Tax Plan Costs Nevada Governor

Gov. Kenny Guinn’s approval ratings have slipped 10 percentage points since the start of the legislative session in February, with less than half of Nevadans saying he is doing an excellent or good job, according to a Las Vegas Review-Journal/reviewjournal.com poll published Saturday.

In February, 53% approved of his job performance, but 56% said they didn’t like his tax proposal, according to a previous poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc.

But the battle over taxes has taken its toll, with 43% of Nevadans now saying Guinn is doing an excellent or good job as governor. The largest drop in Guinn’s support came from his fellow Republicans. In February, 63% of Republicans rated him excellent or good. In the most recent poll, that number dropped to 44% -- the same approval rating given by Democrats.

“The governor is paying a price for his tax package,” said Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon, which is based in Washington, D.C. “He spent some of his political capital to get a tax package through.”

While the Legislature approved a budget that has been signed into law, it has been unable to muster a two-thirds majority required to pass a tax plan to pay for it. Guinn proposed a plan months ago requiring nearly $1 billion in new taxes.

A recent state Supreme Court ruling is expected to clear the way for lawmakers to vote next week on their version of a tax plan that will probably include portions of Guinn’s proposal and could raise about $860 million to help balance the state’s record $5-billion budget for this and the next fiscal year.

Guinn, who will not seek reelection in 2006 because of term limits, said his 10-percentage-point drop “is to be expected when you’re in as difficult a position as we’re in.”

The poll released Saturday was also conducted by Mason-Dixon. It surveyed 625 registered Nevada voters between July 8 and July 9 and had an error margin of 4 percentage points.