On clarity and lobbyists

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 | 2:09 a.m.

A loosely worded bill now under consideration by the Legislature is proof that a costly lesson of four years ago has not been learned.

Senate Bill 331, written by a lobbyist, would extend and increase a state tax break for the generation of wind or solar energy.

As pointed out by Las Vegas Sun reporter David McGrath Schwartz, however, the bill is vague in defining who would get the break.

The bill, which has cleared one Senate committee, is reminiscent of one passed by the 2005 Legislature that offered tax breaks to developers who used “green” materials and technologies in their new commercial buildings.

Because the bill was not carefully written, developers of large projects figured out that every green dollar they invested could earn them a tax rebate of $1 to $3. As builders rushed to get in on this bonanza, a bill that legislators assumed would cost a nominal amount suddenly loomed as a $1 billion giveaway.

The 2007 Legislature could scale that back only to about $500 million. Just think how that money could have been used for schools and other vital services.

SB331 was submitted by Peter Ernaut, a former Republican assemblyman now working for the lobbying firm of R&R Partners. Ernaut told Schwartz he wrote the bill on behalf of a California developer of large-scale solar projects, and that the tax abatement is intended only for companies of that size.

As written, though, the bill could allow owners of existing buildings, including homes, to add rooftop solar panels and quite possibly qualify for the tax benefit. It never specifies that the break is only for large-scale solar and wind developers.

This is the danger the Legislature puts itself and the taxpayers in when it foolishly continues the long-standing practice of allowing lobbyists to write bills as a way of saving time. Nevadans would be better served if the Legislature met every year instead of every other year, and employed an appropriately sized staff serving the public, not private clients.