Assembly Republicans oppose mining tax proposal
CARSON CITY — The day after some of their Senate colleagues called for a mining tax increase to compete with a teacher-backed margins tax on the 2014 ballot, Assembly Republicans Wednesday said the focus this session instead should be on reforms that will save taxpayer dollars.
“Budgeting by ballot initiative has had horrible consequences for California,” said Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, R-Reno, in announcing his caucus’ opposition to the Senate proposal.
Hickey said Assembly Republican leaders are proposing constructive reforms that can save public dollars now rather than speculating on hoped-for additional revenues two years from now.
The Assembly GOP announcement shows that the 15-member caucus is not on board with the mining tax proposal being pushed by some of their Senate counterparts. Assembly Republicans have joined Sandoval in opposing the idea.
Even so, Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Las Vegas, said Wednesday he and his colleagues will continue to push for the proposal this session.
ROBERSON: GOP LEADERS KNEW
Roberson also responded to claims by Assembly Republicans that they and Sandoval were taken completely by surprise at the announcement.
Roberson said the idea was discussed with Sandoval’s advisers and with the Assembly Republican minority leader in advance of the announcement but acknowledged the decision to unveil the plan on Tuesday was not telegraphed to Sandoval or Assembly Republicans.
Roberson said he did not want to give the mining industry any advance notice of the plan.
“If you think that I was going to give the mining industry a heads-up on this before we announced it you must think I’m dumber than I look,” he said.
“I am optimistic, once the governor sees the legislation, which hasn’t even been drafted yet, that he’ll be supportive of giving voters a choice,” Roberson said. “But that’s a bridge we’ll cross at some point between now and the first week of June. What I can tell you is that we’re absolutely pushing forward on this.”
Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, who joined Roberson with other colleagues in the announcement, said the debate should be over the policy, not side issues about who knew what and when.
HICKEY: CAUCUS OPPOSITION ‘UNANIMOUS’
Hickey said his caucus is unanimous in its opposition to the Senate plan for a mining tax.
“Assembly Republicans are focused on what we should be doing here legislatively in 2013 — reviewing the governor’s budget and prioritizing what can be spent for education this year, and in this biennium,” he said. “Trying to create new initiatives to defeat flawed initiatives may seem creative, but our primary concern is this budget, this session.”
Sandoval’s proposed budget has over $400 million in new funding for education, including more spending for per-pupil funding, pay increases for teachers, money for early language learners and all-day kindergarten, he said.
Nevada’s gradual economic recovery should not be jeopardized by anything other than revenue-neutral tax reforms this legislative session, Hickey said.
Assembly Minority Whip Tom Grady, R-Yerington, said lawmakers should not be thinking about trying to fund urban state schools by taxing the rural-based mining industry.
GOP Senate leaders announced the mining tax ballot proposal on Tuesday, saying it would offer an alternative to the margins tax, which is expected to be on the ballot next year. The alternative is meant to give voters a choice on how to raise more money for public education. The Republican leaders argue the margins tax would kill job creation and devastate Nevada’s economy.
ASSEMBLY MEMBERS SOUND OFF
Interviews with a handful of Assembly Republicans suggest the caucus is unified in its position regarding the Senate plan.
Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, R-Las Vegas, said any tax proposal that focuses on a single industry is a nonstarter for her.
“The message is loud and clear to me that we do not need new taxes as we do need reform on how we spend money,” she said.
Assemblyman Wes Duncan, R-Las Vegas, said he understands the concerns by Senate Republicans about the effects of the margins tax on Nevada’s economy. But the caucus wants to push for reforms this session that can save money in the current budget, he said.
Assembly Republicans agree the margins tax would be deleterious to Nevada’s businesses, Duncan said.
“Our position is that, right now, we just don’t feel like saying that another tax is necessary,” he said.
Assistant Minority Leader Cresent Hardy, R-Mesquite, said that he and Assemblyman Randy Kirner, R-Reno, will be bringing forth proposals this week to save tax dollars with changes to the state’s prevailing wage law and the public employees retirement system.
“By exempting prevailing wage requirements on school projects, we can save up to 25 percent of every public dollar spent on schools,” Hardy said.
Nevada’s prevailing wage law requires contractors who win publicly financed construction projects to pay workers according to a wage schedule established by the state’s labor commissioner.
Kirner said his PERS reform legislation “will not only help move the Public Employee Retirement System toward solvency in the future,” it will free up funds to be spent this session on education funding priorities.
Efforts to make major changes to the prevailing wage law or the state public employees retirement system have been unsuccessful in past legislative sessions, although some modest reforms to PERS were passed in a bipartisan vote in 2009.
The changes to PERS agreed to in 2009 were made in exchange for a temporary tax increase approved by lawmakers to help fund the budget.
Assembly Republicans will talk about their cost-saving proposals in more detail today .
Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900.
