday, July 21, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.
Supporters of a referendum to repeal the $833.5 million tax increase say they have turned in more than 68,000 signatures to put the issue on the November ballot.
Nevadans for Sound Government members also said an initiative petition to bar government employees from serving in the Legislature has more than 65,000 names.
To be placed on the ballot, each of the proposals must have 51,337 registered voters sign the petition.
George Harris, who helped lead the petitions, said he just finished a seven-day tour of the rural counties and found strong support for the initiatives.
The Las Vegas office of Nevadans for Sound Government is filled with computers, and Harris said his group spent $20,000 to have workers check almost all of the names on the petitions against electronic voter registration rolls to ensure they are valid.
Harris said he expects millions to be spent in opposition to his tax referendum, but he said he is happy to debate the issue.
"I'm sure you're going to hear from every liberal in the world that the world's going to fall in," he said.
Opponents of the measure are concerned that rolling back the tax increases could hurt the state budget. Some opponents also say that if the measure fails, it would mean that the tax increases are in the law to stay and could only be modified or repealed by another vote of the people. Harris, though, said the public should have a say in this. "This is about government bureaucracy and legislators saying that people shouldn't be involved in their government and that people can't have the right to stand up and say, 'What's going on here?' " Harris said. Nevadans for Sound Government and its supporters spent about $50,000 for the signature effort, he said.
While some legislators have been critical of the tax referendum, Harris said he expects they will support it once it makes the ballot.
Gov. Kenny Guinn, most legislators and proponents of improvements in state services said the tax increase was needed to cope with Nevada's population boom. In most cases, they said, the tax increase was needed just to maintain services at their 2002 levels.
Harris argues that the tax increase went too far, noting that the state is expecting a large surplus this year.
Janine Hansen, the group's leader in Northern Nevada, said the petitions bear signatures representing 10 percent of voters in 14 of the 17 counties, falling short of that threshold only in Douglas, Lyon and Washoe counties.
Hansen also said the group will not run into the same troubles as petitions on minimum wage and frivolous lawsuits. They were declared legally defective by Secretary of State Dean Heller because affidavits were not properly attached, though a judge ruled Tuesday that the signatures should be admissible.
"We took the copies (of the petition) from the files of the secretary of state," said Hansen, adding that many members were experienced from the Protection of Marriage initiative, which passed in 2002.
District Judge Kenneth Cory of Las Vegas allowed Nevadans for Sound Government an extra 35 days to gather signatures because of the troubles it ran into at government buildings. They were told to leave some public buildings and Hansen and her son were arrested on trespassing charges at the municipal bus depot in Reno. The charges were later dismissed.
Hansen said the organization could have used another 30 days, but, she added, "We have done remarkably well." She said she drove 500 miles, round trip, through Esmeralda County to get signatures. She said she visited Dyer and other small communities and "went bar to bar in Goldfield."
The county clerks today will begin counting signatures. If there are enough names to qualify, the process of verifying that the signers are registered voters begins.
If successful, the initiative petition will appear on the November ballot.
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