Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Democrats dip toes in tax waters, but they’re not ready to jump in

John Oceguera

John Oceguera

Brian Sandoval

Brian Sandoval

Assembly Democrats introduced sweeping tax bills this week — on corporate earnings, cigarettes and alcohol. But they aren’t the bills they will use once they begin their push to raise taxes and offset proposed cuts in Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget.

Those measures won’t be drafted for more than a month, according to leaders who have to this point been silent on whether or when they would push to raise taxes.

Speaker John Oceguera said Tuesday that the Assembly will have a tax debate sometime after early May, whether or not he has the two-thirds votes necessary to raise taxes.

“We will have a revenue discussion … There will be a discussion on revenue whether there is two-thirds or not,” Oceguera told the Las Vegas Sun. “At some point we need to stand up and ask Republicans, ‘Is this really the state you want?’ ”

The problem for Democrats and groups that believe a tax increase is necessary is how to get support from two-thirds of legislators.

If Democrats were to unite behind a tax package, they would need two votes in the Assembly and three in the Senate to pass it and override a veto by Sandoval, who has pledged to veto any tax increase. At least one Democrat, Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, said this week he is unsure about raising taxes.

Oceguera said he will wait until after May 2, when the Economic Forum, a group of five business leaders, sets official spending projections.

By then, lawmakers will have gone through almost all of Sandoval’s budget and have a firmer grasp on the difference between what they want to spend and the money available to spend under existing taxes, Oceguera said.

Dale Erquiaga, Sandoval’s senior adviser, repeated his challenge to Democrats to present an alternative to the governor’s budget instead of just protesting its cuts. He noted that Democrats have accused the governor’s office of procrastinating on spending plan revisions.

Democrats have spent almost two months of the 2011 Legislature picking apart the governor’s proposal, which doesn’t raise taxes but uses budget shifts, gimmicks and cuts to close the $2.2 billion deficit.

Republicans, including Sandoval, have accused Democrats of having a secret tax plan, or at least refusing to be upfront about their intention to attempt to raise taxes.

Oceguera said there is no secret tax plan.

Yet Democrats are building a case for a tax increase: highlighting cuts to health and human services, K-12 and higher education; holding town halls across the state.

At the end of a hearing Friday about cuts to the state’s welfare service, Sen. Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said, “We need to raise revenue.”

Next week, the full Senate will hold a hearing on Sandoval’s budget and “highlight the worst of the worst,” according to a source close to the Senate.

Still, Democrats have been coy about how much they want to raise, and how.

In 2009, Democrats denied even thinking about taxes until the final weeks of the session, when they introduced a tax plan leaving little time for the public to vet their proposal.

Senate Republicans have been steady in their support of Sandoval’s decision not to raise taxes or extend taxes that will sunset.

Meanwhile, Assembly Republicans have said they would discuss extending taxes scheduled to expire July 1 in exchange for reforms to education, construction defect law and public employee pay, benefits and collective bargaining rights.

Oceguera said Democrats have introduced bills touching on the reforms that Republicans want.

“At the end of the day, if they’re not willing to talk revenue, we have no reason to have those discussions,” Oceguera said.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy