Who’s deceiving whom?

Tax repeal won’t cause budget calamity

As we noted last week, the Nevada Supreme Court on Wednesday dug the grave for efforts to kill the state’s new commerce tax when it declared that signatures gathered in an effort to overturn the tax through a referendum on the November ballot were invalid.

The court unanimously held that the group collecting the signatures, RIP Commerce Tax, failed to adequately inform voters that repealing the tax — slated to bring in $60 million a year —would affect the state budget.

Justice Nancy Saitta even felt compelled to write a short, concurring opinion claiming that those who signed the petition were “both deceived and misled,” because the petition’s signature collectors failed to warn them of the doom and gloom that tax supporters predict will befall the state it the levy is nullified. The opinion was unfortunate and misguided. In reality, Nevada taxpayers are the ones being “both deceived and misled” by those who argue that blocking the commerce tax would be a catastrophe for the state. And they’ve been deceived and misled by lawmakers who find it easier to treat Nevada’s businesses like ATMs rather than prioritize spending based on available revenues.

The commerce tax will soon force business owners with more than $4 million in annual revenues to determine which of the tax’s 26 different rates applies to them, and then write the state a check accordingly. Because of its structure, the commerce tax could threaten job growth and make the state less attractive to new businesses.

But in terms of a revenue source, it’s a pittance. Over the two-year budget cycle, the $120 million the new tax is projected to generate amounts to just 1.6 percent of the state’s record $7.3 billion spending blueprint. Cutting $60 million a year from the state budget is the equivalent of an individual earning $40,000 annually tightening his belt by about $12 a week.

Gov. Brian Sandoval and other tax supporters argue that money from the commerce tax will be invested in K-12 education to help “the children.” Fine. But absent that additional revenue, nothing prevents lawmakers from better prioritizing their spending decisions to ensure the state’s educational system is a top priority and funded accordingly.

Those behind the repeal effort were being neither deceptive nor misleading by failing to include language describing — in the court’s words — the “significant practical ramifications” of overturning the tax. They were being truthful. It’s difficult to find any harmful effects to report.

Without the commerce tax, lawmakers and other state officials would simply be forced to prioritize education and to spend tax dollars more efficiently — two things that would benefit both the state government and the citizens who fund it.

I couldn’t help but smile when I read the article about the plans for luring teachers to our city (“Proposals target CCSD teacher shortage,” Wednesday ReviewJournal).

I retired from the school district five years ago and have since been working as a substitute teacher. I don’t understand why we must reinvent the wheel every three to five years. We have been teaching our children for more than 250 years. You would think by now we would have figured out what works and what doesn’t.

When all the the details are revealed about these lofty plans, I hope that one of them addresses the real reason (other than low wages) that causes teachers to leave the state — and sometimes the profession — in droves. I stopped teaching because I spent too much time dealing with unruly students whose sole purpose in life seemed to be to disrupt the class.

And it’s just getting worse.

I could never understand why no one bothered to ask me, either at the school level or at the district level, why I chose to retire rather than continue teaching. Maybe it is because they might not have liked my answer. the teacher shortage in Clark County — Nevadans for the Common Good and Nevada Succeeds — discussed these shortages with teachers who actually work in the trenches. I have my doubts.

Pay is not the issue. Training is not the issue. If you want to adequately address teacher shortages, the issue of absurd working conditions must be alleviated. Packed classrooms, inadequate facilities, ridiculous 15-page evaluations, cumbersome self-directed improvement plans, work schedules leaving barely enough time to go to the bathroom that mandate hours of preparation at home, inept and unqualified supervisors, etc.

Making teachers feel like professionals instead of worker bees will go a long way toward reducing teacher shortages. about the dire state caused by the Clark County School District’s inability to hire qualified teachers. This may be one reason for the shortage:

A woman with 25 years of teaching experience as a math teacher in California and Idaho, fluent in Spanish and a USC graduate, applied with the school district only to be told that the district does not recognize credentials from either of those states.

The only reply I had was, “Really?” How sad that was my response. But I was so stunned nothing else came to mind.

Considering the fact Nevada is near the bottom of the 50-state rung in a number of education rankings, this makes no sense to me. There is absolutely no doubt that the hiring process for our schools needs to be revamped.

Recent events prove that we simply cannot have bleeding-heart liberal judges at any level (“Judge defends bail decision,” Tuesday Review-Journal).

The No. 1 priority of any judge should be to protect innocent lives. No other factor should even be considered. If a person acts like a mad dog, he should be treated like one would treat a mad dog.

No sympathy.