Lawmakers entertain idea of punting budget to voters

By David McGrath Schwartz

Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011 | 2 a.m.

Policymakers usually have nothing nice to say about initiative petitions: They’re deaf to the nuance of policy, overly politicized and too blunt an instrument for the fine-tuning of government.

Let the elected professionals handle such matters, is their typical position.

So it is an indication of how entrenched the two sides in the state budget debate have become that there is serious talk of letting voters resolve the issue. This just 14 days into the 2011 Legislature.

If Democrats and Republicans reach an impasse, lobbyists and lawmakers are suggesting a ballot initiative be used to decide the question of whether to raise taxes, cut spending or some of both.

“It’s being talked about at the highest levels,” one source close to Democrats said. “They’re looking for different avenues out of this mess.”

Gov. Brian Sandoval’s inner circle is aware of the idea, although it remains in the early stages and only one of a number of possible outcomes for the session, sources say.

The disagreement is over how to close the state’s $2.2 billion budget gap.

Sandoval’s budget calls for a cut-only approach that Democrats believe would irreparably harm K-12 schools and higher education. Democrats — most vocally state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas — want to counter with a tax increase but don’t appear to have the two-thirds support necessary to pass one and override a Sandoval veto.

(Democrats control both chambers of Legislature, but they need Republican votes — two in the Assembly, three in the Senate — to pass a tax increase and override a governor’s veto.)

Confronted with a similar scenario last year, Arizona punted the decision to voters.

After cutting budgets and selling state buildings, business groups, the teachers union and Republican Gov. Jan Brewer proposed, and campaigned for, a 1-cent sales tax increase. A $900 million tax increase was passed with 64 percent of the vote.

Arizona lawmakers approved a contingency budget with cuts to schools and social services in case voters rejected the tax increase.

In Nevada, legislative insiders say it’s too early to speculate how the session will end.

Still, it’s hard not to notice that an initiative could provide political cover for both sides: Turning the matter over to voters would provide a way for Sandoval to emerge from the situation without breaking his chief campaign promise not to raise taxes. If such a measure were approved by voters, Democrat lawmakers could walk away without their fingerprints on what they believe would be destructive budget cuts.

Sandoval’s staff said last week that he would consider a vote of the people.

“The governor is always open to a vote of the people,” Chief of Staff Heidi Gansert said. She added that Sandoval has not been approached directly on the issue.

The Sun recently laid out other possible scenarios for resolving the budget situation:

• Democrats cave and pass Sandoval’s budget.

• Democrats gather enough Republicans to override Sandoval and pass tax increases.

• Sandoval compromises on taxes.

• There’s a long standoff over taxes. The session’s June 6 deadline comes and goes, and the state is at risk of not being able to open its schools and other state-funded services.

A vote of the people has been opposed by most of the state’s legislative leaders and leading industries, such as mining, gaming and chambers of commerce. But if things continue on their current course, it might be the only option.