Keeping and eye on happenings at the Legislature

I have been on vacation in a remote part of the big island of Hawaii for several weeks where I was not able to send editorial materials in to the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza. My first day back, the Bonanza ran a 1,500-word opinion column by Sid Beckowich ripping both me and President Bush, so I guess that means I was missed.

During my absence three developments occurred which should be of interest to Incline Village/Crystal Bay Republicans. Here's my take on them.

First: Incline's Assemblyman Ty Cobb continued to shine as a rising Republican star in the Legislature. Readers may recall that last month Cobb was the sole "no" vote in a ceremonial election of Barbara Buckley (D Š Las Vegas) as speaker. His reason? He wasn't going to vote for a Democrat. His peers gave him a lot of flack for that but ultimately his vote was endorsed by the Las Vegas Review Journal, the Clark and Washoe County Republican Parties and many GOP pundits.

This week a headline screamed: "Cobb stands alone on proposed property tax increase." The story described how he is the only member of the Washoe County legislative delegation to oppose the Washoe County School District's bid to jack up real property transfer taxes by almost 30 percent so they can build new schools they erroneously promised voters. The bill was introduced by Sen. Bill Raggio (R Š Reno). Other Washoe GOP legislators, (who may be reluctant to oppose the powerhouse senator) were at best lukewarm in their support. But Cobb, whose day job is as an associate in Raggio's law firm, didn't mince words.

"After we had one of the largest tax increases in state history a few short years ago I can't believe that some . . . are pushing this session for more taxes," he told reporters.

God bless ya', Ty!

Second: The day I left the editorially liberal Reno Gazette Journal ("read it and gag") was running front page stories about Gov. Gibbons taking swag from businessman Warren Trepp in exchange for arranging government no-bid contracts, Gibbons getting secret contributions, an FBI investigation into stolen national security codes, pending criminal action, and so on. By the time I came back the story imploded. The federal judge who issued the search warrant for the codes withdrew the warrant because the supporting affidavit was erroneous, the FBI agent retired, another federal judge threw out criminal charges leaving only a civil suit between Trepp and a former partner.

Nevada's Democratic Secretary of State issued Gibbons a letter stating his investigation showed no illegal contributions. That leaves only Trepp's former partner's silly charges that then-Congressman Gibbons arranged no bid contracts for Trepp. Well, if the product is unique and protected by a top secret national security classification of course the contracts would be no-bid. And isn't a congressman supposed to help businesses in his district get contracts so jobs can be created? Much ado about nothing.

Third: Reno's at it again. For the second legislative session in a row the City of Reno is pushing legislation which would permit annexation of non-contiguous areas. The measure would only apply to Washoe County. Two years ago they pushed this so they could annex Cold Springs but the bill didn't pass; this time the target is Winnemucca Ranch but I imagine their appetite for Cold Springs is still there. The question is, if this becomes law, when will Reno start eyeing Incline's $1.6 billion of assessed value to supplement city property tax income? As the bill now reads any annexations would have to be voluntary but that could change quickly. Be sure to watch Assembly Bill 287 like a hawk.



Jim Clark is President of Republican Advocates, a vice chair of the Washoe County GOP and a member of the Nevada GOP Central Committee.