Assembly conservatives won some, lost the big one

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Assembly’s new and surprising majority ended the 2015 session the way it started: in chaos.

Republican candidates for the Assembly woke up Nov. 5 to discover they had a 25-member majority, taking control of the chamber for the first time since 1985.

Giddy and euphoric, the members picked their leadership and got ready to go to Carson City and make a difference on their issues, which ranged from Second Amendment measures to tort reform to restricting collective bargaining rights for public sector unions.

Oh what a difference seven months makes.

While successful and cohesive on a number of policy issues, the caucus fractured on several controversial measures, from bills designed to give state supremacy over federal lands to restrictions on the use of school restrooms by transgender students.

Some Republicans broke ranks, and those measures died.

Other proposals, to allow concealed weapons permit holders to carry guns on college campuses and to require parental notification for an abortion, passed the Assembly with unanimous GOP backing but ran into trouble in the GOP-controlled Senate. Neither measure made it through.

But the real fracture came on the issue of taxes. A core group of 12 GOP lawmakers was opposed to Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval’s tax plan, including a new commerce tax. In a debate on the bill implementing the plan Sunday, the tax opponents called into question the character of their colleagues who were supporting the plan, which eked out a 30-10 victory with two anti-tax members absent.

Sandoval called the GOP supporters of his tax plan “the mighty 13.”

Assemblyman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, who opposed the tax plan, alleged that Sandoval’s staff and others, including gaming lobbyists supporting the plan, were putting intense pressure on members to vote in favor. It worked, but Hansen said Republicans will pay the price come November 2016.

“The vote on taxes was political suicide,” he said. “I would be shocked if we can hold on to the Assembly in the next election cycle. Anything can happen, but I think we will not only be in the minority but possibly even below the 15 members we had in 2013.”

Hansen said the anti-tax caucus within the caucus did achieve some success by holding firm. Sandoval’s original gross receipts tax proposal, along with the business license fee, would have devastated small business, he said.

SMALL VICTORY

The revised plan that saw final approval and is expected to raise $1.1 billion in new and continuing general fund revenue is an improvement, Hansen said.

It is the largest tax increase in state history.

But that victory was small when compared to Sandoval’s $7.3 billion general fund budget and the tens of millions of dollars allocated to new and expanded education programs, he said. Those programs were approved without first reviewing the current education budget and evaluating programs such as the $400 million class-size reduction plan, which studies show does not result in improved achievement, Hansen said.

Sandoval said Republicans should do just fine next year by talking about the accomplishments of the session, from huge improvements to public education to funding for a medical school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

“That’s something to be proud of,” he said.

Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, R-Las Vegas, one of the more mercurial members of the GOP caucus, said members did make a difference in the 2015 session.

Famous for her comment to a colleague during a floor debate to “sit your ass down,” Fiore said the caucus now has a strong dozen members who are anti-tax.

“In 2013 it was 40 to Fiore,” she said. “So I think we’ve made progress. I think we’ve gotten a lot of firearms legislation through even though it wasn’t campus carry.”

The session made clear that the policy debate in Nevada is not between Democrats and Republicans but is within the GOP, she said.

Assembly Majority Leader Paul Anderson of Las Vegas said he was proud of the tax vote because of the difference the funding will mean for public education. Visiting elementary schools with Sandoval on Wednesday in Las Vegas, where several major education initiatives were signed into law, put a face on why the funding is so important, he said.

“The idea that we raised taxes to raise taxes is not the reality,” Anderson said. “You get to look these kids in the eye and see this is what we’re trying to accomplish. We truly changed the educational landscape … As we share that message with voters, I think they will agree.”

Anderson said he believed early on that the session would be successful.

That view was not shared by everyone, but because no one drew a line in the sand about what a revenue plan would look like, it did not end up being a repeat of the deadlocked 2003 session where the tax proposal was a take-it-or-leave-it proposition, he said.

Some members of the GOP caucus were not successful because they did not build relationships and were not willing to compromise, Anderson said. They marginalized themselves, he said.

HOW IT STARTED

The new caucus got off to a rough start, when a fight erupted over leadership and pitted the more moderate members of the group against the conservatives over the issue of taxes.

Hansen, the caucus’ first choice for speaker, stepped down under pressure from Sandoval and others after columns he had written for a Sparks newspaper prompted a backlash. Critics said some of the comments were racist and homophobic.

Hansen said the real reason he was removed was because of his potential opposition to a tax plan from Sandoval, which he said last week was proved with the plan that won final approval.

The caucus then picked John Hambrick to lead them during the 2015 session, and it also picked Fiore as majority leader. Fiore also was named to helm the important Taxation Committee.

Hambrick later reversed course and replaced Fiore with Anderson as majority leader and Derek Armstrong as chairman of Taxation. Both lawmakers, as did Hambrick, voted for Sandoval’s tax plan.

There was a suggestion that the moderate Republicans might form a coalition with Democrats to run the Assembly, but it did not happen. The turmoil continued unabated until the session began.

Then, just before the session got underway, Assemblyman Chris Edwards, R-Las Vegas, alleged that he was the victim of an attempted extortion plot over his vote for Hambrick for speaker. Las Vegas police confirmed they are investigating the case, which remains unresolved.

Edwards was believed to be wearing a recording device as part of the investigation, prompting concerns from Fiore and others that he had secretly recorded their caucus meetings, an allegation that Edwards denied.

There was talk by conservative Republicans of recalling Edwards, and a recall petition was filed against Hambrick, but it fizzled.

Amid this backdrop of drama and political bickering, Assembly Republicans pushed through much of their conservative agenda.

But the tax vote, as expected, clearly showed the schism in the caucus.

Time will tell what the fallout will be from that vote.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.