Attorneys representing Republican lawmakers and businessmen trying to block the Nevada Legislature from approving tax increases by a simple majority have asked a federal court to postpone any decision until at least Monday.
Jeffrey Dickerson and John Eastman made the request in a letter to Chief Judge Philip Pro, saying they want a temporary restraining order against the Legislature to remain in effect until that time.
During Wednesday's hearing before Nevada's seven federal district judges, Eastman was questioned extensively about whether the federal court has any right to interfere in the tax-budget battle.
Several judges said the complaint was an attack on the Nevada Supreme Court decision lifting a two-thirds vote requirement for a tax increase and that they don't believe the federal bench has any jurisdiction to change that ruling. They said the only court which has that authority is the U.S. Supreme Court.
Other members of the panel questioned why the GOP group didn't take the issue back to the Nevada Supreme Court.
"As we noted at the hearing, we have been giving serious consideration to the viability of such petitions," Eastman and Dickerson said in a letter to the judges. They said they will decide what to do and provide the court by Monday with "either a notification that such action has been taken or a memorandum outlining what we believe to be the legal reasons why such action was not taken."
They requested the restraining order remain in place until the court receives that notification.
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