Tax bill deadline arrives

Nevada lawmakers inched closer to passing a tax bill during the start of the legislature's second special session last week.

But it was still unclear whether they would continue to move forward and find a way to fund the $5 billion budget they passed in the regular session, or once again stall out as they did during the first special session earlier this month.

The Assembly worked late into the night on Thursday and, at press time, had amended but not yet passed Senate Bill 6, a tax bill passed earlier in the day by the Senate.

The goal was to continue working on the bill on Friday and pass it so it could be sent to conference committee where representatives from both houses could hammer out their differences and draft final legislation.

It was not certain, though, that the bill would pass in the Assembly, where Republicans had earlier vowed not to pass a tax bill until further cuts were made to the budget.

Nor was it certain that an amended bill would meet with the approval of the Senate.

The bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 15 to five, with one abstaining.

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Dina Titus (D-Clark County), for one, said she was only voting in favor of the bill to get the process rolling and said she would vote against it later if a payroll tax was not removed from the bill by the Assembly.

A tax bill requires a two-thirds majority, so if two senators change their vote the bill will fail the second time around.

The Assembly met as a committee of the whole to discuss and amend the bill.

As such, they did pass it by a voice vote.

But that was no guarantee that it would actually pass out of the Assembly the following day.

The day before, though, it was beginning to look like some Assembly Republicans were ready to vote on a tax package.

While discussing taxes, Assemblywoman Dawn Gibbons (R-Washoe County), Assemblyman Joe Hardy (R-Clark County), Assemblyman Josh Griffin (R-Clark County) and Assemblyman Tom Grady (R-Lyon County) all said that they would be willing to vote on an amended bill.

There were no promises to vote on a final bill if not amended to their liking, but it was the first time Assembly Republicans began to break ranks.

In the Assembly, a two-thirds majority means five Republicans must vote with all the Democrats to pass a tax bill.

Other Republicans, including Assemblyman Lynn Hettrick (RDouglas County), Assemblyman Ron Knecht (R-Carson City) and Assemblyman Bob Beers (R-Clark County) appeared to be holding their ground, at least on the first day of the session.

Beers, for one, said the proposed tax bill was the largest conversion of private money to public use "since the Bolshevik Revolution." Beers' comments came after a long, tense Assembly session in which members fought and attacked one another's tactics, and anti-tax protesters filled the gallery and disrupted the proceedings.

A final bill will have to resolve the issue still dividing the legislature what type of tax should form the cornerstone of the package and raise the bulk of the $870 million in new revenue needed to fund the budget.

The Republicans favor a tax on capped wages they're calling an employer tax, while the Assembly Democrats are proposing both an employer tax, at a lower rate, and a franchise tax on businesses' revenues.

The legislature has until Tuesday to pass a tax bill in order to meet their constitutional obligation to balance the budget before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.

That's what Attorney General Brian Sandoval told the Assembly last Wednesday, on the opening day of the special session.

"This office is not going to opine on how you balance the budget," said Sandoval.

"How you get there is the business of this body."