Constitution

CARSON CITY – A libertarian think tank’s legal team has filed an opening brief in a case before the state Supreme Court seeking to pursue its separation-of-powers lawsuit aimed at state lawmakers who also work in state government jobs.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Arizona immigration law case points out the need for Congress and the president to come together and reform the country’s immigration laws.

CARSON CITY – Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., said today he agrees with his congressional colleague in opposing federal legislation requiring online merchants to levy sales taxes on purchases.

Heck, interviewed on the Face To Face television program, said he agrees with U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., in opposing such legislation in Congress.

CARSON CITY – Establishing school choice for parents and ending social promotion for students are two top priorities in Gov. Brian Sandoval’s education reform agenda for the 2013 legislative session, an administration official said today.

Linking pay to performance and providing professional development to ensure students have the best possible classroom teachers is a third major priority, said Dale Erquiaga, senior adviser to Sandoval.

CARSON CITY – A conservative Nevada think tank today filed its notice of appeal to the state Supreme Court in its separation of powers case challenging the ability of state lawmakers to also work in public sector jobs.

CARSON CITY – A regulation requiring thousands of home-based businesses to pay a $200 annual fee won approval today from a legislative panel.

Secretary of State Ross Miller has been trying to get the regulation approved for several months, but has seen the regulation stymied by strong opposition from some Nevada residents and Republican lawmakers who argued the regulation exceeded his authority.

CARSON CITY – Long-time political consultant and former state lawmaker Pete Ernaut said today that efforts to use the ballot box to set tax policy could handcuff the ability of the governor and Legislature to make critical decisions on the future of the state.

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Mining Association has filed a court challenge to the initiative petition filed by Nevadans United for Fair Mining Taxes that could lead to a tax increase on the industry from 5 percent to 9 percent.

The Nevada Prolife Coalition would amend the state constitution to protect “the unalienable right to life of every prenatal person.” Simply put, it would define life as beginning at conception.

The Honorable Judge James E. Wilson determined that the description of the effect of this bill was nowhere near adequate. He did not say that the measure was illegal, however, but he did order NPC to substitute the following language into the initiative before they collect signatures:

CARSON CITY – Members of the Nevada chapter of a small business organization say the state’s minimum wage and construction defects laws are hampering job growth in the state.

The state’s prevailing wage law was also cited as a drag on economic development in the survey of its members by the Nevada chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today he opposes the initiative petitions filed by Las Vegas businessman Monte Miller to raise gaming and mining tax rates.

“I believe initiative petitions are a poor way to set tax policy,” Sandoval said when asked about the measures that could eventually go before Nevada voters. “I’ve advised Mr. Miller, who is a friend, that I do, respectfully, oppose the petitions.

“For an issue of that import I think it is critical that it would be debated at the legislative level and not be of the initiative petition process,” he said.

CARSON CITY – A Nevada think tank investigation shows that Clark County taxpayers are contributing $4.6 million a year to fund union activities by local government workers.

RENO – Gov. Brian Sandoval used the University of Nevada, Reno today as a backdrop to unveil his economic development plan, and he challenged the business community and all partners to work to create 50,000 new jobs by the end of 2014.

CARSON CITY – As National School Choice Week gets under way today state officials say Nevada school children have more opportunities than ever before to choose a school that works best for them.

But one element of choice, a school voucher program, remains an unrealized and divisive issue for the state’s policy makers.

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Policy Research Institute’s Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation has just filed an opposition brief maintaining that Sen. Mo Denis’ resignation from his executive-branch job does not moot Pojunis v. State of Nevada, et al., because of several well-established exceptions to the “mootness doctrine.”

CARSON CITY – Attorneys for the Nevada Republican Party today filed a brief with the Nevada Supreme Court opposing Secretary of State Ross Miller’s emergency petition seeking to intervene on the question of the authority of the courts to decide the state’s political boundaries instead of the Legislature.

CARSON CITY – Two initiative petitions filed with the Secretary of State’s office that would amend the state constitution to outlaw abortion by declaring that life begins at conception are already facing legal challenges from the ACLU and Planned Parenthood.
The petitions were filed in September by Personhood Nevada and the Nevada Prolife Coalition.

CARSON CITY – The business of drawing new political boundaries will now get under way by three court-appointed special masters following two days of public hearings on what Nevada’s legislative and congressional districts should look like for the next decade.
The clock is ticking.

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Supreme Court today issued an order instructing Secretary of State Ross Miller to supplement the petition filed by his office earlier this week asking the court to intervene in the redistricting issue now in Carson City District Court.

During the American Revolution, Emily Geiger volunteered to ride horseback through the woods teeming with British soldiers carrying a message from Gen. Nathanial Greene to Gen. Thomas Sumter.She...

Project Americans Coming Together will host a Walk for the Constitution Saturday at the old Kmart shopping center at Highway 395 and College Parkway in north Carson City.PACT hopes to educate peopl...

Groups, clubs, business, schools, families or individuals can participate in this 2 mile walk. Along the way you will experience events, principles and oaths that remind us of the purpose of keeping alive the original Constitution created by the Founding fathers.

After the walk you can purchase food, join in fun activities, while gaining a deeper appreciation for the principles of freedom and liberty the Constitution provides.

Have you heard the chant of the left? They want to know if our Constitution is applicable to today. The latest issue of Time Magazine seems to be leading the charge. During my lifetime I have seen ...

Are "the people's" Constitutional rights to elect our representatives being ignored by the secretary of state, the Nevada Legislature and the courts? The U.S. Constitution clearly states that the "...

During a recent speech at the American Constitution Society (ACS), United States Attorney General Eric Holder lauded our American civilian court system as "our most effective terror-fighting weapon...

CARSON CITY – While some critics may never be convinced that Gov. Brian Sandoval should have agreed to support new tax revenue to balance the budget, the collection of reforms approved as part of the deal finalized this morning cannot be ignored.
From changes to Nevada’s collective bargain law allowing the reopening of labor agreements in emergencies to limiting teacher tenure to eliminating health insurance for newly hired state employees upon retirement – the changes approved in the 120-day legislative session by Democrats and Republicans could have far reaching impacts.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval and legislative leaders from both parties announced a budget agreement today that will see tax increases and restorations of funding to public and higher education in exchange for significant policy reforms in education and collective bargaining.
The agreement came on the 115th day of the session, and virtually guarantees that lawmakers will adjourn the 2011 session by Monday as the constitution requires.

CARSON CITY – Memo to Nevada lawmakers: If you don’t finish up your work on June 6 as the constitution requires, don’t expect Gov. Brian Sandoval to call you back to work right away in a special session.

By Sean Whaley
RENO – Texas Congressman Ron Paul said today he will decide “before June” whether to make another bid for president as a Republican candidate in 2012.
Paul, 75, in an interview before a breakfast at the Washoe County Republican Party office, formed an official exploratory committee on Tuesday in advance of GOP debates set for May.

By Sean Whaley
CARSON CITY – Oral arguments in the ongoing legal challenge of the national health care law by 26 states including Nevada are set for June 8 before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Ga.