For some, no pain (cuts in services) means no gain (new taxes)

Despite the protestations of horror about the looming state budget cuts, there's a dirty little secret among some who want to see taxes raised.

They want Nevadans to feel some pain.

If budget cuts come down hard on state workers with layoffs, furloughs and such, then other Nevadans won't feel it as directly. If they don't feel the pain, they are far less likely to see the need to raise taxes now or in our future.

The horror is genuine when it comes to diapers and dentures for poor seniors. And legislators will find the money to cover that cut recommended by Gov. Jim Gibbons because it sounds so ghastly and callous.

But there are ways to make the public feel the pain, and not just long lines at DMV.

Close the state parks, even if some rural counties such as Lincoln County have little in the way of economic development but tourism based on parks.

Make it harder to get into classes in higher education.

The downside of that, however, is the potential for an anti-incumbency reaction the likes of which we haven't seen since the dreaded 300 percent pension increase of 1989. That was the year legislators voted themselves an increase in their pensions from $25 to $100 for every year served. The raw numbers don't sound as greedy and grasping as the 300 percent pension increase, and in the face of public outrage ginned up initially by the Las Vegas Sun, Gov. Bob Miller vetoed the bill and the legislators overrode his veto. But ultimately, their tails between most of their legs, except for the four senators who voted against it, the lawmakers returned to the Legislature that fall for a special session and repealed it.

Despite the repeal, when the 1990 election came up, out of 63 legislators, 16 lost their elections, some directly as a result of the pension increase that never happened. But the 300 percent pension increase still carries a memory of stubborn behavior by lawmakers who thought they were entitled.

Sue Lowden used it as part of her campaign to unseat the late state Senate Majority Leader Jack Vergiels, D-Las Vegas, in 1992 and has subtly and erroneously used it in her campaign bid to win the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate. Her TV ads stated she "took on a powerful politician" (that's true), "and defeated him because he taxed us" (also true) "while enriching himself" (patently false).

Vergiels, who died in December, never benefited from the pension increase. In fact, nobody did. Former state Sen. Don Mello, D-Sparks, sued but lost his futile effort to keep his monthly pension at the new rate, which would have paid him $2,648, instead of the $422 a month under the old rate.

It is highly unlikely the special session starting Tuesday is going to create any warm, loving, fuzzy feelings among the electorate. If something happens that gins up an angry electorate, such as cuts that inflame the general population and not just the poor state workers who get no respect even when they deserve it, then the reaction may be the same outrage of 21 years ago.

The legislators who are term-limited out may not care. They're not going back anyway. For them, making voters feel the kind of pain from cutting state services may be worth the long-term benefits. That is presuming they believe Nevada needs to raise taxes to move up from the last place on every list that reflects poorly on the Silver State.

More than one legislator is thinking this way, but don't expect anyone to say so publicly. But as a political strategy, it could backfire. No pain, no gain may not be the best approach for 2010.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.