Light up — for Nevada’s sake

But for the sake of Nevada’s schools, roads and public safety, we should all take up smoking — not that we want to drive any more business away from local restaurants … er, taverns. So, light ’em if you’ve got ’em — and go get some more while you’re at it.

Smoking more packs per day — thus generating more tax revenue — is about the only thing the average person can do to help the Nevada economy unless we somehow stumble upon an undiscovered cache of gold in dem dar hills.

(Note to the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society: This is called satire.)

We could also drink more booze, although it’s hard to afford alcohol when you’re subsidizing ethanol at the pumps and the grocery store.

The only real growth in state tax revenue amid the “flat” economy was a 40 percent (40 percent!) increase in the net tax on the proceeds of minerals. At least something in Nevada was booming while the housing market went bust.

Of course I’m not advocating raising the mining tax — after all, mining works for Nevada. Or is it gaming works for Nevada?

Construction used to work for Nevada, too.

But why build any new homes if people can’t sell the ones they’re stuck in? Proceeds from the real property transfer tax are down 33 percent from the 2007 projections.

Sure, Nevada is in eddy with a few dozen other states. But we are particularly rudderless to steer our way out of it.

Everyone likes to point to the tough times Nevada faced back in the early 1990s, when Gov. Bob Miller had to cut the budget and lay some people off. He did what he thought was necessary, and sure enough, the economy rebounded and the tourists put us back on a good heading.

The “economic stimulus” checks should start hitting mailboxes here in about a month. Mine’s going to pay off last year’s medical bills (and I have health insurance). I’m not so sure the average American is going to get that check and yell, “Honey, we’re going to Vegas!” I’m not even so sure the average Nevadan is going to hit the Strip when the checks arrive.

The biggest hit to the economy here is the decrease in sales tax revenue. People just don’t have money to buy new cars or to eat out regularly.

State Sen. Bob Beers actually suggested in Monday’s Review-Journal that the $833 million tax increase in 2003 was the reason we’re now $900 million in the hole. Surely it wasn’t the 2005 tax rebate of $300 million. Beers also blames the smoking ban, approved by voters in 2006, for exacerbating the crisis. See, I told you we should all take up the habit.

On a serious note, will someone please give some credit to state Treasurer Kate Marshall, who identified $23 million in unclaimed property revenue? I know she’s a Democrat and everything, but she’s actually responsible for boosting revenue. And in this economy, $23 million ain’t chump change.

Her investments are making money, too. Her office has outperformed interest projections by the Economic Forum to the tune of $3.5 million. Attagirl, Kate!

The 2009 Legislature is already headed for a special session. There’s nothing that brings out the worst in our elected legislators than a problem they have no political will to solve.

Even assuming we’re near the bottom of the housing crisis and that a larger credit crisis isn’t about to burst everything from car loans to muni bonds, we still have a long way to go to crawl out of this one.

Back before Gov. Kenny Guinn could rebate tax money after he increased taxes, he was frequently in “cut” mode. Positions were frozen. The governor put his top conservative minds on reviewing the state’s budget from top to bottom. And guess what? The fundamental review found a few million in savings.

It did not, however, identify large-scale waste or even much ticky-tack bureaucratic add-ons. At the end of the review in 2002, the most notable thing about the state’s government was that, all things being equal, it was fairly lean and mean.

In 2003, legislators opted not to impose a bipartisan panel’s suggestions for stabilizing the tax base. Instead, they pointed fingers, ran into special sessions, wound up in court and eventually cobbled together a hodgepodge of new taxes that amounted to $416 million a year in new revenue.

Two years later, at the height of the housing boom, they spent much more than that trying to catch up for the missed opportunities of the early Guinn years.

What did you get out of it? An understaffed mental health hospital and, if you were lucky, a $300 rebate check.

Gibbons can study the budget just like Guinn and Miller did. He can even cut and long for the days of haggling over empowerment schools and full-day kindergarten.

And, he could always take up smoking.

Contact Erin Neff at eneff@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2906.