Packed Hearing Room for SB 201

The Senate Taxation hearing room was packed today for SB 201, the RTC-5 implementation bill. There were so many construction workers and labor union folks that showed up that a second hearing room was opened downstairs for the overflow.

The lineup included Mayors Bob Cashell and Gino Martini, County Commissioner John Breternitz, Reno City Councilman Dave Aiazzi, Derek Morse with the RTC, Norm Dianda with Q&D Construction, and developer Perry DiLoretto. I sat at the table right next to Skip Daily with the Laborer’s union, which doesn’t occur that often!

I pointed out that while we talk a lot about this bill creating 3,000 jobs, we don’t talk about what those 3,000 jobs mean to the rest of our Chamber members. The workers on these projects will have money to spend on the goods and services that our members provide.

The improved roads will allow all of us to get to work, home, and school quickly and safely.

SB 201 is also an economic development tool. While this Chamber works hard every day to ensure that our state’s tax structure remains business-friendly, we also need to ensure that our transportation system is adequate for our present and future needs. Companies looking to re-locate or expand their presence here want to be able to move their goods and their employees around the region efficiently.

The trucking association testified as neutral and the petroleum marketing folks had some issues. There was one Washoe County resident who testified in opposition to the bill, but she seemed to have more issues with how the sample ballots were distributed than with anything else.

While there were a few technical questions from some of the committee members, the reception seemed pretty positive.

The committee took no action on the bill today, but it needs to be out of there and to the floor by April 10th.

We really want to get this bill through as fast as possible so that we can start bonding projects and get people to work as soon as possible.