Two-thirds tax issue taken to U.S. Supreme Court

Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004 | 9:45 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A coalition of Republican Assembly members and state senators is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to determine if a bill to raise taxes can be approved with less than a two-thirds vote by the Legislature.

Attorney John C. Eastman, representing the GOP lawmakers and others, said Wednesday he has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

During the battle over increased taxes in the 2003 Legislature, the Assembly passed a bill to raise taxes without the two-thirds vote required by the Nevada Constitution.

A lawsuit was filed and the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that a tax increase could be approved without the two-thirds vote if the money was needed to fund the public schools, also required by the Nevada Constitution.

Both houses of the Legislature eventually passed a tax increase of $833.5 million by a two-thirds majority.

But the 15 GOP Assembly members, nine Republican senators and some business organizations continued to appeal the decision of the Nevada Supreme Court.

Eastman said the U.S. Supreme Court should rule whether the Legislature is able to repeat its illegal act.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the issue was moot since the Legislature passed a tax increase by two-thirds vote in each house. But the Republican coalition, in its petition for a writ of review, said the U.S. Supreme Court should consider this question.

In his petition, Eastman said less than nine years ago, Nevada voters amended the state Constitution to require a two-thirds vote in the Legislature before taxes could be enacted.

The decision by the 9th Circuit, said Eastman, "leaves in place an unconstitutional action by the Nevada Assembly that already altered and will continue to alter the legislative dynamic."

He said the decision of the appeals court has "called into question the ability of the people of Nevada to amend their own Constitution."

The GOP lawmakers first appealed to the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, then to the 9th Circuit Court and now to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the appeal Eastman, who heads the school of law at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., said the voters in 1996 gave final approval to the two-thirds Constitutional amendment. He said the decision in the 9th Circuit Court on May 12, 2004, is in conflict with decisions in other federal appeals court.