Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller kept up his war on small business owners and entrepreneurs on Thursday, persuading the four Democrats – who out-voted the two Republicans – on the Nevada Legislative Subcommittee on Regulations to repeal the exemption from the state’s $200-a-year fine/penalty/fee for home-based businesses who dared protect themselves legally by forming a corporation and make less than $27,000 a year.
“An estimated 60,000 Nevada businesses will now be assessed a $200 annual fee,” reported the Las Vegas Sun. “The fee will be imposed immediately on those who file for new businesses licenses and on those that renew existing licenses, a spokeswoman said.”
It’s estimated that this decision just took $10 million out of the Nevada economy and gave it to the government. Lovely.
And, um, why do citizens need to pay for an annual “permission slip” to sell Amway products or Mary Kay cosmetics in the first place? Or to operate any other business, for that matter. If the idiots in Carson City REALLY wanted to spur economic development and job creation, they would repeal this dumb-ass business license altogether!
Anyway, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported yesterday that “The vote came after Legislative Counsel Brenda Erdoes said limited liability companies are not ‘persons’ as the law requires to be eligible for the exemption.”
Not persons? Really?
My wife and I formed an LLC last fall for a home-based business that has not made over $27,000. And contrary to Ms. Erdoes contention, my wife and I consider ourselves to be, in fact, persons. Indeed, I confirmed that fact with my three children – who not only believe mommy and daddy are persons, but claim THEY ARE, TOO!
In the old days, individual “persons” would start a small business as a “sole proprietor.” However, thanks to the explosion of lawsuits against anybody and everybody by ambulance-chasing slip-and-spill lawyers over the past couple of decades, such “persons” have been forced to seek the legal protections of incorporation.
So if anyone in this matter shouldn’t be considered a “person,” I’d suggest it’s the personal injury vultures who have, among other things, successfully rendered the playground merry-go-round and see-saw all but extinct!
Bottom line: Ross Miller is the worst, most anti-business Secretary of State Nevada has ever seen. He doesn’t appear very bright, either. What he is, though, is a “legacy.” Indeed, the ONLY reason the guy’s Secretary of State is because his father is a former governor (and the fact that Republicans put up a God-awful candidate against him in 2010).
That’s Miller’s excuse. But what’s the excuse for those four Democrat legislators who voted to screw thousands of legitimate Nevada home-based small businesses without even the benefit of a little Vaseline – especially after the Secretary of State’s small biz screw-job failed to pass in the 2011 legislative session?
What? You want to know who those four Democrats are? Allow me…
• Sen. Mo Denis (who expects to be the Senate Majority Leader next session)
• Sen. David Parks
• Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick
• Assemblywoman Debbie Smith (as an alternate)
They should all be ashamed of themselves.