Governor receives bill, says he intends to veto it
The Legislature passed a $781 million tax increase and delivered it to Gov. Jim Gibbons late this afternoon, barely meeting a 5 p.m. deadline and starting the wait for Gibbons’ expected veto.
After a week of intense negotiations between Republicans and Democrats, the tax package finally came to a vote in the state Senate this afternoon, winning approval by a 17-4 margin. All 12 Democrats plus five Republicans voted for the bill.
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• Legislature overrides gubernatorial veto
• Lawmakers agree on public employee retirement reforms
• Senators accept watered-down sunset for taxes
It then was rushed across the building to the Assembly, which had already held a preemptive debate on the provisions to raise the rates of existing sales, payroll, vehicle and business license taxes. The Assembly swiftly passed the bill 29-13, with all 28 Democrats plus Assemblyman John Carpenter, R-Elko, in favor.
Trailed by a pack of reporters, photographers and cameramen, legislative staffer Lauren Soper carried the bill across the courtyard separating the legislative building from the Capitol and into the reception area of Gibbons’ office. Gibbons emerged to take possession of the bill and address the media around 4:30 p.m.
Thanking legislators for “doing their job,” Gibbons said he needed to spend some time looking over the bill but had little doubt about how he would act on it.
“A billion-dollar tax increase in a recession is the worst thing we can do for the American and the Nevada people, and most of all for the hard-working families of this state,” Gibbons said. “I intend to veto this bill.”
Gibbons has five days to issue his veto, not counting Sunday. He wouldn’t say when he plans to do so.
Once he does, the bill goes back to the Legislature, where the same two-thirds supermajority needed to pass a tax increase is required to override a gubernatorial veto. The legislative session must end by June 1.
The tax increases are needed to bridge the gap between projected revenues for the next biennium and the $6.8 billion in spending legislators have approved. The bills authorizing the spending also saw final passage through the Legislature today.
Though the tax increases in the bill were endorsed by Democratic and Republican leaders days ago, side issues stalled the process. Republicans said they would not vote for the bill without reforms to public employee pensions and a provision guaranteeing the tax hikes expire in two years.
The parties reached a compromise on the pension reforms but hadn’t yet approved that legislation today. After trying to come up with an alternative to the sunset clause for the tax hikes, Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, gave in, saying passing the bill was too important to let relatively minor issues hold it up.
Horsford also agreed to remove a provision from the tax bill that would have created a commission to look for ways to implement a broad-based tax on Nevada businesses. Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said he also wanted a tax study but wanted to leave it open-ended.
“It is more important to fund the budget than to continue to disagree in this chamber,” Horsford said. He and Raggio pledged to work together on a separate bill authorizing the desired study.
