Having his cake and eating it too
Governor Gibbons created a budget that included a $292 million tax increase in the form of a room tax hike in Clark and Washoe Counties. The value of that tax has since been downgraded to $233 million. However, the governor, after including the tax hike in his budget will now refuse to sign the bill implementing the tax hike. By not signing it within 5 days, he will allow the bill to go into effect automatically.
According to the governor's communications director, "It would violate his principles by signing a tax increase. He won't veto it. He will abide by the decision of the people."
So why did he build a budget that would rely on the tax hike?
The governor appears to be playing games with the voters of Nevada, who put him in office in large part due to his pledge to not raise taxes. It's easy to talk about no tax increases when coffers are flush, but perhaps less so when resources are limited and the governor's office is forced to set priorities and make tough decisions.
For now, it looks like the governor wants to have his cake and eat it too.
