Thursday, April 14, 2005 | 9:46 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Sen. Bob Beers unveiled his proposal Wednesday for a Nevada law to curb government spending. It mirrors one in Colorado.
Senate Joint Resolution 5 calls for constitutional amendment that is similar to Colorado's Taxpayers Bill of Rights, often called TABOR.
It would limit government spending to the rate of population growth plus rate of inflation. Governments would have to refund any extra money collected.
Beers argues that state and local government in Nevada have grown too quickly and would, under the measure, have to go to voters for tax increases.
"If the government wants to make government bigger, it's going to have to seek the approval of taxpayers," Beers, R-Las Vegas, told the Senate Finance Committee.
Beers admitted Wednesday that he expects the Legislature to vote down the bill. But he said he plans to put it up as an initiative in the 2006 election.
His name has recently been floated as a potential Republican gubernatorial candidate in 2006, but Beers said he planned to push TABOR long before people approached him to run for governor. On
"I will be stumping hard for TABOR," said Beers, who also runs the Web site www.nvtabor.com.
Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, was the most enthusiastic member of the committee Wednesday, calling the bill "very exciting."
But some government representatives and lawmakers immediately jumped on the bill, pointing out that the Republican governor in Colorado is now campaigning to temporarily freeze the measure.
Governments in Colorado have made massive cuts after the state's economy slumped several years in a row. A measure on the November ballot would allow the government to keep an extra $3.1 billion for its coffers.
"TABOR has been a disaster in Colorado," Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said.
Perkins said he's open to tightening up rules now in place that limit growth in government spending. Many tax advocates argue that the Legislature routinely finds a way around the law.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, pointed out that only two states have any form of TABOR. Washington has a similar measure in law, though not in its constitution.
But Raggio, who also heads the Finance Committee, said he hadn't made a decision yet on the proposal.
When asked if he thinks government spending should be limited in some way, he said, "everybody on this committee and in the Legislature has submitted spending proposals that are outside the budget including those who are presenting these measures."
Beers presented several graphs showing the increasing taxes levied by state and local governments in Nevada.
"Rapid expansion of government is now the norm in Nevada," he said.
He pointed to studies that ranked Nevada among the 10 cheapest states in the country for local and state taxes. The state jumped in rankings in 2003, barely making it into the top 20 cheapest states.
The law would also require governments to create an emergency reserve and ask to keep excess revenues in general elections.
Beers argues that private sector job growth in Colorado has more than doubled since TABOR was enacted. The average Colorado family saved $3,200 between 1997 and 2002 because of TABOR, he said.
Beers said local governments will have to stop growing at rates greater than three times the rate of inflation.
"They're now living a pretty fat life," he said. "They'll have to reduce their spending level."
But local government representatives said the bill doesn't recognize that governments and economies move in cycles.
Clark County lobbyist Mike Alastuey pointed out that Clark County already has spending controls in place. But TABOR creates a "one-size-fits-all approach" that might not work in a "boom, bust, boom, bust" economy, he said.
"That level of flexibility, I think, would be somewhat lost.," he said.
Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, a member of the Finance Committee, said he worried the bill could put too many limitations on government spending.
"I think the people think we spend too much," Beers responded.
"Yet they want more things," Rhoads said.
"This will give them the opportunity to voice their opinion in such a clear fashion that we won't be able to miss it," Beers said.
The Senate Finance Committee did not make a decision on the bill Wednesday. If the bill does clear the Senate, Perkins said he plans to invite Colorado Gov. Bill Owens to testify on the problems Colorado has experienced with TABOR.
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