As it turns out, that “construction industry” group announced with much fanfare last week calling for tax hikes to fund public works construction projects included at least one member of the coalition that, well, never agreed to be a member. Paul Enos, lobbyist for the trucking industry in Nevada, issued the following statement this morning:
Last week the Nevada Motor Transport was mistakenly added as a member of the Building Jobs Coalition of Nevada. While there are components of the plan that we are supportive of, ultimately true and lasting economic growth will only occur from private sector expansion and not from short term public works programs.
While there are many infrastructure projects that make a tremendous amount of sense, Nevada will strengthen its position and business climate if we can identify essential government services and pursue infrastructure projects that have the highest return for our tax dollars.
Jobs in the construction industry are important, but so are jobs in mining, gaming, healthcare, banking, manufacturing, retail, agriculture, warehousing, logistics and of course trucking. As we prepare for the 2011 legislative session we must keep in mind that harming one industry sector to benefit another makes Nevada weaker.
It is too important not to repeat, it is private sector expansion that will pull our state and country out of this economic morass.
It’s easy to show a widespread coalition of support…when you don’t actually ask people to join and just add their names to your list. Not surprisingly, this coalition is primarily a union operation, which means truth and honesty aren’t necessary.
