Eureka lawmaker backs off food tax proposal after robo-call campaign

ELKO -- Assembly Minority Leader Pete Goicoechea is backing off a proposed 2 percent statewide sales tax on food after receiving a deluge of phone calls against it.

The Eureka Republican said he brought up the proposal as an option for dealing with Nevada's budget crunch, but he isn't supporting the tax. He said earlier that the proposal should have been on the November ballot.

"I just brought it up," he told the Elko Daily Free Press. "The tax is available, but it is up to the voters. It would have to go to the ballot."

Goicoechea said he received roughly 200 phone calls at home since the conservative group Citizen Outreach announced a robo-call campaign against the proposal last week. The group's message urges voters to tell the lawmaker "to put government on a diet instead of taxing your fruits and vegetables."

"I need to get the message out this was taken over by someone and twisted inside out, and there is definitely some false information," Goicoechea said.

He said he talked about the food tax option because the state is facing a projected $3 billion deficit for the two-year budget cycle that begins July 1, and the idea was talked about during the last session.

Goicoechea said he's concerned because some taxes will sunset, and the state is borrowing $25 million a week from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits, which means Nevada will have to start paying interest. He fears there will be severe cuts in state programs and services, including education.

"I'm afraid the next session will be a blood bath, given the voters' mood," he said. "Any type of broad-based business tax will be difficult to get passed."

Nevada's Constitution bans a sales tax on groceries. Amending it would take at least five years and voter approval.

The tax could be achieved through votes of the Legislature in two consecutive sessions and one vote of the people, or by a petition initiative and two votes of the people.