Model the good things about Texas, not the bad

Andy Matthews

It seems like every day Texas makes headlines for its booming economy.

If it’s not making room for Toyota and its 3,000 jobs, the Lone Star State is welcoming thousands of hard-working new residents eager to live the American Dream that so many other states try to squash with high taxes and onerous regulations.

In most ways, Texas is a model state, and one that more states — including Nevada — should emulate.

Except in one way.

Just a few days ago, Texas State Senator Craig Estes came to Nevada to warn us about one major blunder his state has made: passing a margin tax. This message is timely, because in November, Nevada voters will consider a margin tax proposal based on the Texas tax.

Senator Estes put it bluntly when he said Nevada shouldn’t follow Texas when it comes to the margin tax. In Texas, the margin tax has forced businesses to close and others to lay-off workers, hit small and medium businesses the hardest and has been an administrative nightmare for mom-and-pop shops.

And the Nevada tax would two to four times as high as the Texas tax.

The Texas margin tax has been so destructive that Texas legislators are now working to repeal it.

Wouldn’t it be a sad irony for Nevada to pass a margin tax because Texas has one, while Texas is currently working to eliminate its margin tax?