Republicans

By Andrew Doughman
CARSON CITY — State legislative Republicans have changed their proposals for new state Assembly districts.
The boundaries of some proposed districts were altered today after Assembly Minority Leader Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, publicly criticized Senate Republicans for their maps.

By Andrew Doughman
CARSON CITY — Secretary of State Ross Miller today announced that a special election for Nevada’s congressional district two will be open to all candidates.
“You might as call this a ballot royale,” he said.
Miller’s decision allows for any candidate to be on the ballot for the Sept. 13 election. The state Republican party has favored an interpretation of state law that would allow state parties to pick a single candidate of their choice.

The power-shifting battle over redistricting began Thursday with Republicans and Democrats releasing competing plans for redrawing voting boundaries in Nevada's 21 state Senate and 42 Assembly d...

By Andrew Doughman
CARSON CITY – State Republicans and Democrats today released their proposals for new state legislative political districts.
The competing proposals for state Assembly and Senate districts both keep the Legislature at its current size of 63 legislators.
The Democratic proposal, however, includes Senate districts inside of which are nested two Assembly districts. Democrats said they introduced “nesting” in order to simplify and harmonize how Nevadans are represented at the state levels.

By Andrew Doughman
CARSON CITY — State legislative Democrats have released their proposals for state Senate and Assembly districts.
Democrats will debate the proposals together with Republicans during meetings of the Assembly and Senate tonight. Republicans released their proposals for new state Senate and Assembly districts, as well as Congressional districts, this morning.

By Andrew Doughman
CARSON CITY — Nevada Republicans have released data regarding their proposals for new congressional districts as well as state senate and assembly districts.
Please see below for the raw data. The Nevada News Bureau will be providing a full analysis of both Republican and Democratic proposals later this afternoon.
Click here for data regarding Republican proposals for U.S. Congress districts

By Sean Whaley
CARSON CITY – Legislative Republicans today announced that they are introducing redistricting plans for the Assembly, Senate, and the state’s Congressional delegation that will “ensure fair representation for the people of Nevada.”

CARSON CITY – State legislative Democrats will reveal their proposed maps for the political boundaries of Nevada’s Assembly and Senate districts at 5 p.m. today.
The unveiling of the maps represents the first public look at what promises to be a contentious debate about the state’s political districts, which the Legislature is required to alter every 10 years following the release of U.S. Census data.

By Sean Whaley
CARSON CITY – Two bills that would close loopholes and increase transparency in Nevada’s election and campaign finance laws won approval in the Assembly today with no time to spare.
Secretary of State Ross Miller is seeking the bills restricting the use of multiple political action committees to bypass campaign contribution limits and requiring electronic filing of campaign contribution and expense reports by most candidates.

By Andrew Doughman
CARSON CITY – State legislative Democrats plan to be the first to reveal their proposals for redrawing political boundaries of Nevada’s Assembly and Senate this Thursday.
Democrats will introduce maps of the proposed boundaries and then debate their suggestions together with Republicans in the Assembly chambers during the evening, said Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas.
The unveiling of the maps represents the first public look at what promises to be a contentious debate about the state’s political districts.

By Andrew Doughman
CARSON CITY – The answer from Gov. Brian Sandoval is no.
Today the governor’s senior adviser, Dale Erquiaga, rebuffed a proposal from state Democratic legislators to hold public hearings and a public review process in selecting a replacement for resigning U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.
“I think the law and tradition are clear, this is an executive decision,” Erquiaga said at a press briefing this afternoon. “We appreciate the Assembly’s and Senate’s advice, but it’s not relevant to the current decision.”

It's difficult to discern if Republicans are doing anything to solve our economic problems. The Republican governors have an ideological agenda and are attacking unions, teachers and public employe...

By Sean Whaley
CARSON CITY – After a lengthy hearing in the Assembly today on what several witnesses said were the catastrophic effects of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget recommendations for higher education, Republican members held firm with the executive branch in a series of funding votes.

By Andrew Doughman
CARSON CITY – Nevada’s rural Republican legislators are struggling to defend the governor’s budget that cuts their communities.
Democrats have been showcasing cuts to the rural counties in order to convince rural Republican legislators that a vote for tax increases is a vote to mitigate the harm to their districts.
Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, said that rural counties are already “cut to the bone,” and in many cases could lose all that they have left.

CARSON CITY – As Gov. Brian Sandoval today said it is premature to speculate on who he will appoint to replace GOP U.S. Senator John Ensign, Democrats in the Nevada Legislature said they will seek a resolution urging a “fair, open, and transparent process for appointing a temporary replacement.”

--CHUCK MUTH: Republicans' mixed bag: Senate prospects better, House prospects worseApril, 22 2011 12:35 am MST...

By Andrew Doughman
RENO – President Barack Obama highlighted Nevada’s renewable energy sector today with a visit to the heat-to-energy company ElectraTherm, in northern Nevada.
In front of a backdrop of “green machines” Obama touted plans to end $4 billion in subsidies for oil companies in favor of providing incentives for renewable energy companies.

CARSON CITY – The debate over Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed cuts to public education shifted to the state Senate today, with members of the upper house getting the details of the reductions that the Clark County schools chief said would mean the loss of $400 million for a 19 percent cut in funding.
But there was no effort by Democrats, who control the Senate with a narrow 11-10 advantage, to force a vote on the schools budget as occurred yesterday in a more contentious Assembly hearing. There were no fireworks either.

CARSON CITY – It was not until 30 minutes before midnight that a six-hour debate in the Assembly ended with a promise to talk more later.
After listening to presentations outlining more than $1 billion in “major reductions” to the K-12 budget, legislators debated their willingness to compromise or negotiate about Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed general fund budget.

(AP) - Assembly Republicans didn't budge an inch Tuesday in their support for Gov. Brian Sandoval's dramatic education cuts, in spite of Democrats' pleas for a compromise and the pressure of a r...

CARSON CITY – The Assembly was awash with numbers tonight.
As part of the Democratic strategy to close the budget, the Assembly as a whole discussed for four and a half hours the education budget so that all legislators could learn about the cuts.
Legislative staff presented to the Assembly more than $1 billion proposed “major reductions” to school districts. These numbers come from a variety of sources:

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican who is evaluating a run for president in 2012, said today he would be willing to reconsider whether Yucca Mountain is a suitable site for the long-term disposal of nuclear waste.

CARSON CITY – Lawmakers took time some away from the budget and other pressing issues today to honor former Sen. Bill Raggio, a fourth-generation Nevadan and the longest-serving member of the state Senate who retired earlier this year.

CARSON CITY – Bills related to immigration at the Nevada State Legislature did not make it past an important deadline last week.
One bill from Assemblyman Pat Hickey, R-Reno, would have required Nevada to use an electronic database to verify a person’s employment eligibility.

CARSON CITY — Changing one word in a law could save Nevada up to $11 million.
Secretary of State Ross Miller has sponsored a bill that would change who is exempt from Nevada’s business license fee.
Right now, home-based businesses making less than $27,000 a year in net earnings are exempt from the requirement.
Miller would change the language to “a natural person” rather than the current “person,” since businesses have used this as an excuse to declare themselves exempt.

CARSON CITY – Efforts in the Legislature to amend Nevada’s constitution failed for the most part to move forward today as a deadline hit to get measures passed out of committee.
Measures creating a lottery, repealing the minimum wage and allowing tax dollars to be spent on religious schools all failed to advance.
One of the most significant failures came on the issue of vouchers for religious schools. Two measures, including one introduced by Gov. Brian Sandoval, did not make it out of committee by the deadline.

CARSON CITY – Sen. Don Gustavson, R-Sparks, had written off his bill as dead when he learned this afternoon that Sen. Shirley Breeden, D-Las Vegas, was giving it a vote.
The senator was even more tickled when he realized his bill had the votes to pass out of committee.
The bill would let people ride motorcycles without helmets if they are 21 years of age or older, have had a motorcycle license for more than one year and have completed a safety course.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – In the end, only acrimony prevailed.
Legislators did not immediately vote on a bill from Sen. Michael Roberson, R-Las Vegas, but a hearing on Senate Bill 343 provoked heated testimony over how local governments and public sector unions bargain their contracts.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Campus closures, consolidations and mergers are back on the table after the Board of Regents today undid a vote from last month to not consider campus closures, which itself followed a February vote to consider campus closures.
Many of the smaller colleges are in districts represented by Republicans.

CARSON CITY – Campus closures, consolidations and mergers are back on the table after the Board of Regents today undid a vote from last month to not consider campus closures, which itself followed a February vote to consider campus closures.
Many of the smaller colleges are in districts represented by Republicans.