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By Anjeanette Damon (contact) 
Friday, May 13, 2011 | 3:08 p.m.
Sun Coverage
Frustrated with the stalemate over taxes, union leader Danny Thompson delivered his most explicit threat yet during a legislative hearing today: pass taxes or we’ll go to the ballot.
Frustrated with the stalemate over spending reforms, chamber leader Hugh Anderson delivered his own threat in the same hearing: “Without the reform, we cannot support any tax bill, no matter how soundly conceived.”
As the Legislature enters its waning days, the major players in the tax debate have all staked out familiar positions that reflect the ongoing stalemate between Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the budget debate.
Labor wants a tax increase to prevent further salary and benefit cuts to state workers.
The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce sees taxes as its only leverage over the Democratic majority to exact changes to collective bargaining and public employee benefits.
Gaming and mining are happy to support a broad-based business tax as long as the Legislature doesn’t look to solve its revenue problems through industry-specific taxes. And they don’t really see a need to join the spending reforms fight.
Each played a part in today’s hearing on the 0.8 percent margin tax Democrats want to assess on business revenue. And while the testimony at times reached a fever pitch, consensus failed to develop.
“We are going to do an initiative and you’re not going to like it,” Thompson warned lawmakers, threatening to take the tax increase straight to the voters.
He reminded them of his years long effort to convince the Legislature to increase the minimum wage, demands that went unheeded by lawmakers.
“I told you I was going to go and put it in the constitution and today the minimum wage is in the constitution,” he said. “And there are problems with it.”
Thompson conceded that initiative petition is a poor way to craft public policy.
That earned a quick retort from Senate Minority Leader Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, who questioned the wisdom to pursue an easier route even though it's flawed.
“You say it’s not the best way to do things but you’re going to do it anyway,” McGinness said. “If we did that you’d call us the worst legislator of the year.”
Lobbyists with the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, who Democrats hope they can rely on to help swing at least five Republican votes their way on taxes, testified they have not taken a position in favor of the margin or services tax proposed by Democrats.
And they likely won’t unless significant reforms are made.
“We need to address the fact that the issue of taxes goes hand in hand with reform,” chamber lobbyist Hugh Anderson testified. “Without the reform we cannot support any bill no matter how soundly conceived.”
Lobbyists with the mining and gaming industries testified in favor of the margin tax.
Billy Vassiliadis, lobbyist for the Nevada Resort Association, who earlier asked lawmakers to blunt the education cuts proposed by Gov. Brian Sandoval, said it would be disingenuous of the industry not to support the revenue needed to do it.
Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, also extracted promises from gaming and mining lobbyists to support the extension of the 2009 tax increases.
Horsford argued that if those taxes are allowed to expire the gaming industry would see a $50 million tax cut and mining would see a $9 million tax cut.
“It’s not your intention to get a $9 million tax cut?” Horsford asked mining lobbyist Tim Crowley.
“No,” Crowley answered. “It makes sense that those taxes continue.”
Tax cuts for the Chamber of Commerce, no education for the State of Nevada. Makes sense to the crazy leaders of the the Chamber of Commerce. Why are the Chamber of Commerce temporary fixes made last session going to end and everyone else made permanent changes last session??
"pass taxes or we'll go to the ballot"
Just one more reason to despise unions.
I wish entrepreneurs (you know those people who create jobs that allow unions to exist in the first place) would join together and threaten to "take it to the ballot" to ban unions.
Thomas:
It's called direct democracy. When the elected legislators are unable or unwilling to enact the policy demanded by the public, the public has every right to bypass the legislature and enact the policy themselves.
As for banning unions, there's this thing called the first amendment that guarantees the right to assemble and therefor unionize. Its funny how pesky things like "freedoms" always get in the way of entrepreneurs making more money on the backs of the working class. Damn that pesky constitution.
"When the elected legislators are unable or unwilling to enact the policy demanded by the public, the public has every right to bypass the legislature and enact the policy themselves."
My exact point.....the public is sick and tired of overpaying for public sector union jobs and their ridiculous benefits. So, the public should take it to the ballot.
Let the unions bring it to the people. They will go down in flames with this one. People have finally found out the Government workers in Nevada are some of the highest paid in the country. The public will not vote for taxes to keep supporting them.
Keystone. Get a clue before posting. There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution about unions and never has been.
The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 governs Unions in this country, nothing else.
The 1st. amendment does not do anything for the right to have unions but it does allow you to post false information. ;-)
Yes, the liberals just threaten if they are not handed other people's money. Handouts for the unions. Garbage produced by union workers.
As a business employer, I have already heard from several of my clients that they will no longer need my service. I have had to tell some of my employees about laying off a couple of them. This Gov. is going to start a second recession in this town with his no tax the mining industry and refusing to allow the extension of the current taxes. Recall this guy and you will see better days for our state. He is just passing time, I believe he is looking at only his future and it does not include the state of Nevada. Thanks for reading this post.
Thomas:
If the public is so sick and tired of paying for public sector employees, why the opposition to a ballot measure? If you so staunchly believe that the tax measure would fail, you should be cheering the union effort that you apparently believe will fall on its face.
Instead, you are trying to turn the issue around as a question of public support for unions themselves, and not about tax policy. Why reframe the question?
Vegaslee:
The first amendment guarantees the freedom of association. Freedom of association is the individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests.
The entire purpose of a union is for groups of individuals (workers) to come together and collectively express promote and pursue and defend common interests in the workplace. This is done through collective bargaining with the employer.
Freedom of association, in this sense, is recognized as a fundamental human right by a number of documents including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Labor Organization Convention C87 and Convention C98 -- two of the eight fundamental, core international labour standards.
As for false information... well, seeing as how fundamentally mistaken you are, I guess I can't blame you for asserting that the first amendment has nothing to do with labor organization. But whatever, lee. You're a damned legal genius, with your GED in law.
This guy Danny Thompson was at the public hearing last week opposing the toll road because a dollar toll would hurt the poor people, the people he represents. So at 4.00/gal gas, who in their right mind wouldn't pay a dollar to save twelve miles of travel, especially when older vehicles get less miles/gal. Then he wants a tax increase to not protect the poor he represents, to protect the pristine state employee jobs. This guy is a moron. Come on a hole, take it to the people. Maybe you'll get support from the 3% of the working population you represent. Danny Moron Thompson.
I will say that if we went to the ballot box 2012, elected good conservatives, "fiscal conservatives", give the assembly and senate a majority, then visit them in tents on the legislative grounds, we can test this Governor and see what he has. Can you say "Wisconsin"? Just give us a chance to clean up this mess. If we don't do it now, we could possibly never get it done...look at California.
I watched the teamsters pull up in front of the legislature building in their finely shrink wrapped vehicles, with rims more expensive than the vehicle, declaring war. (I had to tell some of the labor people that were told to be there, where they were gathering..) but I guess that's why they are unionized. Please people, give us a chance.