Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun
The state capitol is seen on the third day of the 2011 legislative session Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011, in Carson City.
By Anjeanette Damon (contact) 
Monday, May 23, 2011 | 2:41 p.m.
Sun Coverage
In what may be a final acquiescence that they can’t get the Republican votes for a tax increase, joint money committees will begin the process tomorrow of cutting the funds Democrats had tried to add back to Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed no-new-taxes budget.
Although negotiations are still ongoing, two Democratic leaders confirmed they have all but given up on convincing Republicans to back either a services or margin tax. The most they now hope to get from Republicans are enough votes to extend the 2009 tax increase in exchange for reforms to collective bargaining, employee benefits and construction defects.
Both sides said the negotiations on that point are going well—at least on the Assembly side.
Pete Goicoechea
“We’re still talking,” Assembly Minority Leader Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, said.
In the Senate, however, Republicans don’t seem ready to budge—even on the 2009 tax sunsets, which they view the same as a tax increase.
Ben Kieckhefer
“You don’t have the votes in the Senate and you’re not going to get there, no matter what they do at this point,” said state Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, who was seen as a key swing Republican.
According to the contours of an emerging agreement, Democrats would be forced to cut their add backs by at least $250 million. That process will begin tomorrow.
Democrats hope to eliminate Sandoval’s proposals to borrow against future insurance premium tax revenues and to grab debt reserve funds from the school districts.
When it comes to spending, however, they’ll have to find ways to whittle back the $700 million they added to public schools, the $73 million they added back to Medicaid reimbursement cuts and the $100 million they added to higher education.
Democrats had rejected a 5 percent salary cut for school district employees, but may agree to 2.5 percent cuts to help meet the new number.
Even if Democrats win enough votes to extend the 2009 taxes, Sandoval has promised to veto it.
To avoid the veto, lawmakers would have to pass their budget compromise by Friday. That would give them enough time to override the veto before the June 6 close of the session.
Fantastic! Finally common sense from the dems. Now get back to the table with something realistic before u run out of time.
Stivers you are really stupid! The Republicans (party of Rich) has done nothing for anyone not wealthy! Class sizes will now be astronomical! Since private schools could not handle even 5% of the total CCSD students even vouchers will not help!
Democrats need to just say no to anything the idiots want & let it go at that!
The Dems finally figured out that "NO means NO". Elections have consequences. Rory lost and you have to deal with it.
Call the Gov anything you want. You can rant and rave till the cows come home. In 2014 bring your candidate in and we will see how that one goes. But for now. NO!
rngsweeney, you show your ignorance with your posts. You immediately resort to name calling and shout your ignorance....republicans are for the rich, and democrats are the good guys!!
What do you base that on? Educate yourself and you won't sound so silly.
Great! Now you can use what's left of my benefits to negotiate for your little tax plan. Just keep on hacking on us you idiots. Good thing state employees were rich before you started all this. At least now we can get welfare, food stamps and housing assistance with the tax extension that they are looking for.
The Republicans win and Nevada's working families lose. Foreign mining corporations win and pay nothing in taxes while Nevada's working families pay more and more. Small businesses lose and pay more in taxes because the Republicans will not renew the 2009 budget agreement which included tax breaks for them.
Do you really think this is fantastic? Foreign corporations taking our gold and silver and being paid our tax money for it? Nevada's working families, who can't afford it, paying for that "priviledge" while their kids spend less days in more crowded classrooms led by the few teachers who won't be laid off? Call you legislator today at 1-800-978-2878 and tell them how outraged you are that the Republicans are doing the bidding of foreign corporations and working against Nevada's working families!
Speak for yourself Mr. Hilton. I frankly am tired of the taxes. We have had two huge tax increases over the last two legislative sessions. Wasn't the billion dollar tax increase from 2009 enough for you? As a middle class working person I finally have a small sense that there is someone in Carson City (my reps. Mandendo and Oceguera not being in that group) that are looking out for me instead of the public employee unions.
This isn't about you paying more taxes, unless you are one of those foreign minnig corporations. Why are the Republicans, who supposedly are SO patriotic, SO fast to make sure that Nevada's working fmailies pay more in taxes so foreign mining corporations can continue to pay NOTHING? If you are a middle class person, YOU ARE THE ONE GETTING THE SHAFT FROM THE REPUBLICANS! If you had been paying attention to the news, you would have seen that unions have been trying to preserve the small benefits for middle class workers such as teachers. Unions are not the problem Republicans cry about-only 11% of workers even BELONG to a union! You need to think about which side you are on, bb, because you are supporting those who would be happy to slit your throat so that foreign mining corporations can take your American tax money and run back to Canada or Europe.
This is disappointing, to say the least. It will be very, very interesting to see what this state will look like two years down the road. I predict it will lag far behind the rest of the country in economic recovery, and economic growth will be non-existent. NV will continue to be the laughing stock of the rest of the country when it comes to education and businesses will continue to thumb their noses at NV because of this and other quality of life issues. The best and the brightest will continue to leave in droves - as they should. It will also be interesting to see what life is like for all these die-hard Sandoval supporters. Good luck to all of you, as you see your own quality of life diminish. As for me, I'll be long gone and working hard to forget I ever lived in such a backward, perpetually adolescent, joke of a state.
tax payers - 1
tax sponges - 0
This is so simple for us Las Vegas residents! Keep our tax money in Clark County!!!!! We are paying to educate all of these redneck rural republican's kids!!! They talk about cutting education...Let's Do It!!! If your county can't pay for it's schools Shut Them Down!!!!
"Unions are not the problem Republicans cry about-only 11% of workers even BELONG to a union!" - WilliamHill
That figure that gets thrown around so much is the combined membership for both the private and public sector unions. When you break it apart a *much* different picture emerges. Private sector union membership is at about 7% while public sector unions have close to 40% nationwide. It is much higher in a handful of states and only somewhat lower in others. So while private sector unions may not be a big problem, the public sector unions have a large impact on taxes.
In terms of actual numbers, there are slightly more people in public sector unions than in private sector unions.
You can find a lot of information here: http://unionstats.gsu.edu
"This isn't about you paying more taxes, unless you are one of those foreign minnig corporations."
There is no way -- absolutely no way -- that this budget could have been balanced on the backs of mining alone, without wholesale changes to the state constitution (which take several years by themselves.)
The plans that have been proposed would have included taxes both on businesses and on individual residents (in the form of sales taxes on goods and services). To say that this is just about mining is naive, and saying it's naive is probably being kind.
>>When you break it apart a *much* different picture emerges. Private sector union membership is at about 7% while public sector unions have close to 40% nationwide. <<
And, if that is true, it still is not the root of "evil" that the Repulicans claim. The unions are representing who-working people in this state. And the Republicans are representing who-the foreign mining corporations who will now CONTINUE to get tax money belonging to those same working Nevadans to take back to Canada or Europe! These foreign corporations get to write off MORE than the 5% net profits tax they are supposed to PAY the state-so their profits INCLUDE THE TAXES YOU PAY. But no, we should have less teachers, less police officers, shorter school years, so that these foreign corporations can take more and more of our tax money out of NEvada and our country. If this worries you, then call your legislator at 1-800-978-2878 and tell them so!
WillHill,
See the link below. The percentage of union membership as a percentage of total employed by state for Nevada is 15%, not 11%. Other states: Ca=17.5%, Arizona=6.4%, Texas=5.4%, Utah=6.5%, Michigan=16.5%. You don't know us. We're fed up with being overtaxed. Your union friends add to the price of goods and services we pay for, including government services. In the U.S., union membership has declined since 1953 from 35% in the private sector to around 7%. I wonder why? 25% of staff members at my company lost their jobs since 2008. A few had 30+ years with us. No, I don't have sympathy for an entity that only loses 5% in staff reduction, considering everything, teachers should feel lucky but you don't.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.t...
See Sarah Palin was right after all.
Too bad we don't have Republican leadership such as that in Colorado, which invested in education and is now reaping the economic benefits. Companies are partnering with their research universities and the state is attracting educated citizens, workers and leaders. I guess our wealthy can afford private schools and send their kids out of state for college. Shame on the rest of us for letting them treat our children differently.
The democratic party leaders are not very good at the game of politics. Whenever there is a real disagreement on policy, the democrats almost always acquiesce before the republicans. It's quite fascinating how this happens because it doesn't matter if the democrats outnumber the republicans or vice-versa. It must be very disappointing to be a democrat because you rarely ever get your way. You have my sympathy.
Does anyone honestly believe EITHER Party could care less about any of us 'middle class' citizens? Truth be told NEITHER Party has our best interest at heart - it's all about THEIR fat wallets and huge off-shore bank accounts. Stop pointing fingers to the left or to the right - give BOTH Parties the middle finger - they both deserve it :(
Vegas17,
How many educated citizens, workers and leaders did Colorado attract and how do those numbers compare to Nevada?
For shame. The mining corporations could easily help the state out, especially with gold at an all time high.
But NO. Repugnicans would rather screw the average person so their rich friends can make more money.
This is the worst type of greed.
Bob635,
See link below. Its Harry Reid who is a barrier to raising taxes on the Nevada mining industry.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/feb...
Ultimately we need to change the tax we charge the mining companies to something more realistic. The casinos are struggling due to high gas prices but the mining companies are shipping enormous amounts of ore to China. The mining companies should pay double the tax they pay.
11% of the workers who belong to unions want 100% of us to pay their continuously expanding salary and benefits. Unions believe they should have their members hold public office and vote on their contracts.
If left to their own honesty, Unions would have us pay 90% of our income to taxes and complain we are stealing 10% from them.
UNIONS PAY NO TAXES !!
During the annual meeting, Barrick Mining presented a slide show. One of the mines highlighted in the show was the Cortez Hill Mine in Northern Nevada. Several items were highlighted. In FY 2010, the mine produced 1140000 ounces (35.625 TONS) of gold at a cost of #312 per ounce. Assuming a profit of $1000 per ounce, that results in a profit of $1,140,000,000(1.4 BILLION). In the first quarter of FY 2011, the Cortez Hill mine produced 366,000 ounces (11.43 TONS) of gold at a cost of $220 per ounce. Assuming a profit of $1000 per ounce, that results in a profit of $366,000,000 (366 MILLION). The total profits produced by the Cortez Hill mine in NEVADA amount to just over 1,500,000,000(1.5 BILLION). That profit is roughly 25% of the Sandoval projected budget for the next TWO years. In 2009, the mining industry reported gross revenue of 5.8 BILLION and paid 48.6 MILLION in taxes. I would project that the amount of taxes paid by Barrick Mining on projected profits of over 1.5 BILLION would be less than 50 MILLION! The slide show goes on to show that projected gold reserves at the Cortez Hill mine went from 6.3 MILLION ounces in 2006 to 14.5 MILLION ounces in 2011. This is the link to the slide show. http://media.lasvegassun.com/media/pdfs/...
Sandoval has said that he wants to create jobs and bring high tech business to Nevada. So far, we have seen the solar panel manufacturing plant open in North Las Vegas with 300 jobs. That was announced the same day that North Las Vegas cut 260 city jobs. Net increase 40 jobs. The only job creation that Sandoval can point to is the announcement of an Urban Outfitters distribution center in Reno. Hardly a high tech, high pay business.
This is a link to a story that appeared in the Sun about businesses locating to Nevada.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/mar...
"The Nevada Development Authority, the nonprofit agency that receives $1.1 million in state funding to diversify the economy, said it could not provide names of businesses that had shown interest but did not move here. Such discussions are confidential, officials said.
Democrats and those inclined to support taxes say businesses shun Nevada because of its underfunded K-12 and higher education systems. Nevada has:
Uneducated and unqualified workers who are unable to meet the demands of private businesses.
And a subpar public school system that employers don't want to subject their children or their employees' children to.
Supporters of this theory do offer examples. Ikea, the furniture company, and EarthLink, an Internet service provider, told a Las Vegas developer that they were considering moving here, but elected not to because the area's educational attainment lags national averages.
Ensign pointed to Intuit, a Reno company, which had cited concerns about the state's education system as an obstacle to expansion."
We have been told for years that low taxes will bring businesses to Nevada. Where are the businesses? Where are the jobs?
The success of the Republican caucus in stopping all tax increases could be the begining of the end of Horsford and Oceguera's political careers.
Horsford and Oceguera mismanaged their respective rolls as Majority leader and Speaker. They tried to bully their union supporting agenda through the legislature and demagogued their Republican counter parts. They disregarded the will of the majority of Nevadans who pay taxes and are not members of unions.
This was after Horsford tried selling access to himself and all of his committee leaders for $25,000. Oceguera spent $35,000 of public funds for a private gym that goes unused.
Coincidently their Democrat redistricting plan has been gerrymandered to give them the greatest possibility of winning a Congressional seat.
UN-REAL !!
Aww. Poor tanker. Are you all upset that you are not getting anything else out of my wallet.
Your such a crybaby. We in the private sector have been dealt a billion dollars of new taxes every legislative session for the past decade. It's your turn. Suck it up like we have.
And as far as Barrick is concerned, it is really selfish of you to covet their success. They are enjoying a temporary ride of success and you will be nowhere to be found if gold went down. You have no clue how many people in this state feed off the success of mining. Almost every grocery store employee, mechanic, salesman, pharmacist,....... in every small town in Nevada exhist because the mines do. You are gambling with a lot of lives by trying to steal more of their success. If they ever packed up and only dug holes on other parts of the world, a lot of private sector employees and families would suffer. But you don't care about those private sector employees that feed you, do you?
Fine if you don't want to create a more equitable tax structure then leave the taxes where they are today but please Sandoval and the Republicans don't let the taxes passed in 2009 to expire. Those go directly into education and this state can't handle going further behind in educational spending and achievement. I am begging you as a parent and a Nevada to please just leave these taxes as they are. I am so frustrated that Nevadans have chosen short-term political rhetoric like no new taxes over long-term solutions.
@tbvegas. Given that Nevada is the second largest producer of gold, and another mining company is trying to reopen the Comstock, I doubt that will happen any time soon. Nor do I see the price of gold dropping anytime soon.
Please explain to me how we are going to attract high tech, high paying jobs with an education system that is last in the country? Are you willing to keep accepting cuts to the state budget. You do realize that the Clark County Commission is considering raising property taxes to pay for the programs that Sandoval pushed down to the counties to balance his budget. What happens two years from now, when the state revenues are down again, and they will very likely be, and Sandoval makes even deeper cuts? What future does that leave?
link for the Comstock mining
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/may...
Mr. Hilton. You've got it right. I'm behind you 100%.
What a travesty of decency, fairness, and democracy. We should have a public referendum on whether or not to more appropriately and more fairly impose taxes on the foreign mining companies that are stealing from the people of Nevada. Even major business leaders who actually do business in the state (as opposed to raping and pillaging the land for gold which get spirited away) have supported more taxes in a state that is near the bottom in everything including the taxation rate. Voters will not forget this tragic and blatant charade and will remember who supports and works for the people and who supports and works for corporate interests in the next election cycle! Perhaps a recall is in order.
I hope you all realize that whatever cuts are made in this legislative session will be restored the next time Nevada has a democratic governor. So these "temporary" cuts will have no lasting positive effect other than to allow us to balance the budget in the short term. The negative effects will be felt for a much longer period of time, especially in education where damage to our reputation as well as loss of valuable resources and academic programs will last for years.
Wild swings in funding of important services does incredible damage and I'm perplexed by how many people on this board are celebrating such large disturbances in the way these services are delivered. It doesn't make any sense because eventually the tide will turn in the opposite direction and we will end up spending even more money trying to rebuild what we've lost the past few years.
Why anyone would object to having a more reliable source of revenue for our state government is a complete mystery to me. You can argue all you want about reducing government spending and I'll listen to that, but to object to reforming the tax code in NV so that more businesses & individuals pay a fair share is simply ludicrous. A business services tax is smart and effective and it makes sense in NV where services comprise a large chunk of our overall economy.
Legalize marijuana & tax it. Legalize protitution & tax it. Why are we letting all these "sales" go on off the books & tax free when we as a community are in such need? Use the extra tax revenue collected for our school districts & universities. This would also help with our over-populated jails & free up our police force.
Texas has more Fortune 500 companies than any state in the nation and according to their Governor, Rick Perry: "Texas' low taxes, reasonable and predictable regulatory climate, fair legal system, and skilled workforce have made the Lone Star State a beacon for job creation and economic growth". I would also add that many companies in the last 20 years have moved their home offices to the middle of the United States to cities such as Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Austin and Denver due to the ease of airport transportation to/from both the east and west coast as well. It would be great to see more home offices move here but it could prove to be a very hard sell due to our proximity. Also, notice how Governor Perry used the phrase "skilled workforce" as opposed to "educated workforce". With only a few exception, most companies only require a college education for department heads, directors, VP and president/CEO levels. Department supervisors and below typically do not which is where most of the jobs are in business. I enclosed a link below showing gross state product by state and on it, only California, Arizona and Washington state are in the top 20 from the west. A majority of the rest are manufacturing beltway states in the east/midwest and Texas with its energy, transportation and agricultural sectors. Nevada is not going to be competitive luring a northeast manufacturer out west, the cost of transporting raw material to the west coast is too expensive. Same for Texas and its oil rigs inland and offshore and it's oil refineries. And Washington state has Boeing and the local companies that supply Boeing JIT. Nevada needs to think regionally. Nevada has a better chance competing for businesses with states like California. Businesses want certainty, just like when we retire, we want to live in a state with low local/state taxes. Additionally, since 2007, Nevada's job sector loss is primarily construction and a majority of those jobs won't be coming back because there's no longer a need to build houses on a massive scale. Las Vegas has an appeal to retirees due to low taxes, low cost of living, affordable housing and it's entertainment value. I believe a low tax and predictable regulatory climate will make Nevada a viable option for companies wanting to leave over-regulates/tax burdened states like California AND it makes moving and living here attractive to folks such as retirees who would occupy some of these empty houses, stabilize home values and add to Las Vegas' tax base. The results will broaden our tax base which we sorely need and better position us to afford future higher education initiatives that will expand our economic opportunities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S...
Either you are going to raise taxes or you're not. I prefer the latter.
Actually the net result will be a lot fewer services and some inadequate services will be even worse and many local taxes will be raised so one might say that Sandoval has pushed for one of the largest tax increases in the history of Nevada. Let that be his epithet - "I increased taxes a lot when I fooled we the people into thinking I was a good guy."
Finally, it looks like the Democrats are getting the message that we have to stop spending money we don't have.
William u do understand that anything done to raise minning taxes will take 6yrs minnimum right. All this raising taxes on minning industry won't do anything to help the sittuation right now. So please untill there is a bill to start that ball rolling please stop with the minning and the foriegn gold sitch. The taxes they wanted was a farce from the start with no real chance or support. They need to focus on the task at hand and stop pandering to the left. The taxes have been raised 2 times already so far every chance they get they want to raise taxes. If every 2 years your taxes go up where is the upside of bringing or keeping your company here. There is no stability.
No new taxes! They also should let the others sunset.
"Legalize marijuana & tax it. Legalize protitution & tax it."
BRILLIANT Eric your way could fill Nevada with whores and dorers who are PHDs BUT why would a well educated population favor a town filled with dopers,prostitutes and those who prey on them?
OH SHOOT I forgot we need armies of dopers and prostitutes 'for the kids'!
So what worthwhile activities have Legislators, particularly Democratic Legislators, been doing for the money we paid them--for 100 days of posturing and rhetoric? At least they now see that to have any impact they must approve realistic budgets or the STATE WILL OPERATE WITHOUT THEIR INPUT.
Now if we can keep this going for a couple more bienniums, BUSINESS WILL LOOK AT NEVADA. Stop spending on illegals and cut our taxes. Fine the EMPLOYERS OF ILLEGALS. Move the illegal students on out. STOP providing emergency medical services to illegals OR ARREST AND DEPORT THEM UPON THEFT OF SERVICES, especially the expensive dialysis, surgeries..... GET FRAUD INVESTIGATORS AND AUDITORS check on APPLICANT FRAUD for MEDICAID, TANF cash assistance, Child Care, Child Support Enforcement, local housing support..... Any and all money we spend on INVESTIGATING AND DEPORTING ILLEGALS will be repaid many times over. We might reach a point, within a few years, where we'll have the funding available for INFRASTRUCTURE REPAIR--roads, bridges, train tracks between Vegas, Elko, Reno, Carson.
Let's find out what happens--California prisons have been ordered to release 37,000 felons. HOW MANY WILL BE DEPORTED AS ILLEGALS--HAND OVER TO ICE WHEN RELEASED. Might actually benefit us all as ICE puts these losers into the data base and bars them from re-entry. Maybe then they can release another 20,000. And then another 20,000. And then Nevada will FIGURE IT OUT AND RELEASE ILLEGALS TO ICE FOR DEPORTATION. $50,000 a day in Nevada for ILLEGAL PRISONERS.
I still wish I could give the government all my money so we can watch them fail and not have any excuses as to why its failing other than their own incompetence and mismanagement.
Why should we have more tax increases when they cant tell us where our tax money goes?
If you can spend millions of dollars on bombs daily, then you certainly dont need any more of my tax money.
@pmmart - What town do you think you live in? Do you really think people are following marijuana laws? Are you really that naive? People are making millions on the black market right now. 3k to 5k a pound with average harvest 3 months, 4 harvest a year. I mean its ridiculous how much money these "dopers" are making. Matter of fact they make more than you, easily. I know "dopers" that are retired with houses in Hawaii, yes house(s) because people like you keep this plant illegal. The entire mexican drug cartels are funded by keeping black markets open.
Believe what you want but dont think for a second pot is going anywhere, thats naive.
Stimulate the ECONOMY: cut taxes.
I did not vote for Sandoval and he will not get my vote in the future. There are idiots running this State from both sides and Sandoval is the topmost idiot running this State.