The statewide elective offices on the November ballot are of doubly vital concern to rural Nevadans this year, primarily because the urban counties are likely to stack the Legislature with tax-and-spend Democrats beholding to public employee unions and eager to throw more of our money into the bureaucratic maw. Topping the list is the race for governor, pitting Republican … [Read more...]
Pink Tax Repeal Would Shift Tax Burden
Question 2 on the November ballot — the so-called pink tax repeal — would eliminate the state and local sales taxes on feminine hygiene products such as tampons and sanitary napkins. Nevada does not apply sales taxes to such necessities as food and medicine, so this sounds reasonable on its face. But according to the Nevada Secretary of State, the state demographer notes … [Read more...]
Time to Let Free Market Work for Electricity
The Energy Choice Initiative — Question 3 on the November ballot — would amend the Nevada Constitution to require lawmakers by July 1, 2023, to “establish an open, competitive retail electric market, to ensure that protections are established that entitle customers to safe, reliable, and competitively priced electricity …” This would include provisions to reduce costs to … [Read more...]
This Big Piggy Goes Oink, Oink, Oink
The libertarian-leaning Nevada Policy Research Institute has published this year’s edition of its popular “The Nevada Piggy Book” — a collection of anecdotes illustrating the tendencies of state and local governments to lavishly overspend our money on inefficient and even counterproductive endeavors. The introduction reaches the dismal conclusion that waste is endemic to … [Read more...]
No Need for Further Sales Tax Exemptions
Question 4 on the November ballot proposes to amend the Nevada Constitution to require lawmakers to pass a law exempting certain durable medical equipment — such as oxygen tanks, wheelchairs and ventilators — from the state sales tax. Who doesn’t want to lighten the financial burden on the infirm? The problem is that the sales tax was designed to be a broad and fair tax … [Read more...]
Who Has the Better Plan for Nevada’s Economic Future?
Plans or platitudes? That is our choice when it comes to electing the next governor of Nevada. Republican Adam Laxalt, currently the state’s attorney general, has outlined clear and precise plans for helping grow the economy of the state, while Democrat Steve Sisolak, currently a Clark County commissioner, offers vague platitudes. “First and foremost, we must recognize … [Read more...]
Groups Try to Thwart Wild Horse Experiment
It worked during the Obama administration, but will it work with the Trump administration? A gaggle of self-styled wild horse advocate groups have filed lawsuits in Washington, D.C., and Portland, Ore., demanding that the Bureau of Land Management abandon plans to spay 100 wild mares in an experiment to help determine a better mechanism for curtailing the ongoing … [Read more...]
Passage of Question 5 Will Do More Harm Than Good
Question 5 — the Automatic Voter Registration Initiative — on the November ballot is a pointless and costly endeavor likely to do more harm than good. The proposal would require the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to automatically send personal information to the registrar of voters so a person can be registered to vote when receiving a driver’s license or making a … [Read more...]