Protesters pan Gibbons' vetoes, applaud overrides

Approximately 200 people showed up in front of the Legislature at noon Friday to protest the vetoes by Gov. Jim Gibbons of tax and spending bills, and applaud lawmakers' votes overriding those actions.

On Thursday, Gibbons vetoed the Legislature's plan to raise taxes by $781 million over two years, along with seven other bills.

The Senate took just 15 minutes to override the tax bill and two other vetoes later that night, and the Assembly followed suit by overriding the tax bill Friday morning.

Standing in front of the Legislature before the assembled crowd, Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, called on her colleagues to join her at the microphone.

"These are the people who were willing to stand up, despite the criticism by both sides, and decide we are not going to destroy this state," Leslie said.

Danny Thompson, executive secretary-treasurer of Nevada State AFL-CIO, was the master of ceremonies for the event, which he said was organized in just one day.

"This was originally going to be a protest, to protest the budget cuts," Thompson said. "But when the Legislature overrode the governor, it became more of a congratulations to them, thanking them for overriding his veto."

Karen McEntire , chairperson for the Capital City Democrats, said the Legislature did what they needed to do to help the state.

"When the country is in a recession, the government has to step up, and Gibbons has stepped down," McEntire said. "Fortunately, the Legislature, for the most part, has stepped up. So we have to be here to support them."

Thompson said there were likely to be more events planned to support the efforts of Democratic lawmakers as the Legislative session comes to a close.

"It ain't over yet," Thompson told the crowd. "There are more vetoes to come, I'm sure."