Purple Politics Nevada with Lucia Starbuck

Nevada Democratic Treasurer Zach Conine (front), Attorney General Aaron Ford (back, left), Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager and Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar held a press conference to outline legislative priorities in Carson City, Nev., on May 3, 2023.(Lucia Starbuck / KUNR Public Radio)

Purple Politics Nevada is KUNR’s weekly show about the Nevada Legislative Session. In this week’s episode, host Lucia Starbuck checks in with Sondra Cosgrove, a history professor at the College of Southern Nevada about the state’s Economic Forum’s forecast and what it means for the state.

Click here for a transcript of the audio story.

Episode Overview

On Monday, the nonpartisan Economic Forum met to forecast Nevada’s general fund revenue for the two-year budget for fiscal years 2023-2025. The committee projected the state will have a record $2.2 billion surplus and estimated there will be an additional $251 million compared to the forecast made in December.

Millions of dollars are from federal pandemic relief money that must be spent by December 2024, so that money is a one-time appropriation. There’s also more consistent funding, from sources such as the live entertainment tax.

“I noticed that the women got a shout-out: Taylor Swift, and Adele, Pink. There’s all of these groups that are coming in that are filling Allegiant Stadium. We’ve got the Super Bowl, that’s a one-time thing, but the F1 race is going to be consistent for a couple of years,” Cosgrove said.

What will lawmakers do with the extra money? Right now, the rainy day fund cannot be more than 20% of the state’s general fund appropriations. The governor’s administration wants to raise that to 30%, but Democratic leadership and the state’s Treasurer Zach Conine disagree.

“While I think it’s incredibly important to make sure that we’ve got a bucket prepared for rainy days, I think it’s more important that we fix the roof. And that’s the sort of priorities that Democrats are focused on today. We’re focused on making sure that we invest those dollars in infrastructure so that we don’t have to rely on the social safety net as frequently as we do,” Conine said.

The governor’s administration said they want to ensure there are enough savings to weather another potential storm.

“That is also one-time money. That’s the problem. You talk about programs that have the inability [to] sustain in the long term, and that hasn’t been defined. They haven’t given a plan that says it’s going to be able to sustain. It’s feel-good political filter,” Lombardo said. “Granted, you want to help as many people as you can, that’s the role of government, but you also have to manage it. And that’s what I’m failing to see from the other side of the aisle.”

Due to the record budget surplus, Cosgrove said the rest of the legislative session will likely have more conversations about policy, rather than what can be funded.

“We’re not going to have a discussion about, ‘Is there enough money?’ There’s enough money,” Cosgrove said. Do we just fund everything? Is the legislature just going to give the governor everything he wants? And is the governor just going to sign every bill that comes through? I don’t think so. But what does that mean then for negotiation?”

Listen to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada with Lucia Starbuck to learn more about the Economic Forum’s forecast and its potential influence on the rest of the legislative session, budget discussions, and bills that need funding.

Transcript

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

LUCIA STARBUCK, HOST: Welcome to Purple Politics, Nevada. I’m your host, Lucia Starbuck. The name reflects the fact that Nevada isn’t red or blue — it’s both. On Monday, the nonpartisan Economic Forum met to forecast the state’s general fund revenue for the two-year budget. I checked in with Sondra Cosgrove, a history professor at the College of Southern Nevada to learn what this means.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

STARBUCK: What is the economic forum and what happened on Monday?

SONDRA COSGROVE: The Economic Forum got started in the early 1990s. This was right before Vegas started to get really big. We started to realize that as a state, we couldn’t just estimate anymore how much money we think we would have. But then the question was, ‘Well, who gets to decide what the revenue projection’s going to be?’ Obviously, you don’t want the political parties to do that. So what the legislature did is they created what’s known as the Economic Forum. It’s a set of commissioners who are all experts in their field when it comes to economics, to tax law. They meet in December before a legislative session to give the governor a budget estimate for how big his, or eventually her, budget can be for the next biennium. And they review all the data from December until May to see if their estimates were correct. Since, you know, we’ve come out of the pandemic, there’s been a lot more revenue, and we just learned on Monday that in addition to the 2.2 billion surplus that they predicted in December, they’re adding 251 million dollars.

STARBUCK: Where does that extra money come from?

COSGROVE: Federal pandemic money that we have to spend by December of 2024. But the federal government said, while you’re doing the expenditures, you can actually do short-term investment to generate revenue. And so if you’re somebody, you know, if you’re in the governor’s office or in the legislature, if a bill needs consistent funding, you don’t wanna use that one-time money for that. Eventually, that money’s going to go away, and now you’ve got people who need salaries or you’re going to have a building that needs to be maintained. What they’re going to do instead is they’re going to say, ‘All right, maybe the live entertainment tax,’ which we now think is going to stay higher permanently because we’re going to keep having, I noticed that the women got a shout out: Taylor Swift, and Adele, Pink. There’s all of these groups that are coming in that are filling Allegiant Stadium. We’ve got the Super Bowl, that’s a one-time thing, but the F1 race is going to be consistent for a couple of years.

STARBUCK: Can lawmakers put all the surplus away in the rainy day fund? I mean, why not save it for later?

COSGROVE: That’s kind of the argument the governor is making: Let’s be judicious and put as much money as possible. So instead of 20% of surplus, let’s do 30%, and the Democrats are saying, ‘No, we felt more comfortable with 20%.’

STARBUCK: That’s something Democratic State Treasures Zach Conine spoke about during a press conference on Wednesday.

(SOUNDBITE OF ZACH CONINE): And while I think it’s incredibly important to make sure that we’ve got a bucket prepared for rainy days, I think it’s more important that we fix the roof. And that’s the sort of priorities that Democrats are focused on today. We’re focused on making sure that we invest those dollars in infrastructure so that we don’t have to rely on the social safety net as frequently as we do.

STARBUCK: And here’s how Governor Joe Lombardo responded.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOE LOMBARDO): But that is also one-time money. That’s the problem. You talk about programs that have the inability [to] sustain in the long term, and that hasn’t been defined. They haven’t given a plan that says it’s going to be able to sustain. It’s feel-good political filter. Granted, you want to help as many people as you can, that’s the role of government, but you also have to manage it. And that’s what I’m failing to see from the other side of the aisle.

STARBUCK: On Monday, economists said Nevada isn’t quite heading toward a recession, but there are some risks.

COSGROVE: A lot of the revenue stream that are coming in, you know, we’re about to talk about bringing in the Oakland A’s and having another stadium. At what point is the market saturated? What’s the ceiling on that? Right now, we’re not seeing a ceiling. A lot of what I heard is, we think this is where it’s going to stay, but we’re not sure because we don’t have a history on this. We have to be careful not to assume that it’s always going to stay this high. It could actually teeter back down a little bit.

STARBUCK: So what do lawmakers do now with the budget forecast?

COSGROVE: In the past, during the Great Recession, it was what was going to be cut. But the last two cycles is, what was on the wishlist that possibly could be paid for now, that could get moved over? And so adjusting the state agency budgets, looking at small bills that had fiscal notes that hadn’t been funded, and parsing out the dollars as judiciously and equitably as possible, knowing you couldn’t give everybody the money they were asking for. That’s not going to be the case this time. I think you’re going to see more policy decisions being made. We’re not going to have a discussion about ‘Is there enough money?’ There’s enough money. Do we just fund everything? Is the legislature just going to give the governor everything he wants? And is the governor just going to sign every bill that comes through? I don’t think so. But what does that mean then for negotiation?

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

STARBUCK: That was Sandra Cosgrove, a history professor at the College of Southern Nevada. I’m Lucia Starbuck and you’ve been listening to Purple Politics, Nevada.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

The theme song, “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, is licensed under Creative Commons and was edited for this episode.

(Zoe Malen / KUNR Public Radio)

Purple Politics Nevada is KUNR’s weekly show about the 2023 Nevada Legislative Session. In this week’s episode, host Lucia Starbuck checks in with two journalists about bills to allow physician-assisted death and solidify protections for transgender community members.

Editor’s note: This episode involves discussions of suicide, which may be upsetting for some. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Click here for a transcript of the audio story.

Episode Overview

This is the fifth time legislation to allow medical aid in dying is before the Nevada Legislature. It passed out of the state Senate on Wednesday by an 11-10 vote with two Democrats against the measure.

Senate Bill 239 would establish provisions for who would be eligible to receive life-ending medication. The patient must have a terminal illness and a prognosis of fewer than six months to live. They need to be 18 years or older, have the mental capacity to make an informed decision and be capable of self-ingesting the medication.

“I’ve been doing a lot of interviews with doctors and people who have a terminal illness and they cite lots of pain, delirium. The dying process is not always the easiest, as much as we might hope it would be, and so they say they want this option as kind of a last resort measure,” said Tabitha Mueller, health care and government reporter for The Nevada Independent.

Nevada lawmakers are also looking to ensure standards of care for transgender individuals.

SB 163 would require insurance to cover treatments related to gender dysphoria, which is when someone’s gender identity conflicts with the sex that they are assigned at birth. Transgender community members say gender-affirming care is life-saving, not cosmetic. SB 153 would require the Department of Corrections to create regulations for the security, supervision, medical and mental health care for incarcerated individuals who are transgender and gender non-conforming.

“There are a lot of states across the country right now that are passing legislation to restrict transgender rights. But here in Nevada, even with it being a democratically controlled legislature, some Republicans voted to advance this measure [SB153] off of the Senate floor. I think that’s a pretty good indicator of the state being very supportive of individual rights,” said Taylor R. Avery, state capitol bureau reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Listen to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada with Lucia Starbuck to learn more about the bills these two journalists are following, and what supporters and opponents have to say about the legislation.

Transcript

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

LUCIA STARBUCK, HOST: Welcome to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada. I’m your host, Lucia Starbuck. The name reflects the fact that Nevada isn’t red or blue — it’s both.

This episode involves discussions of suicide, which may be upsetting for some listeners.

Today I’m with The Nevada Independent’s Tabitha Mueller and the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Taylor R. Avery. They’re covering bills to allow physician-assisted death, along with insurance coverage requirements for transgender Nevadans.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

STARBUCK: Tabitha, you’ve been following a bill that would allow medical aid in dying. Walk us through what that means.

TABITHA MUELLER: This is the fifth legislative session that we have seen a bill that would legalize medical aid in dying. This bill would make it so that people who are terminally ill and have a prognosis of less than six months to live be able to request medication designed to end life.

STARBUCK: How would they go about accessing this option?

MUELLER: They would have to be at least 18 years of age or older. They would have to make an informed and voluntary decision — so no one forcing them to do this — and they would have to have the mental capacity to make that informed decision. They would also have to have the ability to self-ingest the medication.

STARBUCK: What are you hearing from terminally ill patients here in Nevada?

MUELLER: I’ve been doing a lot of interviews with doctors and people who have a terminal illness and they cite lots of pain, delirium. The dying process is not always the easiest, as much as we might hope it would be, and so they say they want this option as kind of a last resort measure.

STARBUCK: Have you heard from patients that they consider traveling to another state?

MUELLER: Ten states and Washington D.C. have so far legalized legislation like this, and there’s individuals who have traveled to another state. You would have to establish residency, so for some folks, that’s just not an option. We’ve also heard some stories of people who kind of took matters into their own hands.

STARBUCK: What is the opposition to this bill?

MUELLER: Doctor’s job is to heal and save people’s lives. And there are fears about safeguards and what this might mean for people whose family members might be looking to not have their family member around or looking for that monetary benefit from, like, an estate or something.

STARBUCK: The bill’s sponsor Senator Edgar Flores, he said he used to be against medical aid and dying. What changed his mind?

MUELLER: When he talks about this issue, he talks about a family member who passed away from a terminal illness, and he said that watching his family member pass away in pain really forced him to consider: What does it mean when you have a terminal illness to die that way?

(SOUNDBITE OF EDGAR FLORES): In my opinion, when you have a terminal illness and you are suffering every single second, you’re not choosing between life and death. You’re simply choosing how it is that you want to die.

STARBUCK: Taylor, you’ve been covering bills aimed at improving the lives of transgender Nevadans. One bill would require insurance to provide treatments related to gender dysphoria.

TAYLOR R. AVERY: Gender dysphoria is a psychological condition suffered by transgender people whose gender identity conflicts with the sex that they are assigned at birth. Under the bill hysterectomy, vaginoplasty, gender-affirming facial surgery are all things that are included in that list of medically necessary gender-affirming treatments.

STARBUCK: What are you hearing from transgender community members?

AVERY: During the hearing, a lot of transgender community members and allies said gender-affirming care is life-saving care; it’s not cosmetic. Without this care, it can lead to worsening physical health. Many people who testified in support shared experiences of transgender people they know killing themselves because it affected their mental health so deeply.

STARBUCK: Another bill by Senator Scheible would solidify standards of care for incarcerated transgender individuals. Here’s Sy Bernabei, executive director of Gender Justice Nevada.

(SOUNDBITE OF SY BERNABEI): I’m also a proud transgender Nevadan. I have never been in prison, but I am scared to death of being incarcerated because I know that trans people experience a much higher rate of violence.

AVERY: This bill would require the Department of Corrections director to create standards for the supervision, custody, care, security, housing, medical, and mental health treatment of transgender and gender non-conforming offenders.

STARBUCK: What concerns did lawmakers bring up with this bill?

AVERY: Some lawmakers and opponents raised questions about whether this would allow some inmates to get different treatment. Department of Corrections representatives said the department already complies with many, if not all, of the provisions because of federal guidelines. Scheible said the bill is meant to blanket those protections to make sure that they’re in place.

STARBUCK: How does this legislation compare to some of the policies being passed across the country regarding transgender people that are making headlines?

AVERY: There are a lot of states across the country right now that are passing legislation to restrict transgender rights. But here in Nevada, even with it being a democratically controlled legislature, some Republicans voted to advance this measure off of the Senate floor. I think that’s a pretty good indicator of the state being very supportive of individual rights.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

STARBUCK: Thank you to this week’s guests, Taylor R. Avery and Tabitha Mueller. I’m Lucia Starbuck. You can join me for a live taping of Purple Politics Nevada on April 26 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. IMBĪB Custom Brews in Sparks.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

DANNA O’CONNOR, HOST: If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

The theme song, “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, is licensed under Creative Commons and was edited for this episode.

Nevada Democratic Treasurer Zach Conine in Carson City, Nev., on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.(Lucia Starbuck / KUNR Public Radio)

Purple Politics Nevada is KUNR’s weekly show about the 2023 Nevada Legislative Session. In this week’s episode, host Lucia Starbuck spoke with Nevada Democratic Treasurer Zach Conine about his proposed legislation to create trust funds for babies covered under Medicaid, a loan repayment program for health care workers, and funding for rural schools and workforce housing.

Click here for a transcript of the audio story.

Episode Overview

The Nevada treasurer is looking to make several million-dollar investments through bills proposed on his behalf during the 2023 legislative session.

Assembly Bill 28 would create a trust fund for babies born insured by Medicaid. The program proposes to invest $3,200 per baby, which could grow to around $12,000 by the time they turn 18, Conine estimates. The money could be used for higher education, starting a business or purchasing a home. Roughly 44% of births in Nevada were paid for by Medicaid in 2020.

“We realized we had some generational poverty issues to try and tackle. We wanted to look at individuals whose births are paid for by Medicaid” Conine said. “We know that that individual is likely to remain in poverty for a lot of their life unless they get some help.”

Conine is also looking to increase the number of health care workers in the state. Assembly Bill 45 would establish a loan repayment program for providers, including dentists, optometrists and psychologists who work in underserved communities for five years. Health care workers will not be required to pay the state back and can receive up to $120,000.

“This program came out of the ‘Nevada Recovers Listening Tour,’ ” Conine said. “As we went all around the state, one of the things we heard consistently was, ‘I don’t have access to a doctor in my town.’ ”

In a bipartisan effort, Conine collaborated with Nevada’s Republican governor’s office to make changes to the State Infrastructure Bank. Senate Bill 10 would move the program from the Nevada Department of Transportation’s oversight to the treasurer’s and it would expand the types of projects it can fund to include the construction of rural K-12 school facilities and workforce housing.

“Deeply important as we see some of the larger economic participants moving into the state – Tesla, Redwood – are looking for ways to most effectively house their employees,” Conine said. “On the rural school side, we have schools in some of our rural communities that are absolutely crumbling.”

Listen to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada with Lucia Starbuck to hear what these investments could mean for the state.

As a note of disclosure, the Nevada State Treasurer’s office is a business sponsor of KUNR.

Transcript

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

LUCIA STARBUCK, HOST: Welcome to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada. I’m your host, Lucia Starbuck. The name reflects the fact that Nevada isn’t red or blue — it’s both. Today I’m with Nevada Democratic State Treasurer Zach Conine. We’re talking about legislation to create baby bonds and a loan repayment program, along with funding for rural schools and workforce housing.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

STARBUCK: Treasurer Conine, you’re looking to make investments during the legislative session. Let’s start with trust funds for babies. What’s that about?

ZACH CONINE: One of the things we noticed during the pandemic was that we just have social safety nets all throughout the state that are unable to deal with the volume caused by a crisis. And when we started looking at the root causes of that, we realized we had some generational poverty issues to try and tackle. We wanted to look at individuals whose births are paid for by Medicaid, which is about 44% of Nevadans right now; we know that that individual is likely to remain in poverty for a lot of their life unless they get some help.

We’re creating a program called the baby bonds program that will invest $3,200 in each of those kiddos with the hope that by the time they’re 18, they can use that money for housing, use that money for education, or use that money to start a small business.

STARBUCK: How much will it grow by the time someone turns 18?

CONINE: Well, it depends how we do on the investments game, but we’re pretty good at it, so we think it’d be around $12,000.

STARBUCK: And it’s something that you’ve talked about before. It’ll cost less in social services later on. Will you walk me through how that works?

CONINE: For instance, the state pays about $49 million a month in SNAP benefits. The majority of SNAP recipients at some point in their life have been on Medicaid. And so if we’re able to take someone out of a universe where they need SNAP benefits and WIC benefits and Medicaid benefits, that is a cost to the state that is ongoing.

STARBUCK: A bipartisan bill has brought you and the Republican governor’s office together; it would make some changes to the state infrastructure bank. First, briefly explain what that is.

CONINE: The state infrastructure bank was created in 2017, and the goal there was to provide a mechanic to fund programs and projects that would not be funded otherwise. A lot of times in Nevada, the biannual nature of our legislature puts us in a place where there’s a great idea, but we have no mechanic to actually pay for it. Now, we have energy projects. We have social infrastructure, which includes education, housing – workforce, affordable – etc. We can do inland ports. We can do broadband.

STARBUCK: This bill will expand the types of projects that can be funded. What are those?

CONINE: Puts $50 million more into the bank to focus on two things: rural school construction and workforce housing. Deeply important as we see some of the larger economic participants moving into the state – Tesla, Redwood – are looking for ways to most effectively house their employees. We also know that their presence in the state creates ripple effects in other communities like Sparks and Reno and Washoe, where dollars aren’t coming in from a tax perspective.

On the rural school side, we have schools in some of our rural communities that are absolutely crumbling. And the way that most schools are paid for, from a capital perspective, is the issuance of bonds paid for by property tax within whatever county it is. While there are certainly schools in both Clark and Washoe that need help, they have a mechanic to pay for that. But if you are in White Pine County or you’re in Elko, it can be very difficult to raise the revenue needed from a tax perspective to cover the bond.

STARBUCK: Another bill would create a loan repayment program for health care workers.

CONINE: This program came out of the “Nevada Recovers Listening Tour,” and as we went all around the state, one of the things we heard consistently was, “I don’t have access to a doctor in my town.” For our friends in West Wendover, “I’ve had to drive to Salt Lake City to see a specialist, that means I’m driving there, and that drive is pretty long, so I’m going to stay overnight, and the costs become overwhelming.”

What our program does is provide loan repayment for health care providers that choose to come to Nevada and serve in underserved communities. We’re targeting the amount of loan repayment based on the profession, so different programs obviously have different amount of loan, and we don’t want to overpay or underpay. Over five years, we will repay one-fifth a year of their student loans up to $120,000.

STARBUCK: Do the health care workers have to pay the state back?

CONINE: The health care workers don’t have to pay the state back. And the way that we have gotten to that is we are paying in arrears. So you work here for a year, we’ll pay for one-fifth of your schooling. We’re not paying you in advance. We don’t want to have to chase after health care professionals if career, or love, or a search for a new dog finds them in a different place.

STARBUCK: What kind of professions does this include?

CONINE: We wanted a pretty broad group of medical professionals. So not just doctors, but optometrists, dentists, registered nurses, mental health care professionals and counselors, women’s health care professionals.

STARBUCK: They need to have graduated from a Nevada college or university, right?

CONINE: So our original idea was let’s make sure that Nevadans have a place to go when they don’t feel the need to go somewhere else. But what we know is in the state we don’t have enough graduate medical education; we don’t have enough residency programs. And so we want to try to attract doctors from other states. We might, at some point, if there is too much demand, put a preference for Nevada graduates, again, trying to make sure the individuals we’ve helped all along the way can stay here.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

STARBUCK: That was Nevada Democratic State Treasurer Zach Conine. As a note of disclosure, the Nevada State Treasurer’s office is a business sponsor of KUNR. I’m Lucia Starbuck, and you’ve been listening to Purple Politics Nevada.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

The theme song, “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, is licensed under Creative Commons and was edited for this episode.

The Nevada Legislature Building in Carson City, Nev., on March 27, 2023.(Zoe Malen / KUNR Public Radio)

Purple Politics Nevada is KUNR’s weekly show about the 2023 Nevada Legislative Session, which spans 120 days and reached its halfway point. In this week’s episode, host Lucia Starbuck checks in with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Republican Senate Minority Leader Heidi Seevers Gansert about bills to improve health care and toughen punishments for trafficking fentanyl.

Click here for a transcript of the audio story.

Episode Overview

The top four lawmakers in the Nevada Legislature, on both sides of the aisle, have sponsored a bill aimed at increasing the number of graduating nurses.

Senate Bill 375 would fund a grant program for Nevada System of Higher Education colleges and universities to expand nursing programs in an effort to address health care workforce shortages. The appropriation would roughly average $18 million per year for the next two years.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Heidi Seevers Gansert, who represents parts of North and West Reno, said it will increase the number of graduating nurses by 50% over the next three years.

“There’s a nursing shortage across the U.S. and what’s happening is Nevada is competing with every other state to bring nurses here. So this bill will really help on the supply side,” Seevers Gansert said. “When someone attends school in a certain state, they typically try to stay in that state for their career.”

Republicans and Democrats are also looking to increase penalties for selling and trafficking fentanyl. There has been a spike in overdose-related deaths in the country and locally.

Under current Nevada law, if a person sells 100 to 400 grams of a Schedule I or II controlled substance, it is considered low-level trafficking. Senate Bill 128 sponsored by Seevers Gansert and her Republican colleagues, would make it so someone could be charged with low-level trafficking for selling four to six milligrams of fentanyl. Two milligrams of fentanyl, or the size of a common mosquito, can be deadly.

Democratic Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro also has a bill to increase penalties for selling fentanyl. She said she’s still working with Nevada Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford to determine what the policy will ultimately look like.

“You don’t have to go very far to understand that fentanyl is a huge issue in so many of our communities. There are families who are losing their children, young people who are dying from fentanyl overdoses,” Cannizzaro said. “When you start to see trends like that, it is incumbent upon us as lawmakers to address that.”

The Nevada Legislature recently passed a major deadline for bills to be introduced on the floor. And by next Friday, April 14, bills must pass out of their first committee, or they will become dead.

Listen to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada with Lucia Starbuck to learn more about the bipartisan efforts to improve health care in Nevada and address the rise in overdose-related deaths.

Editor’s note: April 7, 2023, at 3:29 PM PST: The episode overview was updated to include Sen. Heidi Seevers Gansert’s bill to increase penalties for trafficking fentanyl. The original version referred to a similar bill sponsored by Sen. Jeff Stone.

Transcript

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

LUCIA STARBUCK, HOST: Welcome to the 10th episode of Purple Politics Nevada! I’m your host, Lucia Starbuck. The name reflects the fact that Nevada isn’t red or blue — it’s both.

We’ve reached the halfway point for the legislative session. I checked in with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Republican Senate Minority Leader Heidi Seevers Gansert about some of their legislation to improve access to health care and toughen punishments for trafficking fentanyl.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

STARBUCK: Senator Cannizzaro, we’re about halfway through the legislative session. How are you feeling with the bills you’re supporting? Any big surprises so far?

NICOLE CANNIZZARO: I wouldn’t say there are surprises. I’m glad that we’re about halfway through. Obviously, we just saw a number of bills get introduced. There are tons of members working on different priorities in the legislative building. We’re having lots of bill hearings for people to come and testify in support, in opposition, in the neutral space so that we can vet these policies. And as we move through the rest of this week and next week, we will see them come up for votes or not come up for votes, with full floor votes expected in the next few weeks.

STARBUCK: You’re sponsoring a bill that would extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum care from 60 days to 12 months. Why is that needed?

CANNIZZARO: Postpartum care is one of the biggest pieces for maternal health that we can invest in as a state. There are a lot of things that happen physically and mentally for people who have carried and delivered babies, and a lot of care that is still required past that 60 days. There are heart conditions that can develop. There are issues with lactation. There are mental stress issues with raising a new baby. Twelve-month coverage will ensure that, at least for a year, people who are on Medicaid can have coverage to seek that additional help. It’s huge changes to grow and to develop an entire human and then bring them into this world. And after that, it’s not as though the baby sort of appears, and everyone is fine, and life goes on.

STARBUCK: And lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are looking to increase penalties for selling and trafficking fentanyl.

CANNIZZARO: You don’t have to go very far to understand that fentanyl is a huge issue in so many of our communities. There are young people and families who are losing their children; young people who are dying from fentanyl overdoses. When you start to see trends like that, it is incumbent upon us as lawmakers to address that. And so I have a bill that I am working on and a bill with the attorney general’s office. We are still in the process of putting together the parameters of what that policy looks like.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

STARBUCK: That was Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro. I’m Lucia Starbuck, and you’re listening to Purple Politics Nevada. Next up, Republican Senate Minority Leader Heidi Seevers Gansert.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

STARBUCK: Senator Seevers Gansert, we’re about halfway through the legislative session. How are you feeling with the Democratic-controlled legislature?

HEIDI SEEVERS GANSERT: Well, the process always starts out slow, and we just hit the first deadline, which was the introduction of bills, and we have about 450 bills on the Senate side. So I’m very happy that we’re moving forward and can start evaluating those bills.

STARBUCK: One bill is being sponsored by the top four lawmakers in leadership, including yourself. It aims to increase the number of graduating nurses.

SEEVERS GANSERT: We hear about the nursing shortage all the time, like every day, especially during COVID. And when I asked higher ed, “How much would it cost to increase the number of nursing grads?” It turned out it was about $18 million a year to increase the number of nursing grads by 50% in the next three years. And those nursing grads would be across the state.

STARBUCK: What’s contributing to Nevada’s nursing shortages, and how would this bill help fill some of those gaps?

SEEVERS GANSERT: There’s a nursing shortage across the U.S., and what’s happening is Nevada is competing with every other state. This bill will really help on the supply side. When someone attends school in a certain state, they typically try to stay in that state for their career.

STARBUCK: There has been a spike in overdose-related deaths in the country and locally. One bill that you’ve sponsored with your Republican colleagues in the Senate would impose tougher punishments for selling or trafficking fentanyl. Walk me through what that would do.

SEEVERS GANSERT: So right now, the threshold for prosecution for trafficking is 100 grams. Two milligrams, milligrams, is what’s lethal. So we are way off base with current statute. So my legislation contemplates if you were trying to traffic as little as four milligrams, you could be prosecuted.

STARBUCK: How is this legislation different than Republican Governor Joe Lombardo’s?

SEEVERS GANSERT: The governor also has a zero-tolerance level for fentanyl. There’s a couple other bills that are out there for four grams, and four grams is way too high.

STARBUCK: What ways can we support people who are struggling with substance use?

SEEVERS GANSERT: I think it goes to making sure that there’s services for people. And Governor Lombardo proposed additional funds to expand behavioral health clinics. Like in Reno, if you were to go to the HOPES Clinic, they help people with opioid addiction.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

STARBUCK: That was Republican Senate Minority Leader Heidi Seevers Gansert. I’m Lucia Starbuck, and you’ve been listening to Purple Politics Nevada.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

The theme song, “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, is licensed under Creative Commons and was edited for this episode.

The Nevada Conservation League held a rally to kick off Conservation Lobby Week at the Nevada Legislature in Carson City, Nev., on Monday, March 27, 2023. (Zoe Malen / KUNR Public Radio)

Purple Politics Nevada is KUNR’s weekly show about the 2023 Nevada Legislative Session. In this week’s episode, host Lucia Starbuck explores conservation-related bills to fund wildlife crossings, outdoor education for youth, and the electrification of large trucks.

Click here for a transcript of the audio story.

Episode Overview

Monday was the start of Conservation Lobby Week at the Nevada Legislature. During the week, Assembly Bill 128 was highlighted, which requests $1 million from the state for the next two years to fund the Outdoor Education and Recreation Grant Program.

The goal of the program is to fund outdoor recreation and educational activities for students from underserved backgrounds. Angel Lazcano, an environmental justice organizer with Somos Votantes, said students from working families face barriers to getting outside, such as busy schedules or high costs, including those at the gas pump. He has special memories from the times he spent outdoors as a child.

“Carne[s] asadas with the family, you know, going to Lake Mead, feeling the sand between your feet. I cherish them so much, but they only happened every so often when like the stars aligned and like all the tíos [were] able to get the day off,” Lazcano said.

Assembly Bill 184 establishes an incentive program for the electrification of large vehicles, such as garbage and delivery trucks and school buses. The vehicle must be driven in Nevada for at least 75% of the time. The legislation also includes higher monetary incentives for small business owners and minority- or veteran-owned businesses. The funding comes from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Carbon Reduction Program, which allocates money for projects that reduce emissions from the transportation sector.

“We know that especially trucks and buses are huge polluters, and breathing in the air and the toxic fumes is really dangerous. It leads to asthma, other respiratory illnesses. And that’s especially pertinent in typically low-income communities of color that are located right on highways and major roads,” said Christi Cabrera-Georgeson, the deputy director of the Nevada Conservation League.

Assembly Bill 112 asks for $15 million in bonds from the state to fund wildlife migration corridors, so animals such as mule deer, bighorn sheep and desert tortoises can cross either under or over major roads safely. More than 5,000 wild animals in Nevada are killed each year by vehicle collisions, and the Nevada Department of Transportation estimates that more than half of the incidents can go unreported.

“In Nevada, we spend about $20 million on accidents between cars and animals every year. People die, animals die, cars are totaled. It’s all expensive. It’s all bad. And so there’s a really easy solution: it’s targeted wildlife crossings,” Cabrera-Georgeson said.

Listen to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada with Lucia Starbuck to learn more about conservation-related legislation and why advocates say the funding is necessary.

Transcript

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

LUCIA STARBUCK, HOST: Welcome to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada. I’m your host, Lucia Starbuck. The name reflects the fact that Nevada isn’t red or blue — it’s both.

On Monday, Conservation Lobby Week kicked off with a rally at the Legislature in Carson City. Today, we’re talking with some of those participants and lobbyists about bills to fund wildlife crossings, the electrification of large trucks, and outdoor education for youth.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

STARBUCK: Assembly Bill 128 asks the state for $1 million over the next two years to fund the Outdoor Education and Recreation Grant Program.

Reno’s Damonte Ranch High School junior Maylyn Bubala says she grew up hiking and camping. She’s a former participant, now camp counselor, for the Nevada Outdoor School based in Winnemucca.

(SOUNDBITE OF MAYLYN BUBALA): Outdoor education is the future of education, especially in Nevada; we have so much public land. It allows kids to be exposed to nature and learn how to respect and explore our public lands.

STARBUCK: The goal of the grant program is to fund outdoor recreation and educational activities for students from underserved backgrounds. Angel Lazcano, an environmental justice organizer with Somos Votantes, says students from working families face barriers to getting outside, such as busy schedules or high costs, including those at the gas pump. Lazcano has special memories from the times he spent outdoors as a child.

(SOUNDBITE OF ANGEL LAZCANO): Carne asadas with the family, you know, going to Lake Mead, feeling the sand between your feet. I cherish them so much, but they only happened every so often when like the stars aligned and like all the tíos, “Oh, I was able to get the day off.”

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

STARBUCK: I’m Lucia Starbuck, and you’re listening to Purple Politics Nevada. We’ve been exploring efforts to get students out in nature. I also spoke with the deputy director of the Nevada Conservation League, Christi Cabrera-Georgeson, about the environmental bills they’re backing.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

STARBUCK: Let’s chat about the electrification of trucks and buses. What would that bill do to help increase production?

CABRERA-GEORGESON: So this bill leverages some federal funding that the state will be getting from the infrastructure bill to create a clean trucks and buses incentive program. So this bill will help small businesses, school districts, transit authorities electrify their fleet. So the example I like to use is your local furniture store; they have delivery trucks. They would be able to use this money to electrify their fleet and make it a little more affordable. Big semitrucks could potentially use this, but we’re trying to keep it in state. So you have to drive the majority of the time in state. We’re not looking at these big trucks that, you know, go back and forth from California to Nevada. It’s trying to keep it local and making sure that we’re providing incentives and help for Nevadans right here at home.

STARBUCK: What are some of the negative health impacts of air pollution?

CABRERA-GEORGESON: We know that especially trucks and buses are huge polluters, and breathing in the air and the toxic fumes is really dangerous. It leads to asthma, other respiratory illnesses. And that’s especially pertinent in typically low-income communities of color that are located right on highways and major roads.

STARBUCK: And let’s chat about wildlife crossings. What is that bill asking for?

CABRERA-GEORGESON: So this bill will create and fund an account for wildlife crossings which are those overpasses or underpasses that help wildlife cross major roads safely. Here in Nevada, we spend about $20 million on accidents between cars and animals every year. People die, animals die, cars are totaled. It’s all expensive. It’s all bad. And so there’s a really easy solution: it’s targeted wildlife crossings. There’s one in Elko that’s massive and has lowered the instances of these accidents significantly. Even just north of Reno, if you’re driving up to the, like, Portola, Frenchman’s [sic] Lake area, you can see some underpasses in some areas where wildlife are able to cross that road.

STARBUCK: What kind of animals are these saving?

CABRERA-GEORGESON: The big one is mule deer in Northern Nevada, or pronghorn. In Southern Nevada, there are also, like, bighorn sheep use these. Even desert tortoises use some; they have one specifically for them. We’ve also seen instances of bobcats, mountain lions, foxes.

STARBUCK: What goes into making sure that they use them?

CABRERA-GEORGESON: That’s where the Department of Wildlife really comes in. They track where animals migrate year after year. And they tend to use the same routes, and we tend to be able to see where accidents are happening every single year. And so they’re really able to look and say, “Okay, we need a crossing right here.” And then wildlife use them pretty quickly. There’s fencing to help kind of funnel them over the pass. It’s a really cool process and cool thing to watch.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

STARBUCK: That was Christi Cabrera-Georgeson, the deputy director of the Nevada Conservation League. Assembly Bill 112 asks for $15 million in bonds from the state to fund wildlife migration corridors. I’m Lucia Starbuck, and you’ve been listening to Purple Politics Nevada.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

The theme song, “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, is licensed under Creative Commons and was edited for this episode.

Purple Politics Nevada is KUNR’s weekly show about the 2023 Nevada Legislative Session. In this week’s episode, host Lucia Starbuck explores bills to help people find a place to live, including legislation to limit application fees for prospective tenants and background checks for people who have criminal records.