T-word not dirty in race for Senate District 12 seat

By David McGrath Schwartz

Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.

Nevada voters will have the choice between two forthright candidates in November. No, really!

As most political mouths fill with meal or downright dishonesty, there’s an actual policy discussion going on in one state Senate race in Southern Nevada.

Dr. Joe Hardy, an assemblyman and Republican, says the state needs to look at how it spends money, make cuts where it can and institute reforms.

His opponent, Aaron Ford, an attorney and Democrat, says many of the same things.

But here’s the surprising part:

Both say that when the Legislature tries to balance the state’s two-year budget with a $3 billion hole, the state will need to find additional revenue. In fact, in interviews last week, both said the t-word — t...t...t...taxes — and did not burst into flames.

Privately, those who have studied the budget acknowledge that taxes will have to be raised, even if it’s just the renewal of about $1 billion in taxes passed last session, scheduled to expire in 2011.

The problem is that the politicians think Nevada voters — an anti-tax lot in a normal year, stoked this cycle by backlash against federal government deficits and a bad economy — will punish anyone suggesting there’s an alternative to cuts.

Thus, Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid, the Democrat running for governor, released his budget plan last week, which combined promises to cut hundreds of millions in bureaucracy with a belief that tax revenue will defy economic indicators and forecasters and come in $615 million more than expected.

Republican Brian Sandoval, a former federal judge, has not released his budget plan or let on when he will do so. But, he said, he would do it without raising taxes or continuing the existing taxes.

Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, said now is not the time to talk about revenue. “We’re a long way from that point. The public has to know we made government more efficient, more accountable.”

The revenue discussion, he said, is “two months down the road.”

You mean after November’s election? he was asked.

“Maybe I made a Freudian slip there,” he said with a laugh.

There have been some notable suggestions. Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio and Assembly Minority Leader Pete Goicoechea have all said revenue is going to be part of the picture.

But none of them is facing a competitive race.

Which brings us back to Senate District 12, a sprawling district that covers the southeast parts of Southern Nevada, including parts of Henderson, Boulder City and Laughlin.

Hardy, a moderate who joined the Assembly in 2002 and beat back a conservative challenge in his primary this year, favors an increase to the sales tax.

Ford said the state should look to getting out-of-state large businesses to pay more to the state.

Hardy argues: “If we do anything to put another burden on business, then the business we need to come back will be reticent to take risks. People in business are sitting on money, because they don’t know what to expect.”

Because groceries, rent and medications are exempt from the state’s sales tax, Hardy said it is not “regressive” — where the poor and middle class pay a higher percent of their income than the wealthy. (Many Democrats disagree with Hardy’s assessment.)

Ford said he wouldn’t take any proposal off the table. But he talked foremost about having large businesses pay more.

“Clearly, we’ve been dependent on gaming and mining industries for too long. We also can’t continue to rely on local businesses, small businesses,” he said. He wants to “look at large corporations, headquartered elsewhere, that benefit from being in Nevada.”

He said he would consider a corporate income tax, but has not made up his mind.

Gregory Brown, a history professor at UNLV and state vice president of the Nevada Faculty Alliance, applauded the candidates.

“We very much appreciate it where you have a race with two thoughtful people,” Brown said. “They understand the importance of government services to a functioning society. It’s very, very refreshing.”

Hardy said he’s happy to be having a debate that includes taxes.

“I tell people, ‘Come up with a good idea, tell me what it is, and I’ll take credit for it,’ ” he said. “But I don’t hear many good ideas out there. Everyone knows we’re in trouble.”