Ballot measures on energy, medical equipment draw support

By Megan Messerly

Thursday, June 23, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Groups wanting to restore more favorable rates for rooftop solar customers, break up NV Energy’s monopoly and exempt certain kinds of medical equipment from taxation each submitted signatures by a Tuesday deadline in an effort to qualify their respective measures for the November ballot.

Backers of the various initiatives were required to submit signatures to county clerks across the state by 5 p.m. Tuesday to begin the signature verification process. Each initiative must draw 55,234 signatures from Nevada voters to qualify the ballot.

Should the three measures qualify, they will join two other initiatives on the November ballot. Question 1 aims to expand background checks on gun sales and transfers throughout the state, while Question 2 would legalize recreational marijuana.

Yet more measures, spearheaded by former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle, died Tuesday after failing to obtain signatures. Those measures advocated requiring ID’s to vote, banning health insurance exchanges in the state, and expanding student data privacy.

Here’s a rundown of what to expect from the three measures that could appear on the November ballot:

Referendum on net metering

A coalition of pro-solar interests, under the banner of the Bring Back Solar Alliance, submitted more than 115,000 signatures in favor of a proposed referendum to restore more generous rates for Nevada’s rooftop solar customers. The signatures submitted were more than twice the number necessary to qualify the referendum for the ballot.

“After over 100,000 Nevadans signed on to join our campaign this spring, we’re thrilled another 115,000 Nevadans have joined the fight to protect Nevada’s existing solar customers and the right of all Nevadans to generate their own clean energy without being punished with discriminatory fees,” said the coalition’s campaign manager, Erin McCann, in a statement.

Should the referendum qualify for the ballot, Nevada voters will have a chance to amend state law passed by the Legislature last year and undo a controversial decision by the Public Utilities Commission which increased bills for solar customers.

However, the referendum remains tied up in the courts. A district court judge ruled in March that proponents of the measure should’ve filed a statutory initiative petition, not a referendum petition, saying the measure was an effort to remove certain sections of a law rather than repeal it in its entirety.

Solar proponents appealed the matter to the Nevada Supreme Court, but the court has not yet heard the issue. Meanwhile, proponents of the referendum were free to gather signatures to qualify it by the deadline.

The Energy Choice Initiative

Proponents of this ballot measure, under the name Nevadans for Affordable, Clean Energy Choices, submitted at least 100,000 signatures for review by Tuesday’s deadline in an effort to break up NV Energy’s monopoly and deregulate energy services in the state.

The initiative, almost entirely financed by Las Vegas Sands Corp., would establish an open, competitive energy market no later than 2023. Because the petition is a constitutional initiative, it will need to go before voters twice, in both 2016 and 2018, for approval before the amendment to the state constitution is final.

“We are pleased with the progress on this groundbreaking ballot initiative and the response from Nevada voters as we collected signatures,” said attorney Matt Griffin, who represents Nevadans for Clean Energy Choices, in a statement. “Over the past 10 weeks, enthusiasm for energy freedom has grown by the day. Nevada families and business owners want lower prices and more choices, especially around renewables, for their energy needs.”

Other supporters of the initiative include electric automaker Tesla and data storage company Switch, which have said the measure would create opportunities in renewable energy and aligns with their company values.

Several major casino companies, including Sands, MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts, filed applications with the state Public Utilities Commission to exit from NV Energy’s network in recent years. However, Sands decided to stay in the network after the commission said it would have to pay a $24 million exit fee.

Medical Patient Tax Relief Act

A group of medical equipment suppliers submitted more than 100,000 signatures on Monday to qualify an initiative to exempt certain kinds of home medical equipment from taxation for the November ballot, according to medical equipment supply company owner Doug Bennett, who spearheaded the initiative effort.

Bennett said the group self-verified at least 66,000 signatures and was “very confident that this petition will go through.”

If it qualifies for the ballot, the initiative will ask voters whether certain kinds of so-called durable medical equipment, oxygen delivery equipment and mobility-enhancing equipment should be exempt from the state’s sales and use tax. Some examples of items currently taxed include oxygen tanks, ventilators and wheelchairs.

Prosthetics, orthotics and certain other medical supplies already are exempt from taxation under Nevada state law.

“Sixty-five to 70 percent of our patients who go on our equipment lose their jobs because they can’t work, can’t work in a hospital bed, can’t work when you’re on oxygen, for example,” Bennett said. “So they lose their jobs, they’re suffering with their illness, suffering from their medical bills, and now the state is adding to that suffering with a sales tax on their equipment.”

Because proponents chose to present the issue as a constitutional initiative, Nevada voters also will have to approve the initiative twice, both in the 2016 and in 2018 elections, in order for it to be adopted.

Bennett said the group thought the constitutional initiative would be “much less cumbersome and much less likely to get bogged down” than the statutory initiative process, where initiatives are first presented to the state Legislature for action and, if lawmakers don’t act, are included on the next ballot for a vote of the people.

Several Nevada medical supply companies pooled financial support for the signature-gathering effort. However, Bennett says the group doesn’t plan to spend much more money on the effort and is instead hoping that people will read the ballot measure, understand what it means and vote yes.