What was expected to be the final day of the special session of the Nevada Legislature instead became a political version of the movie "Groundhog Day," as a mining tax broke down along partisan lines Saturday in the Senate for a second time.
In an exact repeat of the first vote on the bill, which occurred Thursday, the tax drew a 13-8 vote that failed to give it the two-thirds majority it needed for passage. Saturday’s outcome came despite the addition of an amendment that would have earmarked funding for K-12 education and only applied the tax increase to mines with gross proceeds over $10 million annually.
Republican Sen. Keith Pickard, R-Henderson, had signaled willingness Thursday to vote for the bill if the monies were earmarked for education, and said Saturday he worked on a deal to pass the bill the night before.
He later rescinded his support, prompting some Democratic lawmakers, in a bit of political theater, to leave flip-flops lining the hall into Pickard’s office signifying their disapproval.
On the Senate floor, Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, excoriated Pickard for changing his mind on the issue. Multiple times, she brought up Pickard’s comments from Thursday that he would be a “strong yes” if the funding were to go to education.
“Some of the choices that we have to make in this legislature are hard, they are hard, and we have heard a lot about those,” Cannizzaro said. “But some of them are easy, and what should never be hard, what should always be an easy choice, is to stay true to our word, especially when that word relates to the future of this state.”
Pickard took umbrage with the accusations, and defended himself on the floor, stating he was allowed to change his mind, and that lawmakers “should not limit ourselves to small solutions to big problems.”
“Hopefully, all of you recognize, all of us recognize, if we get a bill in the mail, and it’s wrong, we don’t just pay it,” Pickard said. “Particularly if it demands more out of my checking account than I have.”
After the bill had been voted down, Pickard spoke directly to the Clark County Education Association, who had backed him over Democratic challenger Julie Pazina in 2018. He said that in a “rush” to find education funding, he felt that he made a wrong choice and “miscalculated” in the discussion over raising mining taxes.
“When (Sen. Cannizzaro) implies that I’m a coward, I might be, but at least I admit when I make a mistake,” he said.
He said he was interested in revisiting education funding during the next regular legislative session, which begins in February 2021.
“I commit to every teacher and, more importantly, to every student in this state to rectify my mistake and make sure we have a thorough, open and inclusive conversation. Both parties, and all the stakeholders, because Nevada deserves that,” Pickard said.
As the Senate wound down discussion on the mining tax bill, Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, released a statement decrying Republicans’ actions on the mining tax bill and stating the session needed to be brought to a “swift close.”
The Assembly moved fairly quickly, passing a bill instituting the needed massive budget cuts by around 9:30 p.m., a little over an hour after the chamber first convened.
Originally, lawmakers had introduced a bill that would require state workers to take on furlough day a month and eliminate merit pay increases. That bill was wrapped into the larger budget cut bill through an amendment, with changes that softened the blow on state workers. Merit pay increases were restored and the furloughs were reduced to six days a fiscal year starting in January 2021. Lawmakers said the delay would let them apply any potential further federal funding toward lessening the furloughs.
That amendment also rerouted some money to Medicaid and other health care programs, lessening the cuts to these programs.
If a federal bailout does come through, money would be restored to the New Nevada Education Funding Plan, the state’s Read by Grade 3 program and the elimination of the state worker furloughs, in that order, before going toward restoring other budget cuts.
Assembly Minority Leader Robin Titus, R-Wellington, said the process had gotten more “political” than it needed to be, and that the proposed budget cuts had “skewed priorities.”
The Senate was expected to pick the bill up and pass it through, ending the session entirely, but they did not do so, and an amendment is expected on the bill today. Frierson said the Assembly would discuss putting $50 million toward underperforming schools and pupils today.
The Assembly plans to reconvene today at 10 a.m., and the Senate is scheduled to reconvene at 1 p.m.