By Bill Dentzer Las Vegas Review-Journal

May 13, 2021 - 8:59 am

CARSON CITY — Two critical revenue bills pushed through the 2019 Legislature by the Democratic majority failed to pass with the required two-thirds majority and are unconstitutional, a unanimous state ......We hope you appreciate our content. Subscribe today to continue reading this story, and all of our stories.  Read More

EDITORIAL: State Dems ask court to gut tax restraint initiative Las Vegas Review-Journal May 4, 2021 The Nevada Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in a case involving an end-run around the state constitution, and the hearing was quite instructive. In 2019, legislative Democrats passed bills nixing a scheduled decrease in a payroll tax and extending a “temporary” technology fee applied to DMV transactions. The moves increased state revenue by more than $50 million a year. One problem: Nevada voters in the 1990s twice approved the Gibbons Tax Restraint Initiative, a constitutional amendment demanding that lawmakers pass any state tax hike by a supermajority. The language is so clear that even a Democratic legislator should be able to grasp it: A two-thirds vote in both houses is “necessary to pass a bill or joint resolution which creates, generates or increases any public revenue in any form.” Neither of the 2019 bills in question passed the Senate with two-thirds support. Republican lawmakers sued and prevailed last year in District Court. Democrats appealed to the state Supreme Court. Democrats argue that the higher threshold was unnecessary because the bills kept tax rates at the same level and thus didn’t actually increase revenue. The Legislature Counsel Bureau, which offers legal advice to lawmakers, provided cover for this dubious position with an opinion worthy of Lewis Carroll, maintaining that the Gibbons initiative doesn’t mean what it says. READ MORE HERE

The Economic Forum met this week (Tuesday, May 4) and provided their forecast for the biennium so the legislature could start closing their budgets and the legislative session.  The forecast shows a significant recovery, allowing legislators to “add back” funds to programs that were previously cut to address the revenue shortfall caused by the Governor’s economic shutdown done in response to the pandemic.  

Before providing these numbers, consider that there will be a special session of the legislature after they close out the regular session to determine how to spend the billions of dollars Nevada is receiving in federal funds under the American Recovery Act.  

In sum, the Economic Forum forecast over a half-billion dollars in additional tax revenues available above and beyond the figures provided during their last meeting in December of 2020.  The $586 million of additional funds provides a forecast for the next biennium of a total of $9.1 billion (previous forecast was $8.5 billion).  Add in the revenue growth above previous projections for the last year of this biennium to the projected additional revenue for the next biennium (three year period), there is an addition $910 million of revenue.  

The breakdown from some of our larger revenue sources:

Sales & Use Taxes            $2.7 billion (increase of 5% from previous forecast)

Gaming Tax                                         $1.5 billion (increase of $100 million from previous)

MBT                                                       $1.6 billion (increase of about $100 million from previous)

Insurance Prem. Tax       $1 billion (pretty steady)

Real Property Transfer   $250 million (assumes a housing slowdown next year)

Commerce Tax                  $470 million (up about 10% from previous forecast)

Live Entertainment         $180 million (slightly down)

Mining Net Proceeds      $150 million (pre-paying a lot of their 2022 during 2021)

If you want to see the detailed report by the Economic Forum, go here:

 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Division/Fiscal/Economic%20Forum/MAY%202021%20FORECAST.pdf

Hold onto your wallets: Education bureaucrats seek property, sales tax hike Victor Joecks Las Vegas Review-Journal May 1, 2021 Those in Nevada’s education establishment want to raise your property taxes — by a lot. Then they want you to pay more in sales tax. No thanks. The Nevada Commission on School Funding recently released a report calling for a 36.7 percent to 55 percent increase in per-pupil spending. By 2031, the annual inflation-adjusted cost of those increases is projected to be between $2.17 billion and $3.24 billion. That conclusion wasn’t a surprise. Democrats created the commission two years ago and stacked it with members of the education bureaucracy, including school district employees. Its task was to determine “an optimal level” of public school funding and how to pay for it. So school district employees think it’s “optimal” that the public spend a lot more on public education. Go figure. This approach has it backward. It’s like being dissatisfied with your Ford Taurus and then asking Ford how much it would cost to create an “optimal” car. That makes no sense. Before spending more, you would investigate how much cars from other companies cost. You may discover that another company has a better product at a lower price. That happens all the time — when there’s competition. When companies have to earn your business, there’s innovation and downward pressure on prices. But when there’s a limited competition, products tend to stagnant and prices usually rise. That sounds a lot like what you see in Nevada’s traditional public schools. The only area of widespread agreement is that overall performance is terrible. Instead of exploring ways to improve using current resources, however, the establishment moans for more money. READ MORE HERE

So, what happened?   Dr. Robin Titus Submission to the Reno Gazette-Journal April 15, 2021   On Tuesday, hours before counties begin announcing their reopening plans, Governor Sisolak made a political calculation to steal their thunder for the limelight and attempt to take credit for removing social distancing guidelines and reopening the state. So, what happened to the supposed science used to unilaterally shut the state down without any input or checks and balances from other branches of government? In fact, Nevada’s COVID-19 test positivity rate had consecutively increased every day for the previous 12 days leading up to his press conference. And the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had just been paused that same morning. Where's the science for removing social distancing guidelines ... or was it just convenient political theater before the inevitable? It's obvious. This was a political calculation amid the most progressive and partisan session in history. READ MORE HERE

Bill Number: SB 10 (link)

Sponsor: Senate Committee on Revenue and Economic Development – On behalf of the Nevada Association of Counties (NACO)

Status: SB 10 was heard on Tuesday, March 30th in Senate Committee on Revenue and Economic Development

Press: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/bill-proposing-property-tax-floor-increase-receives-icy-reception

Notes: The purpose of this legislation is to increase property taxes on Nevadans because NACO wants more revenue for their member county governments, and property taxes are a major revenue source for local governments.  SB 10 would essentially disregard the Consumer Price Index when determining the current property tax increase ceiling.  Like all property tax hikes, it’s not only home owners who get impacted, but those who rent because costs obviously increase for landlords who will then pass those increases on to the renters.  Keystone has informed members of the Committee that we oppose this legislation.

Bill Number: SB 11 (link)

Sponsor: Senate Committee on Revenue and Economic Development – On behalf of the City of Reno

Status: SB 11 was heard on Thursday, March 4th in Senate Committee on Revenue and Economic Development 

Press: None

Notes: Keystone opposes this legislation as it authorizes incorporated cities in Washoe County to impose a “supplemental governmental services tax” on its citizens.  Our opposition is based off the policy of this tax hike on Nevada citizens, the process by which it is being advanced, and the timing of this proposal.  

First, as a policy, we believe this is not the time for any government entity in Nevada to raise taxes on its citizens, given the financial hardship so many of our citizens faced this past year.  

Second, as a process, we believe enabling legislation like SB 11 simply provides a convenient way for the legislature to circumvent the Gibbons Tax Restraint Initiative (GTRI).  Authorizing local governments to raise taxes by passing legislation on a simple majority vote, as opposed to meeting the two-thirds threshold outlined in our state’s constitution, may have been determined by lawyers to be permissible, but it undoubtedly violates the spirit of the GTRI.

And finally, in regard to timing, there is a strong likelihood that the federal government recently provided billions of dollars to Nevada as part of the Rescue Act so more revenue is simply not necessary.

Bill Number: SB 73 (link)

Sponsor: Senate Committee on Revenue and Economic Development – On behalf of the City of Reno

Status: SB 73 was heard by the Senate Committee on Revenue and Economic Development on Thursday, March 4th. 

Press: None

Notes: Keystone opposes this legislation for essentially the same reasons we oppose SB 11 (above)

Bill Number: AB 340 (link) 

Sponsor: Assemblyman Andy Matthews

Status: AB 340 was heard 

Press: None

Notes: This is good legislation for Keystone to support and monitor because it would require executive state agencies to disclose the economic impact of the regulations they propose on Nevada businesses and industries.  Further, the bill prohibits such agencies from adopting any regulations they propose that have an adverse economic impact (threshold price tag would be $10,000,000) without the vote of the legislature and approval of the governor.  This legislation is modeled after the federal, fiscally-responsible REINS Act. 

The major elections bill – AB 321 – which will make all the “temporary” election laws that were implemented because of COVID last summer permanent, was heard last week.  There was a lot of press on this bill, which will make ballot harvesting legal permanently, as well as universal mail balloting, among other things.  

You can find the bill here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7842/Overview

Press coverage: 

https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/permanent-expanded-mail-in-voting-straight-ticket-ballots-draw-partisan-fire-in-legislature

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/2021-legislature/democrats-republicans-tangle-over-mail-in-voting-bill-2320386/

https://www.rgj.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/02/nevadas-universal-mail-voting-bill-gets-first-hearing-carson/7061833002/

1.Gun law update: United States Senator Dianne Feinstein, the author and architect of the original 1994 "assault weapons" ban, has announced she will introduce a new federal ban.

In a press release, the Senator was quoted as saying: “I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to pass this bill and other reforms, including the assault weapons ban that I plan to introduce in the coming weeks."

Since her previous “assault’ rifle ban ended she has tried numerous times to resurrect the legislation. Her new bill, which I’m sure will be more expansive, will be introduced shortly in our Democrat controlled Congress.

It's no surprise that this announcement comes just days after gun registry bills were reintroduced in the House and Senate. The Biden/Harris administration is planning for full-scale confiscation. Media sources report they're even planning to hire hundreds of additional ATF agents to do it.

Congressional Democrats have already used reconciliation to bypass actual voting in a clear violation of Congressional rules and procedures. They are voiding the filibuster rules to cut off pro-gun opposition. Gun owners can stop this by actively supporting conservative candidates for all levels of government. Donate to and volunteer to help get out the vote. 

President Biden signs more and more Executive Orders everyday designed to take lawfully owned firearms away from veterans or senior citizens. Under Dianne Feinstein’s soon to be introduced bill, anyone considered a threat to themselves or others by family members or responding law enforcement officers will have no way to defend themselves from violent intruders. On a death certificate, there are spaces to list an immediate cause of death. It may be gunshot, choking, poisoning or any of dozens of others. Soon coroners across America will have new cause of death to use on their reports, death by executive order.

Bill Dentzer

Las Vegas Review-Journal

March 5, 2021

Inching through its fifth week of session and into its sixth starting Monday, the Legislature continues operating at a pandemic-constrained pace.

A March 15 deadline for lawmakers to introduce their bills might quicken matters in the coming week, which will see the Legislature reach the one-third mark of its 120-day session.

This 81st session might one day be recalled as “The Lost Session.” Through Friday, 401 pieces of legislation had been introduced. At the same point two years ago, bills and resolutions before lawmakers numbered 539. That’s a little more than a 25 percent dropoff.

Both houses held floor sessions on just three of five days this week, one that concluded amid grim milestones: Deaths from COVID-19 in Nevada surpassed 5,000 on Thursday, and Friday was the anniversary of the state’s first official case of the disease.

The Legislative Building remains closed to the public amid concerns over potential disease spread, though a newcomer Republican Assembly member tried to force a floor vote to reopen the building on Wednesday. She was quickly ruled out of order.

As of midday Friday, the week ahead had 49 bills scheduled to be heard in committees, in addition to budget hearings. The schedule is subject to quick changes.

READ MORE HERE

Michael Schaus
Nevada Policy Research Institute
Published by the The Nevada Independent
February 7, 2021
Over the course of the last year, government has demonstrated an appalling inability to provide Nevadans with the resources, tools and services they needed in such a massively disruptive time.
The state’s unconscionable failure to provide unemployment benefits to thousands of workers—forced out of their jobs due to the coronavirus closures—was one of the most glaring examples. So, too, was the Clark County School District’s year-long experimentation with distance learning—an experiment in public education that has left tens of thousands of children struggling to advance academically, with the most disadvantaged children suffering the most.
And now, government lobbyists, unions and insiders are in Carson City pushing to hike taxes as a way to “solve” the challenges faced by government agencies. Increased property tax burdens, higher sales taxes and even authorizations for new local taxes will all be considered in this legislative session—and with constant budget concerns being voiced from every corner of government, it’s not hard to imagine politicians will be tempted to consider the relatively easy path of agreeing to “more revenue.”
Such a knee jerk reaction to boost budgets and tax revenue is not only economically unwise in an economic downturn, it also demonstrates a clear disinterest in addressing the fundamental reasons government has failed so many Nevadans.
For example, the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation—the office responsible for processing unemployment claims—didn’t fail spectacularly in their task merely because it was understaffed or lacked necessary technology. After all, if increased demand is an excuse for failure, the system clearly has more pressing structural issues.
In a typically bureaucratic way, the agency lacked both the ability to innovate and the accountability to incentivize the changes needed to keep up in a rapidly evolving environment. READ MORE HERE

Las Vegas Review-Journal
February 27, 2021
If casinos and movie theaters are open, Nevada’s Capitol should be, too.
The halls of the Legislative Building usually bustle during the biennial, four-month session. Not this year. The Legislature is locking out the public in response to the coronavirus pandemic. No lobbyists or concerned citizens allowed — although virtual input is accepted. Even the number of reporters is limited.
Last week, four lobbyists filed a federal lawsuit seeking access to the building and lawmakers. The named defendants include Gov. Steve Sisolak, Attorney General Aaron Ford and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro.
“Defendants have continued to utilize the emergency directives to preclude lobbyist and the public from the state Capital to further their political agendas behind closed doors,” the lawsuit reads.
In addition, more than five dozen activist groups across the political spectrum sent a letter last week to lawmakers calling current options for citizen participation “grossly insufficient” and decrying limits on “the public’s ability to make their voices heard.” The missive points out that relying solely on virtual citizen input has greatly reduced public participation and transparency. READ MORE HERE