Tuesday, May 27, 2003 | 10:57 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Although lawmakers spent all but one day of the holiday weekend working, little progress was made toward building a tax package that could pass the Legislature.
Key lawmakers met late into the night Monday trying to come to agreement on a final number for the budget, but talks stalled over an impasse over education spending.
Lawmakers need to come to a consensus on the size of the budget before they can settle on a tax increase. The proposed size of that increase has ranged from more than $700 million in a Senate proposal to more than $1 billion in an Assembly plan.
Monday night's impasse was evident on the faces of lawmakers this morning. A hearing on the controversial Senate Bill 191 began with Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, testifying in favor of the measure's implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The bill would cost more than $12 million.
"I urge you to consider this piece of legislation," Raggio said. "There are just seven days left in this session, not counting a special session, which may be needed."
Raggio and Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, have targeted an early adjournment for Saturday and said as recently as Monday that they hoped to do so.
But the Legislature has plenty of work to do before then. The budget number is a priority, as tax proposals continue to be debated.
The Senate Taxation Committee Monday afternoon decided to cut $190 million from its original tax proposal by removing a proposed 15-cent property tax increase.
Lawmakers on that panel rejected all proposed business taxes, including the Unified Business Tax contained in the Assembly Democrats' revenue plan, and, after adding an 8 percent live entertainment tax, brought the committee's total tax number down from the $730 million to $570 million.
Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, who has proposed several taxes in the committee, reminded his colleagues that anyone can vote to amend a bill on the Senate floor.
Shortly after the hearing Townsend entered the final budget talks declaring that he felt as though he had been "shot" by his colleagues after a few 6-1 votes.
Most of the hesitation on taxes revolved around legislative inability to settle on a number both houses can agree should be funded.
Efforts to build the consensus were sidelined by negotiations that broke down again at 9:45 p.m. Monday over differences between the two houses on education funding.
Numerous caucus meetings and a hearing on Raggio's proposed increase in rental car taxes to fund construction of a baseball stadium further delayed talks and forced no decision on the budget to help steer either taxation committee.
In the Senate lawmakers did concur in the Assembly's amendments to Senate Bill 241, sending a construction defect bill to the governor for his signature.
And on Monday the Senate signed off on an insurance reform bill that had sent both houses into a temporary tailspin of political maneuvering Friday evening.
With lawmakers tied up arguing over unrelated measures, the scheduled budget talks never occurred Friday. By the time the joint Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committee convened the scheduled 8 a.m. May 21 hearing, it was May 24 at 3 p.m.
Treasurer Brian Krolicki seemed to have camped at the Legislative Building's lobbyist table from Friday evening -- when he missed his daughter's fifth birthday party -- until his budget was finally approved Saturday afternoon.
"I'm still waiting for the Wednesday 8 a.m. hearing to start," Krolicki said at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The finance committees did approve a chunk of budgets Saturday, but talks about the two houses' differences in education spending never occurred. Negotiations didn't resume until Monday morning.
With the tax discussions waiting for the budget decisions, the budget answers waiting on negotiations and negotiators waiting on each other, most lobbyists spent Monday morning pacing anew.
On Friday evening, a strict party-line vote on a tax reduction prompted many to view the final days of the Legislature as the preamble to a special session.
Senate Bill 370 was amended to wipe out the original intent of the measure and instead include Democratic Assemblyman David Goldwater's proposed 25 percent reduction in the Governmental Services Tax -- the tax paid annually to register a vehicle.
Republicans opposed the bill, citing concerns about the elusive budget number, the impact the tax reduction could have in rural counties, and stated reducing one tax simply results in increasing another to make up the difference.
"Until we know what the overall tax package may or may not look like, I don't think we should do this," Assemblyman Josh Griffin, R-Henderson, said.
Goldwater said that while he was not ready to address the entire budget and tax proposal either, SB370 was simply one piece of the overall puzzle.
Goldwater said the reduction will help homeowners and businesses alike, adding: "If that is not a help in our budgets, if that's not money in our constituents' pockets, I don't know what is."
The 23-19 vote on SB370 came shortly after another party-line vote on a malpractice bill, and seemed to support Republican unity that could lead to problems in any two-thirds vote on taxes.
Friday's vote on Senate Bill 97 was 24-18, with just Dawn Gibbons, R-Reno, breaking with her caucus and voting with the Democrats to support both the amendment and final passage of the bill.
SB97 will give voters another option on the ballot next fall. Currently an initiative petition will be on the ballot asking if voters want to eliminate the exceptions to Nevada's $350,000 cap on non-economic damages in jury awards.
SB97 calls for another ballot question -- asking to keep the current cap, and to increase it to $500,000 for cases involving those who don't earn wages -- like housewives, children and seniors.
Assemblyman Garn Mabey, R-Las Vegas, a former obstetrician and current gynecologist, spoke against the amendment for which he had actually voted in favor in committee.
"In my opinion, Mr. Speaker, this amendment is the worst amendment of this entire session," Mabey said. "Please don't be on record for worsening our crisis."
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