According to today’s Nevada Appeal, “The Assembly Government Affairs Committee voted unanimously Monday to support giving state workers collective bargaining rights.”
As Dan Burdish of Nevadans for Tax Restraint points out, this bill will cost Nevada taxpayers an arm and a leg. “According to the state’s own estimate this bill will add future costs (not adjusted for inflation and growth) of $2,799,259 to each Biennium’s Budget,” Burdish writes. “That is just the overhead for what it will cost, not the cost of increases in salaries and benefits.”
With this and other objections in mind, the following email was sent to GOP members of the Assembly this morning, with a copy also going to GOP senators…
Citizen Outreach is adamantly opposed to this bill. Collective bargaining for state workers will skyrocket the cost of government even higher than it’s already skyrocketing. Just look at what it’s done at the local level and in other states. If AB 601 comes to a floor vote, we will DOUBLE-rate it on our 2007 Legislative scorecard.
Republicans should oppose this bill on its merits. Members of the Assembly do not get a free pass on voting for AB 601 under the assumption that it will just be killed in the Senate. The Assembly should end the practice of relying on the Senate to “do its dirty work” on critical issues such as this.
Nor is the excuse valid that Republicans had to vote for a bill of such importance in order for their far less-important bill to get a hearing…even on committee votes.
In future elections, a Republican challenger might want to run against a Democrat incumbent and use the Democrat’s support for collective bargaining for state employees in their campaign. Votes in favor of this idea, even in committee, take that issue off the table for GOP challengers. Democrats will simply point to the “bi-partisan” support collective bargaining had in the Assembly Government Affairs Committee to deflect such criticism.
Republicans need to stop giving away the store to Democrats in return for legislative table scraps. The solution to getting GOP bills heard and voted on in the Assembly isn’t in selling out core philosophical governing issues, but in doing what’s necessary to become the state’s majority governing party in the Assembly. Appeasement is not a strategy for such electoral success.
Republican members of the Assembly Government Affairs Committee who voted in favor of this bill are…
To contact any member of the Legislature on this or any other issue, call toll-free (800) 978-2878 and ask the switchboard operator to connect you directly to their office.
Posted on April 10th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: Nevada
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