Pull up a chair and settle in for a tale as twisted as a mountain road in a spring thaw. It seems the Nevada Legislature, bless their bureaucratic hearts, has cooked up Senate Bill 420 — and while the number suggests something hazy and carefree, the bill itself smells more like a three-day-old fish stew simmering in the sun.
The grand piece of legislative embroidery aims to allow–yes, allow–the good folks of North Lake Tahoe to form what’s called a Business Improvement District, or BID. A BID, for those unacquainted with the alphabet soup of modern governance, is where businesses voluntarily assess themselves a fee for the sake of improving their patch of earth.
You heard right–they want to pay more–not to the state, mind you–but to themselves, so they can keep their storefronts tidy, their streets a little less dusty, and maybe even coax a few more tourists out of their Teslas and onto a local trolley. Now, if that all sounds reasonable enough, that’s where the catch comes in–they have to ask the government’s permission first.
In this age of liberty and lightbulbs, the tavern keeper and the t-shirt seller must tiptoe to Carson City like schoolchildren asking if they may stay after class to clean the blackboard. Forty businesses signed their names in support, like good citizens, with hats in hand, hoping the Senate Government Affairs Committee might grant them the solemn privilege of spending their money in their community.
It, dear reader, is a prime example of government overreach in its Sunday best. For what freeborn soul thought it proper that a business must gain approval from the high court of political desk-sitters to improve their neighborhood? If a man can’t fix his fence without filing a form in triplicate, then liberty is not a roaring fire but a sputtering candle behind a bureaucrat’s desk.
Incline Village and Crystal Bay–fine mountain towns where the air is sharp and the people sharper–want better transit, fewer fender benders, and a cleaner path out when the hills catch fire. They ain’t asking for a handout. They’re offering to roll up their sleeves and do the work–but they must wait on the almighty nod of folks who wouldn’t know a snow chain from a sausage link.
Mark my words–when a business must beg permission to help itself, the tail is wagging the dog, and the poor creature’s dizzy from spinning in circles. Let the shopkeepers run their shops, let the innkeepers keep their inns, and let government mind its own house before poking around someone else’s.
Tell your representatives what for — preferably before they pass another bill telling you how to tie your shoes.
The Old Blog in the Desert 
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