PHOTO/DENNIS MYERS
Apple Inc., with the help of tax breaks, is reportedly planning to build a new assembly facility at this site near downtown Reno.
Voter photo plan defended Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller, speaking before a luncheon meeting of the Nevada Women’s Lobby, denied that a program he has proposed was a “voter ID” program as it has been portrayed by the press. Miller said no one would be required to present identification at a polling place. Rather, election officials would obtain photos from the Department of Motor Vehicles of drivers and others holding state identification cards and use them to match with faces of people attempting to vote at polling places. While not all Nevadans have driver licenses or other state identification cards, most do. One political activist at the luncheon, Elisa Cafferata, urged support for the Miller plan, saying it was the best way to head off MILLER legislation requiring all voters to present identification in order to vote. But American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada representative Vanessa Spinazola objected to that stance, urging against any unnecessary impediments to voters. Miller acknowledged that voter fraud committed through individual voters is virtually nonexistent but said he was convinced that if the voter photo plan was not offered, enactment of a full fledged voter ID plan by the Nevada Legislature would be unstoppable. One person at the luncheon asked a seatmate what good are Democratic majorities in both state legislative houses if they cave in to conservatives on such an issue. Voter identification bills have been introduced at the Nevada Legislature but have always been defeated. At the 2011 Legislature, bills sponsored or cosponsored by Republicans John Hambrick, Ira Hansen, Lynn Stewart, Melissa Woodbury and Michael Roberson were all defeated. Voting fraud committed on the voter side—as opposed to the vote-counting side—is extremely rate. Nevada election officials say they can count instances with single digits, and that when it does occur, it is often innocent (“The fraud of voter fraud,” RN&R, Oct. 25), but conservatives encourage the notion that it is rampant in order to win enactment of voter identification laws whose burden falls heavily on low-income voters without driver licenses. Miller said about 15 percent of Nevadans do not have driver licenses, a relatively high number among states. Citizens without identification tend to be low-income people such as senior citizens. They also include many Latinos. Republicans dismayed by the low Latino vote for the GOP in last month’s election are trying to avoid issues that further alienate that group of voters. Asked about the privacy implications of public agencies swapping information on members of the public, Miller said reassuring the public of the security of elections was worth the breach of privacy. Voter identification laws are a high priority of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative organization created under section 501(3)(c) of the Internal Revenue code. It is funded by right-wing millionaires and corporations such as R.J. Reynolds, State Farm and Koch Industries.
Prepaid tuition opens The current open enrollment period for the Nevada Prepaid Tuition program began on Dec. 1 and will end on Feb 28. The program allows parents and others to start paying tuition at today’s tuition payment levels for use when a child reaches college. Information is available at NVPrepaid.gov.
—Dennis Myers 6
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RN&R
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DECEMBER 13, 2012
Welfare rolls published Nevada scrutiny of state corporate aid challenged Published studies say Nevada state government is providing millions in subsidies and by incentives to businesses—and that Dennis Myers the state does not do follow-up assessments on whether those subsidies work in improving the state’s economy. Over a period of 10 months, the New York Times compiled and analyzed a searchable database of individual business incentives granted
“Nevada did not publish a document that evaluated the effectiveness of a tax incentive.” Pew Center on the States
The New York Times report on state subsidies of business can be read at http://tinyurl.com/ bmogd52 The Pew Center report on follow-up study of state subsidies can be read at http://tinyurl.com/ agvufvo
by all state governments, listing 150,000 grants and awards providing more than $80 billion in various subsidies to companies. In Nevada’s case, it found each state resident paying $12 to support incentives to corporations. Times reporter Louise Story also found states often not getting value for the incentives they offered. A few days after the Times report ran, the newspaper then editorialized on its findings: “Many governments don’t know the full value of the subsidies they hand out in the form of tax refunds, rebates, loans, grants and more. And they don’t know if the jobs created
would have been created anyway. The fact is, numerous studies show that such incentives result in only a small increase in jobs and that any gains usually come at the expense of other cities and states. Local governments would be much better off investing tax dollars in education and public works that would deliver long-term benefits to both businesses and workers. “The senseless race to give away billions in subsidies is, of course, hard to stop when elected leaders think a pledge of potential jobs might help in their next election. But even when attracting businesses is a legitimate goal, it has to be done in ways that are fair and transparent. The trouble with targeted incentives is that they are little more than transfers of wealth to a handful of powerful corporations from all other taxpayers, including other businesses. If the problem is excessive tax burdens on businesses in general, then the solution is broad tax reform that also benefits small business owners, who are more likely to stick around if the regional economy weakens and who are unlikely to hopscotch around the country in search of a bigger tax break.” Among the corporate beneficiaries of Nevada officials’ generosity in the Times list: Apple Inc., Starbucks, Georgia Pacific, Sherwin Williams, R.R. Donnelly, Ford, General Motors, INTUIT, Harley Davidson, TRW Vehicle Safety, Basalite Concrete, Ocean Spray, Overhead Door and
dozens of smaller enterprises. The Times list is likely to provide useful information to Nevada activists who have been critical of governments subsidizing businesses. State and local government websites do not currently provide such logs of Nevada officials’ generosity to corporations. The Times estimated that incentives account for a cent of every Nevada budget dollar, which means the state is no more generous with corporate welfare than welfare for the poor. This is not necessarily due to restraint by state officials, but by limitations in the state constitution on the incentives that can be offered. Most Nevada incentives are in the form of abatements—taxes that are not collected. The second study, a report by the Pew Center on the States, found that about half the states have not done the work “to produce and connect policy makers with good evidence of whether these tools deliver a strong return on taxpayer dollars.” Nevada is among those states. The report said Nevada did not measure the economic impact of incentives or draw clear conclusions about their impact. Pew found that 13 states are doing a good job “in generating muchneeded answers about tax incentives’ effectiveness. Twelve states have mixed results. Half the states have not taken the basic steps needed to know whether their incentives are effective.” Further, the Pew study reported, “Sixteen states ... and the District of Columbia did not publish a document between 2007 and 2011 that evaluated the effectiveness of a tax incentive.” Pew also reported that incentives are often offered not because they serve a state’s interest but because they keep a state competitive with other states. “Frequently, [incentives] are used as part of a bidding war between states over firms seeking to relocate or expand. If one state offers a tax credit, others often feel compelled to match it or risk being left behind.” It praised some states. “Oregon, for example, gives its incentives expiration dates, or ‘sunsets,’ which force lawmakers to examine them periodically. Arizona, Iowa and Washington also are trying to ensure their evaluations become part of the policy-making process.” Nevada incentives are not sunsetted. The Pew report went on, “In Connecticut, a study of the Job Creation Tax Credit provided evidence that the investment had benefited the state. … Louisiana’s
