Las Vegas NowRaggio Urged to Vote No on Taxes

Raggio Urged to Vote No on Taxes

A Republican operative fighting the 2009 Nevada Legislature's tax increase plan said Wednesday that Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, shouldn't vote for the plan, in line with legal advice and his pattern of abstaining on bills that pose potential conflicts.

Political consultant Robert Uithoven said he understands that Raggio, whose vote on SB429 is seen as critical to assuring a two-thirds majority needed to overcome a veto from GOP Gov. Jim Gibbons, was advised by the lawmakers' top legal adviser, Brenda Erdoes, to not vote.

The Raggio development coincided with reports that Sen. Warren Hardy, R-Las Vegas, may abstain from voting on any package of measures to help solve the state's budget crisis.

Raggio declined to comment on whether he was cautioned by Erdoes against voting and on whether he would vote when SB429, the $781 million tax increase package, comes up for a Senate vote.

Asked whether he'd vote on the tax bill, Raggio said, "I'm not going to respond to that until I can do so."

Asked whether he was advised not to vote, he added, "I have made no comment at this point. Stay tuned."

Erdoes also declined to comment, saying any opinions she provides the lawmakers are confidential.

Uithoven, head of a nonprofit group called the Western Alliance Fund, said he's a Raggio supporter but believes Raggio "should remain consistent with his previously disclosed conflicts and avoid voting on the massive, pending tax increase."

Uithoven added he believes that Erdoes "has given him the same advice."

Noting several vote abstentions by Raggio during the 2009 Legislature, Uithoven said the veteran senator's usual statement in such cases is that a member of his Jones Vargas law firm had testified on the bill at hand. He added one of the law firm members has lobbied "very aggressively" on the tax plan.

A Feb. 11 statement on the Senate floor by Raggio, shortly after the session began, included disclosures that members of his law firm work as lobbyist. He also noted that as a former Washoe County district attorney he gets retirement pay through the state Public Employees Retirement System.

"It has come to our attention that Sen. Raggio sought legal advice from the Legislative Counsel Bureau on whether he can vote on taxes being considered by the Legislature, and if you go just by the precedent he has set for himself, it would appear it would be best for him to err on the side of caution and abstain," Uithoven said.

Uithoven had worked for Gibbons while Gibbons served in Congress, but said he's not working with the governor to oppose the tax plan.

He also said the Western Alliance Fund advocates for government policies that support low and fair taxes and isn't flatly anti-tax.

In the case of the pending legislative tax plan, he added he believes "that raising taxes out of this already beaten and tattered economy is foolish."

Democrats in the Assembly have the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto of the tax plan by Gibbons, but the 12 Democrats in the Senate, led by Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, need two Republicans for a two-thirds majority in that house.

Raggio has been a key member of the so-called "core" group of legislative leaders involved in lengthy closed-door negotiations on the tax plan.

Hardy also has been a key figure in the negotiations. The Las Vegas Sun reported that he informed other lawmakers on Wednesday that he can no longer negotiate and will even abstain from voting on any package of bills.

Hardy said he has been threatened with an ethics complaint if he continues to negotiate a final package. He's president of the Associated Builders and Contractors, whose board members include Steve Hill, head of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and a strong proponent of reduced public employee pay and benefits.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)