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Frierson: Raise minimum wage to $12 by 2023, not 2024
Presenting the bill to raise Nevada’s minimum wage, Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson on Wednesday proposed amending the legislation to bring the wage to $12 by 2023. The legislation as written calls for raising the wage to $12 by 2024 in 75 cent annual increments. Several Nevada progressive organizations and unions who have long fought for […]
Bundy’s public land theory “simply delusional,” “fundamentally flawed,” judge rules
A Nevada state court judge dismissed rancher Cliven Bundy’s lawsuit claiming more than 58 million acres of federal lands should be turned over to state control, calling Bundy’s case “simply delusional” and “fundamentally flawed.” Bundy has long claimed that federal lands within Nevada do belong not to the United States and has sought to have […]
Klobuchar talks infrastructure – especially schools – in campaign stop
Sen. Amy Klobuchar is pitching a trillion-dollar infrastructure package she said will be a top legislative priority if she wins the presidency in 2020. The central element in the Minnesota Democratic senator’s proposal calls for leveraging $650 billion in federal funding through public-private partnerships, bond programs and clean-energy tax incentives. While the plan includes funding […]
Meet some small business owners who support – and offer – paid sick leave
Forty percent of the Nevada private sector workforce — nearly a half million people — have jobs that offer no paid sick days, according to a estimates released this month by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. In 2017, when legislators approved a paid sick leave bill, Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed it saying it would […]
Cortez Masto cosponsors bill to offer DREAMers paid Hill internships
The day after presidential candidate Kamala Harris campaigned in Reno, the California senator and several other Democratic senators, including Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto, announced “The American Dream Employment Act of 2019,” a bill that would allow DREAMers to hold paid internships in Congress. Under current federal law, paid employment in the House and Senate is […]
Legislation calls for keeping closer eye on ICE
On Tuesday, Assemblywoman Selena Torres introduced a bill that would require law enforcement to collect and report data on the transfer of undocumented immigrants to federal custody through programs like the 287(g) agreement. The 287(g) program allows the Department of Homeland Security to enter into voluntary agreements to authorize local law enforcement agencies to assist […]
Sisolak signs executive order to improve census count
A 2020 U.S. Census undercount could have potentially large ripple effects for everything the census determines — from how congressional seats are distributed around the country to where hundreds of billions of federal dollars are spent. On Monday, Gov. Steve Sisolak signed an executive order to establish Nevada’s Complete Count Committee, which will oversee all […]
Food desert bill enjoys bipartisan support
While campaigning in his North Las Vegas district, Assemblyman William McCurdy said one of the top issues raised by his constituents was the lack of grocery stores and fresh food. On Friday McCurdy’s bill to address that problem saw its first hearing. Using money from the state general fund, the bill, AB 326, would create […]
Bill would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain professional licences
From mammography technicians to court interpreters to peace officers, a number of careers in Nevada require people to get professional licenses issued by the state. Currently, licensing boards only consider applicants with social security numbers, something unavailable to many immigrants either because they are undocumented or because they are in the process of obtaining a […]
Films document threats to water from mines, pipeline project
Mining’s contamination of water continues long after the mining stops. A plan to pump and pipe water from rural Nevada to Southern Nevada has long been blasted as aquifer mining. Highlighting those threats to water resources, the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) has created a pair of short films Tainted Thirst, and Great Basin […]
42,000 Nevada immigrants would be protected under House measure
Researchers have estimated that nationally a total of up to 2.5 million immigrants could be eligible for protection—and eventually citizenship—under the “American Dream and Promise Act of 2019,” which was introduced in the U.S. House March 12. The bill would provide equal protection and a pathway to citizenship for qualifying “Dreamers” and those covered by […]
Democrats plan early voting, ‘virtual caucus’ for 2020
On Wednesday, the Nevada State Democratic Party released its plan outlining changes to Nevada’s caucus process in an effort to increase participation and rebuild trust with voters after the contentious presidential primaries in 2016. “We all know how important Nevada’s First in the West caucus will be in 2020 and we are confident that we […]