A Carson City judge heard arguments but did not issue a ruling on a lawsuit seeking to block the Green Party from the 2024 Nevada presidential ballot.

Carson City District Court Judge Kristin Luis on Friday heard arguments from attorneys representing the minor political party and the Nevada Democratic Party — which filed the lawsuit — but opted not to issue a ruling from the bench.

“Time is of the essence,” Luis acknowledged. “I would have to imagine that whichever way I decide somebody’s going to appeal.”

The Green Party, which has not been on a Nevada general election ballot since 2008, had appeared to qualify for the state’sballot in mid-June with about 15,000 valid signatures, well more than the requirement of roughly 10,000 valid signatures.

Aug. 27 is the last day a qualified minor political party can file a certificate of nomination to place candidates for the offices of president and vice president on Nevada’s presidential ballot.

But Nevada Democrats quickly filed a lawsuit seeking to block the party’s efforts to land on the ballot, saying they had reviewed a limited number of signatures via a public records request and found most of the signatures were invalid. The lawsuit claimed that some of the gathered signatures had been obtained before its petition to get on the ballot was approved and should be considered invalid.

The possibility of the Green Party’s inclusion as a qualified third party candidate on the 2024 ballot could potentially aid Republican former President Donald Trump by pulling dissatisfied left-leaning voters away from the Democratic Party in what is expected to be Nevada’s close presidential race. 

During the Friday hearing, Todd Bice, who represents the Nevada Democratic Party, argued that the minor party’s petition contained the wrong affidavit language, saying that the county clerks who validated the signatures were unaware of this until after they had validated the signatures.

Bice said the Green Party’s petition appeared to use the affidavit language for initiative petitions, not minor parties, which omits a sentence stating the circulator believes all signees were registered voters in the county they reside.

However, the affidavit language used by the party is the same as that recommended by the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office in its guide for minor political parties to qualify for the ballot. 

Greg Ott, an attorney with the attorney general’s office speaking on behalf of the secretary of state’s office, said during the hearing that the guide is not legal advice, and there are reminders within it to consult state law for the most accurate information.

Kevin Benson, an attorney representing the Green Party, rebutted Bice and said that the missing statement is already accounted for in the verification process. He added that the secretary of state declared it to be qualified, and the plaintiffs did not produce evidence that enough signatures were invalid to not qualify for the ballot.

“The Green Party made a good faith effort to comply with the law,” Benson said, adding that “circulating a petition is a human endeavor,” acknowledging that there will be mistakes, but that’s not any indication that anything nefarious took place.

In response, Bice said the mistakes were not human error, but “shenanigans” and signature-gatherers were not following the law.

“You cannot claim you substantially comply with law, because somehow you can just assume the signatures are valid,” he said.

In 2016, a federal judge denied ballot access to the party after it had not gathered enough valid signatures in time.

Minor parties must submit candidates for president and vice-president to the secretary of state’s office by the last Tuesday in August. The party has not yet submitted a candidate for the November ballot, but its former presidential candidate, Jill Stein, is running again this year. 

Stein, who is polling about 1 percent in Nevada, called the lawsuit “outrageous” in a video posted to her campaign website.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The third prisoner killed in a Nevada prison fight has been officially identified by police.

On Tuesday, the White Pine County Sheriff’s Office received reports of a prison fight that broke out at Ely State Prison around 9:41 a.m.

Officers have now identified the victim as Anthony Williams, 41. He was serving a life sentence for murder.

The two other victims were identified Wednesday as Zackaria Luz, 43, and Connor Brown, 22.

Officers confirmed that all three died of sharp force injuries.

While details of the fight were not immediately available, nine inmates would be transported to a nearby medical facility for treatment following the fight.

Gov. Lombardo’s office also confirmed the incident was “gang-related.”

Copyright 2024 KVVU. All rights reserved.

Athena Young has spent more than a decade developing her skills as a server. She knows how good she is now – because of the tips she receives while working at The Kitchen at Atomic.

If those tips weren’t taxed, she said, she’d be better able to support herself and her child.

“I’m good at making tips. I’m good at serving. So for someone to take that away from me when it was pretty much a gift for my services – it’d be great if we didn’t tax it as much,” she said. “I have a kid at home. I could definitely use that money for other things.”

A proposal growing in popularity could see an end to federal taxes on tipped income that Young and other workers receive. But experts say the change would bring nominal impact to most workers and is not the best solution to help working families.

‘A really great proposal’

Former President Donald Trump announced the plan to nix taxes on tips while visiting Las Vegas in June, and since then has made it a big part of his 2024 presidential campaign.

While some Democrats and union leaders have called the proposal a pandering move for votes, others – including Democratic members of Congress in Nevada – have nonetheless signed onto bills in the House and Senate.

Members of Congress introduced the “No Tax on Tips Act” in the Senate side and the “Tax Free Tips Act of 2024” in the House that would amend the Internal Revenue Code to exclude tips from the federal income tax.

The two bills differ on payroll taxes, which are used to fund Social Security and Medicare and paid for by the employer and employee, while income tax responsibility falls on the employee. The Senate’s version includes payroll taxes while the House version exempts them. Both would only apply to tipped workers who are employed. Buskers and contracted workers, for instance, would not be included.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance told the Review-Journal on Tuesday that servers are struggling to get by and that Republicans’ proposal would lower their taxes and make it easier for them to report income.

“I think it’s a really great proposal,” the Ohio senator said. “I think it’ll be great for Nevada, maybe more than any other state in the union, because you guys have such a service-built economy here.”

Elected officials on both sides of the aisle in Nevada, whose workforce relies heavily on tips, have expressed support for the legislation. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo endorsed it, and Nevada Democratic Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto joined in the legislation.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., is the only Democratic member of Congress in Nevada who hasn’t given the proposal a ringing endorsement. While she doesn’t oppose it, Titus said the proposal can be improved upon to make it more equitable.

“I think you just can make it fairer and better,” she said. “If you’re gonna work on something, let’s work on something that’s real. And that has a chance to get through and can make a difference, not just something you throw out there that sounds good to try to pander to some votes.”

Culinary Local 226, representing about 60,000 hospitality workers in Nevada, initially disregarded Trump’s proposal as a “wild campaign promise” — but weeks later, the union called on lawmakers to support the Congressional bills. Union officials say they took the bipartisan support as a signal to elevate other policy solutions, such as changing tip allocation rates some businesses use to simplify tip reporting and taxation.

“We still say it’s a starting point,” Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said. “The idea that somehow taxes on tips is going to be wiped out is ridiculous and tip earners aren’t looking to escape taxes. They just want fair taxes. But we think the starting point is to look at tips for what they are.”

Workers react

Many tipped workers said they see cutting taxes on tips as a way to keep more money in their pockets and not worry about how to report the additional income. Cesar Reyes, a barber and manager at Downtown Vintage Barbershop, said he liked the proposal for its convenience.

“It’s hard to keep track of what you’re getting,” Reyes said. “Some things are cash, some things are card. I don’t really know what you’re getting taxed on.”

Guadalupe Anderson, a food pantry worker at Westgate resort-casino, said she used to work as a busser earning about $14 an hour plus tips from servers. But the tipping process was complicated by union rules that say bussers cannot ask the servers for a cut of their tips, only receive it from them. It bothered Anderson to see small amounts getting taxed, she said.

“I feel like they don’t really see how hard we work, and we still have to pay money out of our tips to the IRS,” Anderson said. “I wasn’t happy. Being in the food pantry, I get paid what I get paid, and they don’t take (extra) money out of it.”

Dean Howard, a bartender at Atomic Liquors, said he doesn’t think the proposal would make much of a difference, at least for workers in Nevada.

“The way I look at it is, it doesn’t matter if I’m a good server. If I’m a good bartender to people and I take care of people, I’m going to make my money either way,” he said.

Howard previously worked as a server in Florida where he was making $2.18 an hour plus tips, he said.

“Damn sure I don’t want you taxing my tips on $2.18 an hour, because I need that tip money to live,” he said. “But out here, we make a pretty decent hourly wage, and we’re still getting good tips.”

He doesn’t mind paying taxes, he said.

“Do I want more money in my pocket? Of course,” he said. “There’s got to be a level of fairness to it.”

Nominal gains

Economists and tax experts say the money returned to the worker may be nominal and would not be the best way to help families. The median individual income in the Las Vegas region is roughly $50,800, and many of those workers depend on tips, according to Andrew Woods, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at UNLV.

Nevada is one of seven states without a sub-minimum wage option for tipped workers. Silver State workers earn at least $12 per hour, while other states allow employees to pay their workers as low as $2.13 hourly if they earn tips on the job.

Woods said for many, their earnings and the tax credits they qualify for result in more tax returns than tax bills.

“I don’t know if, long term, the majority of people would even see the benefit,” Woods said. “They might see initially in terms of what they take home, but at the end of the year, when it all evens out, they might not see any gain.”

He also said he’s concerned the policy would discourage employers from paying fair wages. Customers may react negatively to increased emphasis on tips at a time of high inflation and discussions of the extent of tipping culture.

Some have pointed out changing the tax code could add more confusion. Francine Lipman, a tax law expert at UNLV’s William S. Boyd School of Law, said if workers don’t report their tips, their gross income could appear much lower than reality – affecting their ability to qualify for some mortgages and other loans, to contribute more to retirement savings and to get more in unemployment benefits.

“I think that will really hurt people, especially working families who have to rely on borrowing even for a rental,” Lipman said.

There’s also a fairness issue, she said. A lot of industries where workers aren’t tipped, such as fast food restaurants like McDonalds, would not see the benefit.

“This is probably not the way to try to help working families,” she said.

‘A better solution’

“A better solution for everybody is really increasing the minimum wage so people have a livable income,” Lipman said. “And that’s reliable income that they can take to a bank, and a bank says that’s your salary, that’s what you’re getting every week.”

Banks like stable income, Lipman said.

An increase in the minimum wage to $15 by 2025 could impact nearly 500,000 workers in Nevada, according to the Economic Policy Institute, and would increase the average annual wage by nearly $2,000.

But Lipman said there is no perfect solution.

“If there was, it would be implemented, and a lot of states are increasing minimum wage to try to combat this issue,” she said.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X. Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.