The backers of a trio of ballot initiatives designed to make it nearly impossible to raise taxes via initiative petition and to slowly begin dismantling the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority have gathered more than enough signatures to file their measures with the secretary of state.

Former Controller Steve Martin submitted 122,921 signatures for the so-called Nevada Taxpayers Protection Act, which would amend the state constitution to require that all ballot initiatives seeking to raise taxes be approved by two-thirds of the voting public. And former Treasurer Bob Seale filed the so-called Education Enhancement Act, which would amend the constitution to divert growth in room tax revenue from local governments and the LVCVA to K-12 education. He also filed the Funding Nevada’s Priorities Act, which would amend the constitution to divert growth in room tax money to education, public safety and roads.

Both initiatives are the brainchildren of Las Vegas Sands Inc. and its chairman, Sheldon Adelson, who hates taxes and the LVCVA.

Currently, the Legislature must muster a two-thirds vote to raise or implement taxes, but taxes proposed on a ballot measure need only a simple majority vote. “Special interest groups are trying to circumvent the Legislature’s two-thirds requirement by placing massive tax increases on the ballot, where today they only need a simple majority vote,” Martin said, in a statement released by the firm of Adelson’s fixer, Republican consultant Sig Rogich.

Translated, of course, that means that underpaid teachers, finally fed up with a feckless Legislature handing out paltry raises, have decided to revolt by increasing taxes on casinos, including Adelson’s. If the Nevada State Education Association is successful in its drive to place a tax increase on the ballot this year and again in 2010, it will need only a simple majority to pass, since the two-thirds requirement won’t go into effect until 2010.

“Voters from all across Nevada have expressed their strong opposition to raising taxes on working families during these difficult economic times,” Seale said in another statement released by Rogich’s team. “My initiatives give voters a choice to effectively utilize existing tax revenues and invest them towards some of our more pressing needs, such as education, public safety and transportation.”

Translated: Voters haven’t really said anything about raising taxes, but this is a good way to make sure the LVCVA is crippled in its efforts to compete with Las Vegas Sands Inc.’s convention center.

Now, signatures must be verified on the petitions. If the petitions have at least 58,628 valid signatures, they will appear on the November ballot. If approved, they will all appear on the November 2010 ballot, too, since constitutional amendments must be approved twice. (And if both Seale’s measures pass, the one with the highest vote total becomes law.)