Attorneys defend tax extensions before Nevada Supreme Court
SAM METZ, AP / Report for America
May 3, 2021
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CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court weighed arguments Monday in a lawsuit filed by Republican lawmakers over how to interpret state law that requires revenue-generating proposals to win two-thirds approval in the Legislature to become law.
Since 1996, the Nevada constitution has mandated that two-thirds of lawmakers in both chambers must approve any proposal that “creates, generates, or increases any public revenue in any form," setting a high bar for any proposal to raise taxes without bipartisan support.
Republican state senators allege that the Legislature's 2019 decision to extend two expiring revenue streams — a Department of Motor Vehicles $1 transaction fee and a payroll tax — violated the mandate because the extensions passed with simple majorities in the Democratic-controlled Legislature and didn't receive two-thirds approval.