Nevada son and United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid addressed a joint session of the Nevada State Legislature today in Carson City. Here is the text of his speech:

LAS VEGAS – The Private Bank by Nevada State Bank released the fourth of its High Net Worth briefings today. The research prepared by local market research firm Applied Analysis was specific to changes in the income and investment portfolios of Nevada’s higher income households during the past several years. The report suggests that Nevada’s higher income households were overly exposed to real estate investment risk prior to the recession and have rapidly shifted assets into low-yield bonds, transaction accounts and certificates of deposit.

CARSON CITY — Nevada’s hard fall from its peak seems to be over. The ugly years of shuttered businesses, massive layoffs and relentless cuts in education and government services are, for the most part, past.

But if this is the tenor of the state’s recovery, it will be a long and slow slog toward economic health, an improved education system and a government that doesn’t struggle to take care of the state’s neediest.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s unemployment rate for October dropped to a seasonally adjusted 11.5 percent, down from 11.8 percent in September, the lowest it’s been in three and a half years, a state agency reported today.

Weekly wages for Nevada workers continue to show improvement, indicating the state’s economy is on the mend, said Bill Anderson, chief economist for the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

“Average weekly wages in Nevada have been trending up since bottoming out in the recession,” Anderson said in a news release. “Specifically, during the first half of the year, wages in Nevada averaged $830, a rise of 2.6 percent relative to the first half of 2011 when they came in $809 per week.”

A popular, new program offered by the Nevada Rural Housing Authority (NRHA) is making home ownership even more affordable. Through the Home at Last™ Access program, qualified home buyers receive a generous 4 percent down payment grant, which does not have to be paid back.

Now, the program is offering even lower mortgage interest rates on a conventional, 30-year fixed rate loan. Through participating lenders, the interest rates on FHA, VA or USDA-RD home mortgages have dropped from 3.75 percent to the current rate of 3.5 percent, which is an historic low.

CARSON CITY – Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell in September to their lowest level in five years, dropping to under 14,000 in a month for the first time since September 2007, the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) reported today.

CARSON CITY – Nevada is among the states with the highest amount of government debt per capita at $14,949, according to a new report from State Budget Solutions (SBS), a non-partisan advocate for state budget reform.

The level of debt put Nevada at 37^th highest among the states.

CARSON CITY – A state panel Tuesday recommended a $100 million capital construction plan to Gov. Brian Sandoval for the next two years, but finding funding for the many desperately needed maintenance projects is still a work in progress.

Sandoval will review the list and potentially make some revisions before submitting it to the 2013 Legislature as part of his overall budget.

Of the total construction budget, about $80 million will require some form of state funding.

In 2007, those last heady days before the clouds of recession rolled over northern Nevada, a total of 8234 businesses were operating in Carson City.

CARSON CITY – A state panel was told today that for yet another two-year state budget, there will be virtually no money available from property tax revenues for capital construction projects.

The state Public Works Board heard the disappointing news today as it began a two-day review of projects being sought by state agencies ranging from the Department of Corrections to Tourism and Cultural Affairs.

CARSON CITY — Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval says it doesn't make sense to pump money into construction trade apprenticeship programs after thousands of workers were laid off during the recession and the state's building industry remains in the doldrums.

RENO – Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney went on the attack against President Obama today in a speech to attendees of the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention here, criticizing him for national security leaks, weak foreign policy and a failure to seize on political opportunities in such countries as Iran.

Romney, speaking to the same group that Obama addressed on Monday, spent his 27-minute talk focusing on his foreign policy views and the need to maintain a strong military presence.

CARSON CITY – About 5,500 unemployment insurance recipients who are collecting State Extended Benefits (SEB) will see an end to those benefits on July 7, the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) announced today.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s jobless rate dropped below 12 percent for the first time in nearly three years in April, a state agency reported today. The statewide seasonally adjusted rate fell three-tenths of a percentage point to 11.7 percent.

CARSON CITY — The state still owes the federal government about $800,000 it borrowed to pay claims to the unemployed during the recession but hopes to start paying it back soon.

CARSON CITY – State AFL-CIO leader Danny Thompson said today his labor group is moving forward with a broad-based business profits tax ballot measure to raise money for education.

Thompson, interviewed on the Nevada NewsMakers television program, said the proposal will go forward as a petition to amend state law, which would first be considered by the Legislature in 2013. If the Legislature did not approve the measure within 40 days, it would go to the voters in 2014.

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 – Nevada’s jobless rate fell from a revised 13 percent in December to 12.7 percent in January, down from 13.8 percent a year ago and a peak of 14 percent in October 2010. The number of unemployed Nevadans remained relatively flat at 174,700, but is down 16,300 from the same month last year.

CARSON CITY – A broader measure of Nevada’s unemployment picture, including those who have given up looking for work, showed some improvement through the end of 2011, a federal report released this week shows.

The rate in Nevada dropped to 22.7 percent in the 12 months through Dec. 31, down from 23.3 percent in the 12 months through Sept. 30, 2011.

The City of South Lake Tahoe's Director of Finance, Christine Vuletich, has resigned to take a position in Douglas County, where she will serve as the assistant county manager/chief financial officer. Her last day is Feb. 17.
Vuletich, who was hired in October 2004 as the director of finance, has been responsible for the overall operation and oversight of the city's finance department, and has served as primary financial advisor to the city council and city manager.

A recent report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Mayors awards Carson City the dubious distinction of being the only metropolitan area studied that is predicted to not recover any jobs this year.

Add to that this morning's unemployment report showing the rate for Carson City climbed to 12.2 percent in December, and one can't help worrying about the economic outlook for our area.

According to 24/7 Wall St., Carson City has the dubious honor to be the only metropolitan area that is not projected to recover any jobs at all this year. The region has lost thousands of jobs during the recession, and will continue to lose them through the end of 2012. By the end of this year, the region is projected to lose 4,800 jobs from the beginning of 2007, according to the report. It is the only area not to reach a bottom this year so that it could start recovering. Between June and November of last year, the region lost roughly 600 government jobs. Between 2005 and 2009, the metro region’s exports dropped $94 million, or nearly 40 percent.
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