Lawmakers are forecasting that Nevada's yawning transportation funding shortfall will not get fixed this year. There are two "plans" out there for raising some money to close the state's multi-billion-dollar funding hole: Governor Jim Gibbon's plan to shift existing tax revenues from other areas to fund transportation, and a Democratic plan that would hike diesel taxes and vehicle registration fees. Gibbons has made it clear that his "no new taxes" pledge prevents him from signing on to the Democratic bill. And the governor's own plan arguably amounts to a shell game, since it would deprive other public investments of revenue they currently are using.
Taking the "no new taxes" pledge is usually politically pretty easy-- but anti-tax attitudes sometimes run into harsh reality. And there are some indications that Gov. Gibbons is on the verge of finding out that support for this position can evaporate pretty fast when new taxes are clearly necessary.
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