More initiative follies

The dance that is the initiative process in Nevada has become sadly predictable.

The latest farce played itself out Monday, when the powers that be launched a full-court press against three petitions backed by Las Vegas Sands chief Sheldon Adelson at the same time the teachers union let the casino industry up off the floor and agreed to drop a proposed ballot question to raise the gaming tax.

The developments highlight the irrelevance of Nevada lawmakers. Two of the Adelson petitions would redirect portions of the existing room tax to education and other uses. The third would require a two-thirds voter majority to approve tax hikes sought through ballot questions.

Needless to say, anything that makes it harder to raise taxes is anathema to local labor interests, who feed off the expansion of the public sector. And the room tax has long been a sacred cow, as the gamers argue that any effort to siphon off money raised by the levy will damage the promotional efforts that have made Las Vegas one of the world's most popular tourist destinations.

So as soon as supporters of the Adelson initiatives filed their signatures Monday, officials with the Culinary union and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said they'd challenge the petitions on technical grounds in an effort to keep them off the ballot.

The courts -- rather than thoughtful argument and persuasion -- have become the preferred means of scuttling the will of the electorate among special interests who feel threatened by potentially popular referendums.

Alas, that route had so far been a loser for the casinos in their effort to kill the state teacher union's plan to raise the gaming tax rate by 3 percentage points, from 6.75 to 9.75 percent, and direct the money to public education. A judge let the petition drive go forward -- and the gamers knew that they'd likely get buried if it got on the November ballot.

So they did what any savvy business operators would do: They negotiated a deal with taxpayer money. What do you know? Apparently the room tax isn't so untouchable, after all.

On Monday, the teachers announced they had agreed to drop their effort to ask voters to bump up the gaming tax in favor of an advisory ballot question gauging whether Nevadans favor raising the room tax 30 percent to pad the general fund next year and the education budget in years following.

If voters give the OK, lawmakers can approve the tax hike next session without having to worry about incurring the wrath of the gamers -- wink, wink, nod, nod.

It's the second time in less than a decade that the teachers union has used a threatened initiative to leverage a deal on higher taxes. Last time, at the turn of this century, the ploy didn't work quite as planned, as their effort to impose a broad-based business tax failed. We'll see how their horse-trading goes this time -- they'll still need two-thirds support in both the Assembly and state Senate to secure a room tax increase.

And what happens, for instance, if economic factors cause Las Vegas room rates to actually drop? The new tax might not bring in nearly as much as expected. And why would teachers favor such a massive increase in the room tax while battling mightily against the Adelson effort to raise a similar amount of money from the same source without any tax hike whatsoever?

At any rate, what's important at this point is not the merits or demerits of raising the room tax to fund education and, by extension, enrich the teachers union. It's the process. This is taxpayer money. Not union money or casino money.

Increased taxes and where those taxes are spent are the business of the people and their elected representatives. Those legislators who cheer from the sidelines, glad that somebody else has done all the heavy lifting and provided "cover" for a vote to raise taxes, should be ashamed.

As for those Adelson initiatives? Something tells us they'll never see the light of day.