Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Tax proponents turn to unemployed for support

Day 3 - 2011 Legislative Session

Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

Construction workers listen to testimony during a meeting of the Senate Select Committee on Economic Growth and Employment on the third day of the 2011 legislative session Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011, in Carson City.

Day 3 - 2011 Legislative Session

Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak talks to reporters after testifying before the Assembly Government Affairs Committee on the third day of the 2011 legislative session Wednesday, February 9, 2011 in Carson City. Launch slideshow »

Sun Coverage

Pro-tax forces in the Legislature have been looking for soft spots in the Republicans’ anti-tax front.

They have warned of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget’s dire effect on K-12 and higher education. They have solicited testimony from advocates in wheelchairs and mothers with toddlers in tow to protest cuts in social services.

Now, they will use a constituency that nearly everyone admits trumps them all in this economy: the jobless.

The hard hats turned out last week at state buildings in Carson City and Las Vegas, some carrying signs that told of two-year stints in the unemployment line and calling on lawmakers to do something about it.

Democrats’ proposed solution will provide a test of whether they will be able to pick off support from Republican minorities in the Legislature for a tax increase to avoid what they say are unbearable spending cuts in Sandoval’s budget.

A vote to raise taxes, for infrastructure or for the budget, requires two GOP assemblymen and three Republican senators, provided Democrats hold their caucuses.

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, and the construction industry want to fund infrastructure projects to create as many as 5,000 construction jobs.

Horsford said at the opening of the session last week that he wanted the Legislature to pass a “Creating Nevada Jobs Initiative” within 30 days.

Something like a homegrown stimulus package to create jobs with government spending, the bill’s details aren’t final.

But sources say it will include measures that would likely be considered tax increases by the state’s more conservative elements — tying gas prices to inflation and removing expiration dates on some sales taxes.

Sandoval submitted a budget that provides no new revenue and vowed to oppose any tax or fee increase.

“Based on what they’re saying, to play with the kinds of things they’re talking about, it’s a two-thirds vote,” said Danny Thompson, AFL-CIO executive secretary, referring to the majorities needed to pass a tax or fee increase.

Thompson said the fund is needed to create jobs for construction workers. “This is not a partisan issue. As many Republicans are out of work as Democrats. Until people get back to work, Nevada will not recover.”

But this year Republicans are listening to the conservative wing of their party, which staunchly opposes any and all tax increases. The libertarian Nevada Policy Research Institute came out Friday against raising taxes or extending taxes that are scheduled to expire to pay for short-term construction jobs.

On the other side are Democrats, and with them many of the thousands of out-of-work construction workers left in the wake of the Great Recession.

Click to enlarge photo

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford talks to the media after a meeting of the Senate Revenue Committee on the second day of the 2011 legislative session Tuesday, February 8, 2011 in Carson City.

In an interview, Horsford said it was too early to say how money would be raised for public-works projects. But it’s clear he thinks it should be a priority.

“How important is job creation? Is it important enough to make sure we have funding that is needed to put people back to work now?” he said.

Thompson said, “Is this something that people who have taken positions (on taxes) may have to back up on? Yes, because it’s so important. And because people will come to realize they may have to change their position, I’m optimistic something is going to get done.”

If these measures are brought to a vote, there will be telling answers to questions that will have broad implications for the rest of the 2011 Legislature:

• How firm are Republicans in their conservative ideology?

• How far is Sandoval willing to take his promise not to raise taxes?

• Can Democrats, unions and large business interests, including well-connected construction companies, get any Republicans to defy Sandoval if he opposes raising revenue for such projects?

The answers will foreshadow the largest battle ahead: the state’s budget and the debate over whether the Legislature should raise taxes to reduce Sandoval’s cuts in K-12, higher education and social services.

“Absolutely this will be a test for Republicans and the governor,” said Paul Enos, CEO and president of the conservative Nevada Motor Transport Association.

Enos’ group was mistakenly included on a list that supported the “Building Jobs Coalition of Nevada,” which suggested possible sources for money such as extending sales taxes.

“Ultimately, true and lasting economic growth will only occur from private-sector expansion and not from short-term public-works programs,” Enos said in a letter to his membership.

Horsford has pointed to the precedent set in the February 2010 special session. A bill passed by lawmakers extended a Clark County sales tax that was about to expire and allowed that money to be bonded.

That money is “providing more than 2,500 private-sector jobs,” Horsford said.

The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and overwhelmingly in the Assembly. It was signed by Gov. Jim Gibbons, whose stance on taxes has been echoed by Sandoval.

Heidi Gansert, Sandoval’s chief of staff, said the governor has not seen details of Horsford’s proposal so she could not comment. The governor, she reiterated, would not support a tax increase.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Heidi Gansert, as an assemblywoman, voted for a bill that created construction jobs and extended a sales tax during the 2010 special session. She voted against the bill. | (February 13, 2011)

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