The Nevada State Education Association is pursuing the ballotinitiative. The opponent is the resort industry, which isrepresented by the Nevada Resort Association. In setting the stagefor signature gathering, Carson City District Court Judge MiriamShearing rejected the NRA's claim that the petition had the sameflaws as a previous petition that the same judge had rejected. TheNRA is now considering whether to appeal.

Polls have found that most Nevada voters would support such apetition, according to previously published reports on the issue.In a research note issued Friday, Wachovia analyst Brian McGillstated that while an increased tax on a casino's winnings is a longway off it could still "put pressure" on the tens of billions ofdollars in planned investment in resort-casinos in Nevada.

The NRA argued that the petition language was confusing and notspecific enough. Shearing, who sided with them the first timearound, determined that the changes made by the NSEA weresufficient. The changes included removing the section that dictatedhow the money would be spent and altering the 200-word descriptionto make it consistent with that change. The title of the initiativepetition is "Save Our Schools With Additional Funding for Salariesand Student Achievement."