DNA Moms versus the Fourth Amendment: How Brianna's Law Defied Both Logic and Emotion, and Failed in the Nevada Legislature
By: samantha stone Posted:6/22/2011 6:43:00 PMBrianna's Law was a controversial anti-crime bill that would create DNA profiles on thousands more people each year. Does the government’s interest in crime control mean police can reach into the mouth of a person presumed innocent, and seize that person’s genetic blueprint from the skin inside his cheek? Read more
Taxation based on trust -- a leap of faith that future legislatures will buy down the sales tax
By: Samantha Stone Posted:5/18/2011 10:26:00 AMA proposal for a sales tax on services requires its supporters to believe that future legislatures will reduce the sales tax, fulfilling the vision presented earlier this month by Democratic leadership. But some members of the business community offer a shrug or a smirk when they’re asked about the “buy-down” component of the plan. Future reduction of the sales tax is not assured, according to the language of the bill, except to remove a .35 percent sales tax increase that was part of a temporary 2009 tax hike, and scheduled to sunset anyway. Read more.
Word from Texas: Margin tax is a work in progress, not simple, not meeting projections, likely headed for major reform
By: Samantha Stone Posted:5/6/2011 4:48:00 PMThe Texas business tax that’s serving as the model for Nevada’s legislative Democrats isn’t getting rave reviews in the state where it originated, according to sources in the Texas business community, who say the margin tax is roundly disliked, and will probably get an interim study, and subsequent reform or repeal in the 2013 Texas legislative session. Read more.
Easter Miracle - dead bill rises from the grave
By: Samantha Stone Posted:4/22/2011 9:57:00 PMOpponents are joking, albeit ruefully, about the resurrection during Holy Week of a green energy bill that was presumed dead when it missed the legislative deadline to pass out of committee and proceed to a vote on the floor of the house where it originated. Although Senate Bill 146 had officially failed as of April 15, it was retrieved this week from the dustbin of history by a senior senator who married it with a failed provision from another bill, and gave the two measures new life as SB 496. Read more
supporters say prevailing wage overhaul lowers costs, levels playing field; unions come out blasting
By: samantha stone Posted:4/11/2011 9:23:00 PMA proposed overhaul of the state's prevailing wage law drew protest from union representatives who said it will place Nevada’s construction workers in a “race to the bottom,” depriving them of a suitable living. But supporters claim the bill corrects rules that drive up building costs and put non-union contractors at a disadvantage.
budget back-and-forth - Horsford serves, Sandoval returns, horsford smashes back
By: Samantha Stone Posted:4/1/2011 3:43:00 PMSenate Democrats are engaged in an informational ping-pong match with Governor Brian Sandoval, both sides struggling to sell philosophies with numbers. Only an accountant could truly enjoy the numerical details, but as political spectator sport, it's riveting. Charts, graphs, political role-playing and promises of tax discussions in the coming weeks. Read more
hot spotlight met with cool countenance: governor's office responds to scathing public budget review
By: Samantha Stone Posted:3/29/2011 2:28:00 PMThe Brian Sandoval administration exudes something that could be described as quiet confidence, even as the Senate Majority Leader has launched repeated attacks on the viability of the governor’s proposed budget, and on the administration’s credibility. Democrat Steven Horsford put the administration’s evolving budget under a microscope before the full state senate this week, combing through every strand, pointing out key provisions he believes are deficient, incorrect, or ill-conceived.
Effective Tax Director Caught in Political Crossfire, defenders say -- an early casualty of a battle yet to heat up
By: Samantha Stone Posted:3/14/2011 2:52:00 PMThe sudden retirement of Executive Director Dino DiCianno from the Department of Taxation is a severe blow to the state’s revenue collection arm, according to sources familiar with the operation of the department, and an illustration that knock-down-drag-out politics is alive and well in Carson City, despite rhetoric about civility in a declared atmosphere of bipartisanship.
Nevada's Long, Uphill Push for Recovery: Public Works, Prevailing Wage, and It's not a union versus non-union thing... or is it?
By: Samantha Stone Posted:3/1/2011 1:00:00 AMThe union and non-union construction sectors have so far been best model of civility in the hallways and hearing rooms of the Nevada legislature, presenting a unified front in the service of their respective workers, who are suffering 60 percent unemployment. But deep political differences remain, with large practical implications in a market shrunk beyond recognition.
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