Wednesday, May 13, 2015

SILVER STATE CONFIDENTIAL 05/13/2015

AX THE TAX NOW!

Gov. Brian Sandoval’s Gross Receipts Tax 2.0 (SB252) passed in the State Senate with 4 Republicans voting “no.”  As such, it got the 2/3 super-majority needed and moved over the State Assembly. 

Where it is deader than the proverbial doornail.


Because of the 2/3 super-majority vote requirement (thank you, Jim Gibbons!), 15 “no” votes in the Assembly can kill any tax hike bill.  And I saw a sign-up list yesterday where 15 GOP members of the Assembly inked their opposition to the bill. 

And I was told there were at least 3 or 4 more who will vote against SB252 if it comes up for a vote but didn’t want to put their name on the sign-up sheet.  So stick a fork in it.

In addition, I’m told the Armstrong-Anderson mutant tax hike alternative – named after liberal Republican tax hiking Assemblyman Paul Anderson and his mini-me, Higher Taxation Committee Chairman Derek Armstrong - is probably just as DOA.

Unfortunately, the tax hikers will never give up.  So now they’re trying to duct tape together yet a third tax hike scheme that takes a little from the Sandoval gross receipts tax and a little from the Anderson-Armstrong tax hike - and Lord knows what else - to create another tax-hiking Frankenbill.

In the meantime…

The conservative Knecht-Wheeler budget alternative – named for primary authors State Controller Ron Knecht and Assemblyman Jim Wheeler – will finally receive a hearing on Thursday afternoon at 1:00 pm.  That bill would fully fund the governor’s proposed budget without any new taxes or any extension of the “sunsets.”

Why isn’t this proposal enacted already?

DRIVE-BY MUTHINGS

Drove up to Carson City for legislative meetings again on Monday.  Folks, you have no idea how screwed up things are here.  Everything you’ve read in the newspapers about how screwed up things are here doesn’t even scratch the surface of just how screwed up things are here.

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I wore my latest 2015 legislative session t-shirt on Monday bearing the message, “Hey Chris Edwards…Sit Yer (Bleep) DOWN!”  And it happened again…

I was standing outside between the back of the legislative building and the parking garage talking with some legislators when Assemblyman Edwards comes out a back door and starts to walk towards our group…until he see me. 

At that, he immediately turned around and headed in the other direction, walking all the way around the block to get into the garage rather than walk by me.

Was it something I said?

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Speaking of Edwards, word leaked out on Monday that one of his conservative colleagues, Assemblyman John Moore, has been mulling moving into Edwards’ district after the session ends and running against him in a GOP primary next year. 

Moore was elected last November in a district with a HUGE Democrat majority.  Lightning struck last year, but is unlikely to strike a second time for re-election.  So a move and a challenge to a weenie, tax-hiking Republican makes perfect sense. 

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As the legislative session winds down, the 2016 GOP campaign for Harry Reid’s U.S. Senate seat is heating up. 

On Monday, I heard the Rep. Joe Heck is seriously re-thinking his decision to not seek the seat.  Also heard the Attorney General Adam Laxalt is seriously re-thinking HIS decision not to seek the seat.

And former Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert is apparently in the field poll-testing negatives against Heck and the only declared candidate in the race already, Las Vegas City Councilman Bob Beers.

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Gov. Brian Sandoval’s spokesperson, Mari St. Martin, was arrested in Reno for DUI last weekend.  The governor issued a statement saying he was “extremely disappointed in Mari.”  But since Mari is the one who usually writes Sandoval’s statements, I wonder who wrote this one?


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