Conservatives prepping ballot measures to make it more difficult to raise taxes

By Anjeanette Damon

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011 | 11:13 a.m.

Liberal activists and labor leaders have spent the early days of the legislative session warning lawmakers they would pursue a ballot initiative to raise taxes if the Legislature fails to act on its own.

But conservative activists aren’t standing idly by in the face of those threats.

“We can’t let Danny Thompson have the ballet to himself,” Republican operative Robert Uithoven said of the Nevada AFL-CIO boss who has talked about using a ballot initiative for an end run around the Legislature.

Conservatives are looking to revive the measure that would require a two-thirds vote of the people to pass any initiative petition to raise taxes. Uithoven helped organize a similar effort in 2008. That measure was kicked off the ballot because circulators didn’t follow a 2007 law on how to gather signatures.

Uithoven said that measure would be relatively cheap and easy to get on the ballot. Americans for Prosperity, the political non-profit funded by oil barons Dave and Charles Koch, would likely help in the effort.

Conservatives may also work on a measure to curtail collective bargaining rights for public employee unions, an effort that would take more time and money, Uithoven said.