Water system tax supported

     Review-Journal
      Businesses and unions joined Thursday to form a coalition advocating solutions to the state's infrastructure needs.
      The group, called Nevadans For Solutions, held a news conference endorsing a legislative proposal for a quarter-cent sales tax to help fund $1.8 billion in expansions to Southern Nevada's water delivery system.
      The so-called "Water, Please" campaign will include lobbying efforts in Carson City toward passage of the measure and advertisements urging public support of the sales tax.
      The purpose of the group "is to provide support and let elected officials know people are willing to pay for infrastructure," said Tim Cashman, a car dealer and chairman of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce's Government Affairs Committee.
      Cashman will chair the coalition along with Danny Thompson, political education director with the Nevada AFL-CIO.
      Thompson said building the water system expansions "isn't something that we need to do, this is something that we have to do."
      Aside from the Las Vegas Chamber and the union group, the coalition also includes what Cashman called "other grassroots members" such as the Nevada Resort Association, the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, the Nevada Development Authority, Professional Firefighters of Nevada and Hispanic and veterans groups.