Time to Hold Mining Accountable: SJR 15, SB 493, SB 492, AB 428

It’s time to agitate.

It’s time to set the mining industry straight about paying their share as the rest of us do.

It’s time to show up and be counted at the Nevada Legislature on Thursday morning.

Here’s what Erin Neff of ProgressNow Nevada had to say on their Facebook Page:

Erin NeffApril 5, 2011 at 5:18pm

Subject: Let’s pack Thursday’s hearing…

This afternoon, I testified before the Senate Revenue Committee in support of SJR15 and SB493. The first will put a measure on the ballot to take mining’s protected tax status out of the Constitution. The second would create a Mining Oversight Commission to make sure the industry respects tax and environmental rules and laws.
While both of these measures are critically needed, neither does anything about the current deficit.
That’s why we must stand strongly in support of AB428 on Thursday at the Assembly Taxation Committee.
We need at least 100 people to show up to fill the room.
So please tell your friends and bring as many people as you can. The mining industry will put up a large fight to this bill (all of it, deductible, of course) and we’ve got to stand up to these corporate interests.
The meeting starts at 8 a.m. Even if you can’t stay, please come and sign in for the record before you head off to work or school.

SJR 15  Will amend the Nevada Constitution to remove mining and it’s separate tax rates

AB 428 Will made adjustments to the deductions mining may claim against their tax liability

SB 493 Creates the Mining Oversight and Accountability Commission

SB 492 Revises the payments on mining claims

The following article is by Anjeanette Damon from the Las Vegas Sun, March 28:

As promised, legislative Democrats didn’t let the opportunity pass to attempt to extract more tax revenue from the mining industry.

The Senate Revenue Committee today introduced a measure, Senate Joint Resolution 15, that would begin the process of repealing the constitutional protection the industry enjoys on its net proceeds tax.

Because the measure seeks to amend the constitution, the Legislature would have to pass it twice before it would go to voters for a final ratification.

Currently, the mining industry pays a 5 percent property tax on its mineral resources, but is allowed to deduct the cost of extracting and processing the minerals. The deductions have significantly reduced the industry’s tax bill to the state.

Because the tax is enshrined in the constitution, lawmakers are unable to change the rate and are prohibited from assessing any other tax on minerals.

The measure introduced today completely removes the mining tax from the state constitution. That would allow lawmakers to impose a completely different tax or fiddle with the rate.

Because the entire process would take five years, the change would not help lawmakers as they seek more revenue to offset the budget cuts proposed by Gov. Brian Sandoval.

Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce, D-Las Vegas, has introduced a bill that would reduce the industry’s allowable deductions by 60 percent. That measure, which has gained some traction with legislative leadership, would net the state tax revenue much more quickly than the constitutional amendment.

A second measure introduced by the Revenue Committee today would create a new Mining Oversight and Accountability Commission. The new commission would be responsible for writing the tax regulations, taking that duty away from the Nevada Tax Commission.

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, has criticized the tax commission for passing regulations that he believes expands the mining industry’s deductions beyond what is allowed in statute.

The new commission would also oversee environmental and safety regulations.

Nevada Mining Tax Report 2011

Muth Strikes Again. ProgressNow Nevada Poised to Strike Back

Recently, I blogged about one of your usual despicable political operative low-life’s - this one here in Nevada - who likes to sit behind a computer and take potshots at the disadvantaged. I guess everybody needs a hobby. But now he may have over-reached. It’s a common hazard in the neo-con movement of today.

I’m referring to Chuck Muth of Muth’s Truth’s.

It’s seems that he’s been really busy during this session of the Nevada legislature. I’ll let Erin Neff of the ProgressNow Nevada explain what Chuck Muth has been up to.

You may want to kick in a small donation.

One of the biggest obstacles for progressives in Nevada is Chuck Muth – a right-wing activist who pushes no new tax pledges thanks to his support from the Koch Brothers.

He runs a PAC which funds several lobbyists and has his own Nevada News Bureau which frequently repeats, reposts and “reports” studies by the right-wing think tank, NPRI.

We often go up against him on radio or television shows, but today we are taking the battle to a new level. This morning we filed a fund-raising complaint with the Secretary of State against Muth and the recipient of Muth’s recent calls for donations – Assemblyman Ed Goedhart.

Simply put, legislators are prohibited from receiving donations during a legislative session. It’s spelled out clearly in state law.

Yet Muth recently raised money to put a fired Tea Party worker for Goedhart back on the job after she’d been fired. He did this very publicly and when she returned to work we decided we couldn’t let Muth get away with this illegal activity.

We’re fighting hard every day to rapidly refute those who stand in the way of progress. And this legislative session, Muth is a pillar of the conservative push to protect billion dollar mining and big business corporations from having to pay their fair share.

Today we filed our complaint and we’ll see it through to the end.

These battles require constant vigilance of what the well-funded corporate crowd is up to. We’re up to the task, but we need your help.

Help us fight back against Muth and the entire anti-worker infrastructure he’s organized. Together we can take on those who stand in the way of progress.

Please give $25, or whatever you can, to help us push back against this illegal nonsense. It’s one thing for Muth to hold a pledge over a legislator’s head. It’s quite another to funnel illegal money to one.

Help us fight this today.

Yours in progress,

Erin Neff
Executive Director
ProgressNow Nevada

Dear Nevada Legislature: Please raise revenue!

ProgressNow Nevada has a great petition up, and I hope you will join me in signing it.

Read on:

Nevada is currently facing a 54% budget shortfall, and Governor Sandoval thinks every cent should come from cuts to education and essential services.

Our governor is in a budget Fantasyland.

Nevada is in some of the hardest economic times we’ve ever seen, and Governor Sandoval thinks the way to get out of it is to lop off 70 percent of the higher education budget. Forget about classes and majors – entire campuses will close.

Is this the way to attract new businesses and diversify our economy?

Click on the image aboveTake action today to save our state. Tell lawmakers revenue must be part of the solution by signing the petition below.

We’re calling for a broad-based net profits tax to be paid by the largest corporations in the state, while protecting small businesses.  We’re also urging lawmakers to make mining pay its fair share.

We’ve seen enough of out-of-state corporations taking our resources and our revenue without paying for the services they and their employees need.

We’ve seen enough!  Haven’t you? Take action today.

***Petition language follows***

We the undersigned declare: 

We support a balanced solution to Nevada’s budget crisis a solution that includes new forms of revenue to offset massive cuts that would dismantle our higher education system, cripple our K-12 schools and further undermine our social services.

Specifically, we call for:

1.) Imposing a broad-based business tax on the state’s largest corporations — those with net profits exceeding $500,000 a year.

2.) Taxing foreign-owned mining corporations by eliminating statutory deductions the industry uses to avoid paying their fair share.

3.) An honest discussion of other revenue sources.