WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review a state court ruling that gave the Nevada legislature authority to raise taxes without a two-thirds majority.
Without comment, justices turned away the appeal of some state lawmakers who challenged the Nevada Supreme Court ruling. They argued the decision violated a citizen's constitutional right to a republican form of government, such as a voter-approved two-thirds rule.
In July 2003, the Nevada court ruled 6-1 to allow a tax raise by a simple legislative majority. It cited an "irreconcilable conflict" between requirements in the Nevada Constitution to fund education adequately and to abide by the two-thirds requirement, and that raising taxes for schools took priority.
Subsequently, a tax bill passed in the House by less than a two-thirds vote, but the measure failed in the Senate. Eventually, an $833 million tax plan passed by a two-thirds vote in both houses.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the lawmakers' challenge to the state court ruling last year. It said the appeal was moot because the legislature ultimately passed a plan with a two-thirds' vote, and thus no constitutional rights were violated.
There's no possibility of the decision being used to resolve some future legislative impasse over taxes because it was "directed to specific periods of time that have already passed," the San Francisco-based court stated.