Passage of Nev. tax hikes bittersweet for Dems
By Kyle Roerink, Las Vegas Sun
CARSON CITY — For Democratic Sen. Tick Segerblom, Tuesday yielded a victory five sessions in the making.
Senate lawmakers passed into the Assembly a tax measure, SB 252, that’s backed by GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval that would annually raise $430 million to fund education and other programs.
The rub for Segerblom, though, was that his party didn’t have its name on the legislation.
Segerblom, a Las Vegas lawmaker serving in his fifth legislative term, and his colleagues have championed tax increases in every session since 2007. But despite holding a majority in both chambers of the Legislature, the Democrats’ efforts did little to provide new revenues for education. During Segerblom’s time in office, both parties have fought to fill the budget shortfalls posed by the recession and raise more money for government.
Segerblom applauded Republicans on the floor for “biting the bullet on taxes” and blamed them for not calling to do so sooner.