Nevada Legislature

Carson City's nonprofit agency that helps feed and provide shelter to those in need — FISH — will host its annual “Have A Heart” Banquet on Thursday, March 14. The Banquet will be at the Carson Nugget with cocktails and silent auction beginning at 5:30 p.m. and dinner served at 6:15 p.m. Ninety-five percent of FISH’s funding comes from local donations and the Have A Heart Banquet is an important part of our fundraising effort.

by NATASHA VITALE

In the first installment of the new series designed to bring the work of artists live to the Nevada Legislature, Reno’s Amy Hunter will appear in Carson City Feb. 15, 3:30 p.m. in Room 3100 to speak of her work and demonstrate her craft.

Growing up in a small town in Nevada, Hunter said, she was always engaged in the arts. She started with drawing, progressed to painting and was drawn to photography as it allowed her to express what she sees in its perfect simplicity.

by ALEX POMPLIANO

It’s become somewhat of a cliché, saying in a retrospective astonishment that something began as an idea. In theory, everything begins as an idea. But I’ve never been a part of something from the very beginning that would eventually lead to a fully realized organization like the Nevada Media Alliance, so you’ll have to forgive the cliché.

As part of Tribal Day at the Nevada Legislature, Native Americans are letting lawmakers know they are against the bear hunt.
Dozens showed up at the legislative building in support of Senate Bill 82. They say the bear is sacred and that the hunt violates their rights.

Troubled Assemblyman Steven Brooks, D-North Las Vegas, intends to serve in the Legislature this session, scuttling a potential deal that would have had him take a leave of absence.

The 77th session of the Nevada Legislature opened for business Monday with the usual pomp and circumstance but little of the drama members were afraid might occur around the swearing in of Assemblyman Steven Brooks, D-North Las Vegas.

If the press is sometimes referred to as the fourth branch of government, the fifth branch surely would be lobbyists – the paid professionals who advocate on behalf of industries, business owners, labor unions and causes large and small.
In Carson City, lobbyists play a key role, serving as power brokers in the Nevada Legislature.

From the federal government to the Nevada Legislature, many small business owners are wondering how new laws and government regulations may affect them in 2013. They can find out for themselves on Thursday, Jan. 31, at 9 a.m. PST, when NevadaSmallBusiness.com, in association with Nevada State Bank, presents “Insights: Impact of New Regulations on Small Business,” a free interactive Web event featuring a panel of Nevada experts.

As Prepared for Delivery Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013:

Madam Speaker, Mr. President, Distinguished Members of the Legislature, Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court, Constitutional Officers, Senator Heller, honored guests…...

Some quick facts about lobbying the Nevada Legislature you might not know, as relayed during lobbyist training last week:
— It’s against the law for lobbyists to make false statements or “misrepresentations of facts” to a lawmaker.
— Lawmakers can’t ask to have a “young sexy assistant” bring up a bill. That could be sexual harassment.

Leadership at the state's highest court will change Jan. 5 when Chief Justice Michael A. Cherry ends his term and Justice Kristina Pickering begins the administrative role of Chief Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court.

Pickering will represent Nevada’s courts at the 2013 Nevada Legislature and will give the State of the Judiciary address to lawmakers early in the session. She will serve as Chief Justice until January 2014.

Now here is a story that SHOULD make your blood boil, especially because for some reason the story “hit” on Christmas Eve.

Pension Politics: California system plays hard ball in court – Opinion – ReviewJournal.com
http://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/pension-politics-california-system-...

Attorneys for the teachers association and state business interests faced off before the Nevada Supreme Court today over whether a proposed margins tax initiative petition has met legal requirements and so should be submitted to the 2013 Legislature.

Orientation has begun at the Nevada Legislature — not just for the 13 “true freshmen” facing their first endurance test that is a 120-day legislative session, but also for the caucus leaders, who will each be leading their caucuses for the first time.
On Wednesday, three new leaders took their first shot at imparting wisdom to the incoming freshmen in brief speeches that also offered a glimpse into their nascent leadership styles.

CARSON CITY - At a time when right-wing politicians are crying about the rise of socialism in America, the Nevada Legislature is moving in the opposite direction: It is poised to prohibit job discrimination against communists.
How could the state approve such a law in the first place? America has had socialists such as Eugene V. Debs and communists such as Gus Hall run for president multiple times. Back in 1905, nine Nevada state legislators were socialists.

As a matter of law, the Nevada state constitution requires a balanced budget. As a matter of economic law and history, raising taxes will never balance a budget. It never has and never will. If a budget cannot be balanced without tax increases, it will never be balanced afterwards. The reason is simple, raising taxes decreases tax revenues and strangles growth. Many Nevada taxpayers believe that our legislators seek to redistribute our tax dollars to buy votes or political power rather than serve the public good.

CARSON CITY – The 63-member Nevada Legislature will see quite a few new faces when it convenes Feb. 4, including 11 members in the Assembly and 10 members in the Senate, although several newly elected state senators have moved up from the Assembly.

CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada State Prison Preservation Society is now accepting memberships from people who want to be among the early pioneers of an effort to create a museum and tours of the state’s oldest prison.
Anyone interested in joining NSPPS is encouraged to attend a general-membership meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 7 in the Ormsby Room of the Carson City Sheriff’s Office, 911 E. Musser St., Carson City.

One of Nevada’s most significant historic treasures is now the nation’s newest historic landmark with action today from the United States Department of the Interior. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar listed the McKeen Motor Car at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City as a National Historic Landmark.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Wednesday announced the designation of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad McKeen Motor Car #70 based in Carson City as one of 27 national historic landmarks.
Calling the McKeen Motor Car #70, Virginia & Truckee Railway Motor Car #22, "the best surviving example of the first commercially viable application of internal combustion power in a self-propelled railroad car" the designation possess exceptional value and quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States, Salazar said.

CARSON CITY – Nevada voters will determine the fate of only one statewide measure in the Nov. 6 general election, but the proposal put on the ballot by the Legislature is somewhat controversial.

CARSON CITY – The state Board of Examiners today voted to settle a legal dispute with Washoe County over local tax revenue taken by the 2009 Legislature to balance the state budget.

The settlement provides an immediate payment of $1.25 million to the county, with another $6 million being allocated later for major road maintenance projects. As part of the agreement, the road projects will be moved up in the state’s funding priorities.

CARSON CITY – The state Board of Examiners on Tuesday will consider settling a dispute with Washoe County over $21.5 million in local property tax revenue taken by the 2009 Legislature to balance the state budget.

The proposed settlement would provide an immediate payment of $1.25 million to the county, with another $6 million being allocated later for major road maintenance projects.

CARSON CITY – A legislative panel today voted to seek a resolution in the 2013 session to authorize the creation of a public commission to study the operation of the Legislature and make recommendations on issues ranging from lawmaker pay to moving to annual sessions.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval today announced Gerald Gardner has been named chief of staff effective September 5. Gardner takes over for Heidi Gansert who has served as the governor’s chief of staff for the past twenty months and who announced her resignation yesterday.

CARSON CITY – Nevada officials are busy preparing cost and enrollment estimates so Gov. Brian Sandoval will have reliable information before deciding whether to expand Medicaid following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month upholding much of the Affordable Care Act.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval says he is disappointed that Clark County has decided to sue to recover $102.5 million in property taxes taken by the 2009 Legislature to balance Nevada’s budget, but said the “state is on very solid ground in this case.”

CARSON CITY – The financial health of Nevada’s public employee pension plan is cause for serious concern because it is only 70 percent funded as of fiscal year 2010 with a $10 billion gap, a national organization reported this week.

The Pew Center on the States said the funding ratio in Nevada is below the 80 percent benchmark that fiscal experts recommend for a sustainable program.

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Taxpayer’s Association has identified several concerns with an initiative petition to impose a margin tax on Nevada businesses filed by the state teachers union, including the title.