Roberson: Nevada Democratic leaders incompetent

In a blunt swipe at the opposition, state Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson contends Republicans deserve to win majority rule of the upper house in the Nov. 4 election because Democratic leaders are “incompetent,” which they showed during a special session to approve a deal for Tesla to build a $5 billion battery factory in Northern Nevada.

Roberson also argued that GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval will be able to achieve more of his agenda — especially in fixing the state’s overcrowded and ill-funded education system — if one of the houses in the Legislature is controlled by Republicans. Now, Democrats hold a slim 11-10 seat majority in the Senate and control the Assembly as well.

During the two-day special session that started Sept. 10, Roberson noted that Sandoval’s proposed deal with the electric car company was held up for hours by Democrats who argued against shifting $70 million in film tax credits to Tesla as part of the deal. Roberson said the film tax credit program hasn’t contributed much to Nevada’s economy whereas the Tesla plant would bring 3,000 construction jobs and ultimately 6,500 permanent jobs if plans go as expected.

“The Senate Democratic caucus and its leadership are incompetent and they’re failing the people of Nevada,” Roberson said Thursday in an interview with the Review-Journal editorial board. “The Senate Democrats have not got the job done.”

During the 2013 legislative session, for example, Roberson said Democrats wouldn’t even “sit at the table” to discuss his proposal to raise taxes on the mining industry to raise $600 million to help fund education and fix schools.

Roberson is campaigning for re-election on the issue of raising money for education, saying out-of-state mining companies are extracting $10 billion worth of gold from Nevada each year yet pay an effective tax rate of 1.6 percent. That compares to a sales tax rate in Clark County of 8.1 percent counting state and local taxes, one of the highest rates in the nation.

Although Democrats have long sought more funding for education, Roberson said they have not come up with a good plan despite controlling both houses of the Legislature. He said if Republicans controlled the Senate, they would work with Sandoval and fellow Democrats to find ways to better fund K-through-12 to improve Nevada’s overcrowded schools.

“You’d be much better off with a Republican majority,” Roberson said. “The governor needs at least one house with his party to push forward his agenda. … I believe that the Republicans and the governor are the education party in the state.”

Roberson is being challenged by Democrat Teresa Lowry in Senate District 20, one of three competitive seats that will decide whether Democrats maintain control of the upper house or whether the GOP takes over. The other two seats are District 8, an open seat, and 9. To take control, Republicans must win all three seats.

Senate Majority Leader Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas, dismissed Roberson’s slam against Democrats as politically motivated.

“This is just another desperate attempt by Michael Roberson to move his way up the political ladder,” Denis said in a statement. “He is willing to do and say anything if it means he gets a bigger title in front of his name.”

“If he were a true leader and genuinely concerned with helping the kids and regular families of Nevada, he would have joined the Nevada Senate Democrats last week in pushing for school construction in the special session,” he added. “Unfortunately, when Sen. Roberson had the opportunity to be a leader and get real results for our students, he failed.”

On Thursday, however, Roberson expressed support for the proposal Democrats were pushing during the special session to roll over bonds for another two years to build schools until officials can go back to the voters and ask for more bond authority. Now, Clark County needs about 23 new schools and Washoe County needs three, according to education officials.

“We cannot wait much longer to address this issue of capital costs,” Roberson said. “We’ve got to have smaller class sizes. We’ve got to address that come February. We have to be able to hit the ground running and have some solutions.”

Roberson predicted the next legislative session, which begins in February, will be historic as lawmakers move to reform education, including by reducing class sizes, hiring teachers, promoting charter schools and English language learning.

“We’ve got to invest more in professional development” of teachers, he said. “We’ve got to do more to recruit good teachers.”

Roberson said he supports Question 2 on the Nov. 4 ballot, which would remove the constitutional cap on taxing mining. He’s opposed to Question 3, however, which would impose a 2 percent margins tax on businesses making $1 million or more in annual revenue, whether or not the companies are profitable. Sandoval has said it could devastate businesses.

The GOP minority leader also said tax reform would be high on the 2015 legislative agenda. He said he’s already holding discussions with Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, whom he praised for her ideas.

Besides the mining tax, Roberson said Kirkpatrick has been looking at revising the live entertainment tax to boost the rate, a bill that failed and was opposed by Roberson during the previous session because of objections over taxing family fun items such as movies and ski lift rides. Kirkpatrick wanted to hike the rate from 5 percent to 10 percent — depending on the capacity of the event venue — to 8 percent, including on food and drinks.

Roberson said lawmakers also support the marketplace fairness act, which would require sales taxes to be collected for online purchases just as the levies are in storefronts. This would add sales tax revenue to state coffers. Some states are moving independently on this issue, although there’s pending federal legislation as well. Now, taxpayers are supposed to voluntarily pay the sales tax for online purchases when they file their tax returns, but people rarely do so.

Previously, Roberson has proposed cutting car registration fees in half, something he said he would pursue again. He also would like to see the sales tax rate decreased as part of any broad tax reform, he said.

A proposed tax on services is worth discussing, Roberson said, but he said he’s not in favor of what he called a regressive tax that would impose levies on everyday citizens who are struggling to make ends meet.

The current payroll tax, which has been extended twice, should be reviewed as well, Roberson said.

“All of those things will be open for discussion,” Roberson said, adding “a lot of those discussions are going on now.”

Roberson frequently invoked Sandoval during the interview, saying, “Any tax reform is going to have to have the support of Governor Sandoval. I believe Governor Sandoval will lead on these issues. I will lead on these issues. Speaker Kirkpatrick will lead on these issues.”

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Find her on Twitter: @lmyerslvrj.