Author
Voter ID, public money for private schools, top Lombardo’s legislative agenda
Voters in Nevada will have to bring ID to the polls in order to cast a ballot, and they’ll no longer receive a mail-in ballot without requesting it, if Gov. Joe Lombardo has his way, according to Lombardo’s Chief of Staff Ben Kieckhefer, who laid out the executive branch’s legislative agenda Wednesday for reporters in […]
Tax credits eyed as means to ease state’s doctor shortage
Legislation designed to alleviate Nevada’s doctor shortage would divert up to $4 million in its first year from the state’s general fund to hospitals seeking to set up residency programs. “Statistically, where you do your final education is where you stay,” state Sen. Robin Titus, the bill’s primary sponsor, testified Tuesday before the Senate Committee […]
Bill to beef up childrens’ behavioral health services watered down
Legislation designed to save the state money by providing front-end behavioral health care and reinvesting the savings in services for children is being watered down because of a lack of funding, according to Assemblywoman Sarah Peters, a Democrat from Northern Nevada and chair of the Assembly Committee on Health and Human Services. “This is the […]
Lombardo appointee adhering to ‘narrow view of economic development’
When Las Vegas insurance executive Tom Burns got a call from an advisor to then-Gov. Elect Joe Lombardo last year asking if he was interested in working in Lombardo’s administration, Burns said he was. But he didn’t want to be insurance commissioner, the role Lombardo initially chose for Burns, who spent three decades at Craigin […]
Amid housing crisis, TRPA panel gives nod to luxury condo plan
A committee of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is recommending approval of a luxury condo development championed by Washoe County for downtown Incline Village, where the county recently prohibited single family dwellings except “when they are part of a mixed-used development or when they are affordable housing units.” Residents who oppose the project, which advertises […]
Young people ‘bored’ by Nevada gambling, says former governor
A tedious regulatory apparatus is thwarting innovation by hi-tech gambling device manufacturers, according to industry experts who told the Nevada Gaming Control Board Tuesday that the state’s process lacks the flexibility required to tweak technology without long delays. “We’re no longer the gold standard when it comes to innovation,” said former Gov. Bob List, who […]
Gambling is a tech industry. Are Nevada regulators up for the challenge?
Nevada is failing to keep pace with other states in the race to approve new games and technology, Gov. Joe Lombardo asserted during his state of the state speech in January, and now regulators are responding. On Tuesday, the Nevada Gaming Control Board will hear industry suggestions for upping its game. “We need to work […]
Hunters: Legislation ‘attacks the culture of Nevada’
Nevada’s urban and rural cultures clashed in Carson City Wednesday over a legislative attempt to end contests that promote the killing of coyotes and other animals in exchange for cash and prizes. Proponents insist the contests are necessary to keep a lid on predators that would threaten Nevada’s big game species such as deer and […]
Lawmakers try again to tweak property tax caps
A bill before lawmakers to add a 3% floor to the existing 3% cap on annual property tax fluctuations would provide local governments in Nevada the stability to maintain services in the wake of an economic downturn, but is not expected to increase taxes over the current formula in the near future, according to state […]
Senate bill to spend more public money on private schools may not get a hearing
Democratic State Sen. Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro is declining to say whether she’ll allow legislative hearings on a bill introduced in the Senate last week to implement Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s plan to augment public funding to help families pay private school tuition. Last week, Cannizzaro condemned an anti-LGTBQ+ message delivered to fellow Democratic state […]
Neal proposes tapping tobacco tax for children’s mental health ‘savings plan’
Democratic State Sen. Dina Neal is asking state lawmakers to squirrel away $1.6 million a year in preparation for 2026, when federal money allocated to ease the state’s dearth of mental health treatment options for children is expected to run out. The request originated in the Legislative Interim Committee on Revenue, which voted unanimously last […]
Lawmaker: Nevada’s regulation of weed strangling industry as sales fall
Nevada’s Cannabis Compliance Board is thwarting growth of the industry according to experts, who say the state’s practice of charging licensees for regulators’ time and effort amounts to double billing because the agency is already fully funded via an excise tax paid by licensees. “It’s fully funded by that 15% wholesale excise tax on cannabis […]