Gibbons’ road plan upcoming

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Jim Gibbons' transportation funding proposal finally has wheels.

Assembly Minority Leader Garn Mabey, R-Las Vegas, said Thursday that he has agreed to introduce the governor's proposal to use hotel room, sales and entertainment taxes to tackle the state's $3.8 billion highway construction shortfall.

"In my opinion, this is like giving the governor a car," said Mabey, who expects to introduce the bill Saturday. "He has to put the gas in, make it run. It is his proposal."

Gibbons complained during a news conference Wednesday that neither house of the Legislature had introduced his road plan, which he unveiled on May 10.

Mabey told the Review-Journal last week that Gibbons' plan and the other highway funding proposals under consideration had no chance of passing the Legislature in their current form. But the minority leader said he met with Gibbons on Tuesday to discuss the governor's plan and later spoke with Republican Assembly members.

Under Gibbons' plan, the state highway fund would receive $424 million over the next eight years from room taxes going to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, along with $148 million in sales tax from vehicle sales and $212 million in live entertainment taxes sent to the state general fund.

Using that revenue, the state Transportation Department could sell $2.5 billion in bonds and begin work on highway construction projects. The tax reallocation plan would remain in effect at least as long as it takes to pay off the bonds, according to state Budget Director Andrew Clinger.

In Las Vegas on Thursday, Gibbons said his staff was working with legislative counsel to put his transportation proposal into bill form. He said the bill was intended to be "a starting point" that would "get everyone engaged, at the table, sleeves rolled up, so we can get started to find a solution to this very vexing problem."

He said he supported the convention authority and didn't want to "do anything that jeopardizes the bond status," referring to the planned expansion of the convention center, which the authority says could not happen under Gibbons' plan to divert its revenues.

"We would like to sit down with them, have them bring their books in, and then we'll work with them," Gibbons said of the authority.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said Thursday that "it remains to be seen" whether sufficient attention could be paid to any road construction funding bill, including Mabey's, which would be exempt from the Legislature's deadlines. The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn June 4.

"It is a difficult situation when the governor is saying 'absolutely no new taxes,' " she said. "Others say, 'Take it from existing funds.' Others say, 'What existing funds?' "

Gibbons earlier this week pledged to veto any bill that increases taxes, including car registration taxes, driver's licenses and motor fuel taxes -- all of which have been mentioned as ways to raise revenue for road construction.

Assembly Transportation Chairman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, said Thursday he still is considering road funding options, but some of the proposals call for tax increases.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, delivered an emotional speech on the Senate floor complaining about the lack of action on road funding.

Senate Transportation Chairman Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, responded by saying he has been having discussions to try to win support for a consensus highway plan.

But Nolan has made similar comments for the past month and nothing has emerged for legislative consideration.

Gibbons reiterated his determination not to raise taxes, saying, "My position should not surprise the voters who elected me, nor should it surprise the Legislature that is trying to find ways to wiggle around those promises."

In an interview, Gibbons suggested that the acrimonious tone of the proceedings in Carson City was because of stress.

"We're getting to the end of the session. People's nerves are getting frazzled. People are not sleeping as well as they should," he said. "It's a normal process."

Buckley earlier expressed opposition to Gibbons' proposal to take sales and entertainment taxes that now go into the state general fund and spend the money on road construction.

She noted the general fund revenue pays for public education and other budgets and the student population continues to grow.

Under Gibbons' plan, no sales and tax revenue would be taken from the general fund in the next two years. But he wants to take $50 million in 2009 and use that money on road construction. The amount would be increased until 2013, when $200 million in general fund revenue would be allocated to highway construction.

The convention authority has blasted the Gibbons plan to take its room taxes from the beginning, declaring it is unconstitutional and would prevent the $890 million expansion of the convention center. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, chairman of the convention center board, said Gibbons' plan would cost Las Vegas $20 billion in convention business.

But the convention center board is expected to meet today and agree to allocate about $20 million a year to the state for highway construction. That is about 40 percent of what Gibbons requested in his plan.