Legislature

CARSON CITY – After months of prognostications and political maneuvering, Nevada’s 2012 election season crystallized today as the state’s two-week filing period for public office came to a close.

Next up: A June 12 primary followed by the Nov. 6 general election, which will see a lengthy ballot topped by the presidential race, a competitive U.S. Senate race and four congressional contests.

Also at stake is control of the state Legislature, particularly the state Senate, where Democrats have a razor thin 11-10 majority.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s top state administrators gathered together in meeting rooms and via the internet today to hear first-hand about Gov. Brian Sandoval’s initial plans for his 2013-15 budget.

The all-day meeting called “Budget Kickoff” was intended to provide instructions to state administrators on how to begin preparing their spending plans for the new two-year budget that will take effect on July 1, 2013.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today he will propose to extend a package of taxes now set to expire in June 2013 into the next budget to avoid further cuts to education, which he said cannot withstand further reductions.

To maintain a basically flat spending plan for the two-year budget that will begin on July 1, 2013, Sandoval said the modified business tax that was maintained at a higher rate for large businesses in the 2011 legislative session, along with a small increase in the sales tax, must be continued.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval today named James Guthrie, currently the senior fellow and director of education policy studies at the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas, Texas, as Nevada’s new public schools chief.

CARSON CITY – Nevada state Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, has added his voice to the chorus asking the Legislative Commission to take up the issue of whether the residents of Laughlin should have a chance to vote on incorporation.

In his letter sent to the Legislative Commission this week, Lee also said he supports the right of Laughlin residents to vote on the question in June.

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 – Three Republican state senators, all members of the Legislative Commission, have asked Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, to call a meeting of the panel as soon as possible to vote on the feasibility of the incorporation of Laughlin.

CARSON CITY – A panel of lawmakers today moved forward with a review of the state’s 45-year-old formula for funding public education after receiving $125,000 from the Clark County School District to pay for a study.

CARSON CITY – A conservative Nevada think tank today published a guide for policymakers and the public on issues ranging from the state spending to public education to tax policy.

The 88-page sourcebook, called “Solutions 2013” is a compilation of research and policy recommendations from the Nevada Policy Research Institute addressing 39 different subject areas.

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 – Two Nevadans and a scholar from Texas made the final cut today for the job of state superintendent of public instruction.

René Cantú Jr., Caroline McIntosh and James Guthrie were selected from among five finalists by the state Board of Education to forward to Gov. Brian Sandoval for him to select the new state public schools chief. Sandoval is expected to announce his choice sometime next month.

CARSON CITY – Bill Raggio, a lion of Nevada politics and the state’s longest-serving state senator, passed away during a trip to Australia on Thursday. He was 85.

Officials from around the state expressed sorrow and sympathy for Raggio’s family when news of the loss of the highly-regarded lawmaker was first reported by Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston early today.

Longtime family friend Greg Ferraro told Ralston: “Officially, Bill Raggio passed away last night at 10pm PST of respiratory illness in Sydney Australia. Funeral arrangements are pending.”

Bill Raggio, who is considered by many to be the most powerful force in Nevada politics over the last 30 years, has died while on vacation in Australia Thursday evening. He was 85.

Jon Ralston of the Las Vegas Sun broke the news.

Raggio was first elected to the Nevada State Senate in 1972. He resigned from the seat he held for 38 years after supporting Democrat Harry Reid in 2010 over Republican Sharron Angle.

Raggio ruled the Nevada State Senate as the GOP leader and chairman of the Finance Committee. It's safe to say that few bills passed the Nevada Legislature in the last 30 years without his approval.

Raggio's legislative biography is here.

RGJ has posted a profile with photo gallery on Raggio's life.

Best quote: "You show me someone who doesn't have detractors, and I'll show you someone who hasn't done a damn thing in their lives."

Café at Adele’s hosted two events this week to promote changes at the restaurant and to raise money for The Greenhouse Project.

Community leaders met Tuesday to experience first-hand the changes owners Charlie and Karen Abowd have made, both to the restaurant and to the menu. The same was true of Wednesday’s event to benefit The Greenhouse Project.

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.

CARSON CITY – The state Board of Finance was told today that Nevada now expects to receive between 30 and 33 cents on the dollar in recovery from a $50 million investment loss when Lehman Brothers unexpectedly filed for bankruptcy in September 2008.

Nevada state Treasurer Kate Marshall said the state initially expected only 10 to 11 cents on the dollar when the firm filed for bankruptcy protection during the height of the nation’s financial crisis.

CARSON CITY – For years the Nevada state Senate was a pretty stable place, with many lawmakers serving for decades.

From one election cycle to the next, the names and faces in the 21-member body didn’t change very often.

That reality was altered in a big way when term limits finally began to have an impact on the state Legislature starting in 2010.

CARSON CITY – A national nonprofit organization seeking fundamental reforms to state budgeting today sent a letter to the nation’s governors urging them to follow General Motors’ lead and freeze defined benefit pensions for all public employees.

CARSON CITY – The state of Nevada’s tough financial situation is holding up two separate interim studies approved by the Legislature because of the requirement for alternative funding sources to assist in conducting the reviews.

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 – Las Vegas businessman Monte Miller said today he is seeking a hike in the gaming tax for the state’s largest casinos to offer the Legislature and voters one more revenue option in the face of a possible Texas-style margin tax that could appear on the ballot.

Over the weekend, the Paradise Cove Cafe in Carson Mall closed its doors, the end to a labor of love for owners Doug and Jamesa Cramer.

"Relieved" was the first word Doug said when I asked him how he was doing. The efforts to keep the restaurant in business over the last year and 10 months had clearly taken a toll.

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 – A group called Nevadans United for Fair Mining Taxes filed a constitutional amendment initiative today with the Nevada Secretary of State’s office that would allow the cap on mining taxes to increase from 5 percent to 9 percent.

“This initiative is not a tax increase,” said Las Vegas businessman Monte Miller, who heads up the group. “It simply raises the cap on mining taxes and leaves the issue on whether to raise the tax in the hands of the Nevada Legislature and governor.”

Adele's is a Carson City landmark. This long-time restaurant — located in one of the oldest homes in town — attracts discriminating diners with its classical ambiance and reputation of its renown chef Charlie Abowd.

But now the restaurant is doing something new that will likely shake things up in Carson City early in the morning. They are serving breakfast.

CARSON CITY – Five finalists for Nevada’s top public education job were submitted today to the state Board of Education.

The names of three finalists will be forwarded to Gov. Brian Sandoval for his final selection after interviews are conducted by the Board of Education next month.

The five finalists, picked from 15 applicants who sought the position of state superintendent of public instruction, are:

CARSON CITY – Treasurer Kate Marshall announced today that a request for proposals for a manger to oversee a new investment program using up to $50 million from the state Permanent School Fund has been issued by the Nevada Capital Investment Corporation (NCIC) Board of Directors.

CARSON CITY – A panel of lawmakers today began a review of the state’s 45-year-old formula for funding public education with an eye towards addressing the needs of the state’s urban districts as they work to educate special education students, English-language learners and children in poverty.

The panel is still searching for funding for a study to help in the review, however. The failure to find private funding for a study could jeopardize any meaningful review in this interim, lawmakers were told.

Pete Livermore has announced he will be running for a second term representing Assembly District 40, which encompasses most of Carson City.

Livermore served on the Carson City Board of Supervisors until he was elected to the Assembly in 2010, edging out fellow supervisor Robin Williamson.

The following is the text of a press release sent out by Livermore today: