Does Sen. Lee oppose tax increases?
This is the first time I've seen this statement, and it includes a big "if," but this could be great news for taxpayers and businesses in Nevada.
Sen. John Lee, D-Las Vegas, has signaled he isn't convinced a tax increase is necessary.
"If I was signaling anything ... it would be I'm not for raising taxes," Lee said recently.
Sen. Lee is absolutely right that a tax increase isn't necessary in Nevada. As NPRI has previously noted, a large part of Nevada's current budget difficulties come from the per-capita, inflation-adjusted, 30-percent spending increase that occurred in 2005 (p. 5).
(The red line shows how much Nevada's budget would have been if it increased only by the rate of population growth and inflation since 1994)
Raising taxes instead of bringing Nevada's spending in-line with historical levels would simply create a bigger boom-and-bust cycle in the future.
