Judge: Sponsors can pull 2 tax initiatives off Nevada ballot

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada judge has ruled that teachers union sponsors who qualified two tax-raising initiatives for a statewide vote can pull them from the 2022 ballot. The decision by a judge in Carson City reverses Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske’s effort to keep on the ballot the measures to increase state sales and casino taxes. A spokesperson for Cegavske didn’t immediately respond Friday to messages. The ruling followed a lawsuit filed in December by political arms of the Clark County Education Association. The union sought to pull the measures after a deal with the Legislature increased education funding using mining taxes. The judge decided the state’s top election official has no discretion to refuse to let sponsors of an initiative kill it.