Businesses set to fight court's ruling

Business interests will likely try to challenge last week's Nevada Supreme Court ruling that said the Legislature must now pass funding for education via a simple majority if opponents to the decision can find a way to do so.

"It'll be challenged in 10 seconds," said Harry York, CEO, Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce.

But Sam McMullen, a lobbyist for the ad hoc business group that proposed both the services tax and the payroll tax who is also an attorney, said it may not be that simple.

"It might not be that easy to appeal," he said.

"It only abrogates the two-thirds majority for the special session."

Essentially, the court's decision said that two provisions of the Nevada constitution the right to education and the requirement to pass any revenue-raising law by a two-thirds majority of the Legislature are in "irreconcilable conflict." "As a result, this court is faced with the onerous task of weighing the various constitutional provisions and, in effect, prioritizing them," read the opinion.

The court then found that the right to education a substantive right is more important than the two-thirds majority rule a so-called procedural requirement.

"When a procedural requirement that is general in nature prevents funding for a basic, substantive right, the procedure must yield," read the surprise opinion in the 6-1 court decision.

As a result, the opinion said, the court directs "the Legislature to proceed expeditiously with the 20th Special Session under simple majority rule." That means it only applies to the special session, and that the Legislature must now meet and work to pass a tax bill by a simple majority.

Still, at least one lawmaker was concerned.

"This is very precedent-setting, that with respect to education the court could wave constitutional rights," said Sen.

Dennis Nolan (R-Clark County), who with Sen.

Bill Raggio (R-Washoe County) and Sen.

Randolph Townsend (R-Washoe County) were the only legislators to attend the court decision reading.

Nolan thought that the leadership of both houses, as well as other key legislators who had stopped the tax bill from passing during the session, would meet last Friday, rather than convening the legislature as a whole.

Any tax bill still faces an uphill battle because both houses are divided on the type of taxes to pass.

Democrats oppose the payroll tax, while some Republicans have vowed to defeat any bill with a gross receipts tax.

After the decision was announced in an unusual public reading from the bench, McMullen was off to meet with a group of business interests that included retailers and manufacturers to determine what, if anything, they can do to challenge the decision.

The court did not find the two-thirds majority provision in violation of the federal constitution.

That will also make it difficult to contest because the decision can't be appealed to the U.S.

Supreme Court.

Any party to the suit, however, has the option to petition the court for a rehearing.

Lawmakers were planning to come back to work at the start of this week.