FRENCH CONNECTION
TRENDSETTING CALIFORNIA GIVES US A CLUE
BY DOUG FRENCH

It’s been said that trends start on either coast and work toward the center of the country. The Silver State is very close to trendsetter California. In fact, a large percentage of the 200 people per day who relocate to Nevada come from our neighbor to the west.

Although our reputation is for laissez faire, Nevada has become more Californicated. After all, reasonable people can’t tell the difference between Democrats and Republicans around here. The Republican governor has increased the state’s budget at unprecedented rates, only two Republicans in the Senate voted for a Colorado-like Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) bill proposed this past session, and Henderson Republicans can’t funnel enough taxpayer dough into Nevada State College at Henderson. 

Besides, for whatever difference it makes, due to political gerrymandering and the influx of left-leaners to Clark County, it’s likely the Assembly will be Democratic for the remainder of our lifetimes. Republicans currently hold a tenuous majority in the Senate, but with Senators Barbara Cegavske and Sandra Tiffany in gaming’s crosshairs, that may change next cycle. 

And just how would a Nevada led by Jim Gibbons be any different than one led by Titus, Perkins or Rogers? Not much. So what can we look forward to? Checking which way the political wind is blowing in California gives us a clue. 

Of course the Golden State is a basket case economically, but Democrats in California Assembly can’t seem to connect the dots. They are urging tax hikes for the rich to — you guessed it — funnel another $3 billion into public schools. Does this sound familiar? 

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, said Democrats have “looked at every other option” and determined the tax increases are vital. Núñez goes on to say that Democrats are making the tough decisions, and “we are not going to shortchange our schools of the resources that they need to educate our children.” And you thought this was only going on in Nevada. 

California, you remember, has a personal income tax; a hefty one. Top income earners now fork over 9.3 percent to the state coffers in Sacramento. California D’s want to increase that to 10 percent for those making between $285,000 and $570,000, and 11 percent for those making more. 

According to the Sacramento Bee, California had 10 percent and 11 percent brackets in the early 1990s, when the Democrat-controlled Legislature and then-Gov. Pete Wilson approved a “temporary” plan during a recession. Boom or bust, politicians want more taxpayer money for the children. 

California Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed $115.7 billion budget would increase school funding almost $3 billion from the current fiscal year. But education officials (teacher’s union) and legislative Democrats are demanding $3 billion more. 

Speaking of unions. Rookie Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, has proposed a bill that would raise the cap on retirement benefits from 90 percent to 100 percent of pay for firefighters and police officers enrolled in the California Public Employee Retirement System. (By the way, some police and firefighters belong to a separate public pension system that already entitles members to receive 100 percent of their pay in pensions.) 

As a Sacramento Bee editorial makes clear: “If the Evans bill becomes law, it will mean that nearly all police officers and firefighters in this state will be able to retire in their early 50s with 100 percent of pay.” 

The Bee goes on to explain that the bill would expand the disability benefit for cops and firefighters, “despite documented evidence of widespread abuses in the disability retirement system.” As it is, California police and firefighters claiming a disability can retire with 50 percent of their pensions tax-free. Evans' bill would expand that to 85 percent tax-free, encouraging more disability retirements. Why wouldn’t an enterprising cop or firefighter claim disability to increase their take home pay? That’s why rich people need to pay more, so these guys can collect pensions tax- free.

The bill also changes the definition of final compensation for all employees, not just police and firefighters, counting some overtime hours as final compensation for the purpose of calculating pensions. Also, employers who pay the employees’ share of retirement costs, which is common in government employee contracts, could have that payment included in pension calculations as well. 

These lawmakers, especially those who carry the unions' water, are hell-bent on turning America into France: high unemployment, high regulation, slow growth and no prosperity. And don’t kid yourself; Nevada is just a couple of seats here and a couple of votes there from going down the same path. LW