recession

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…...

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.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-2) released the following statement regarding the "fiscal cliff' vote before Congress Tuesday.

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.

New unemployment numbers released Monday show the largest drop in three and a half years. Nevada's unemployment rate in 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.
Carson City recorded a decline from 10.9 percent to 10.7 percent.

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.”

CARSON CITY – A report released today shows that Nevada’s mining industry has accounted for 14 percent of jobs added statewide in the past year and 33 percent of jobs added statewide since the recession ended in June 2009.

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 – Nevada’s unemployment rate fell to 11.8 percent in September, a decline of three-tenths of a percentage point from the 12.1 percent rate reported for August and a significant improvement from September 2011’s reading of 13.6 percent, a state agency reported today.

The seasonally-adjusted rate remains above the 11.6 percent figure reported in May, which was a three-year 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.

Nevada NFIB State Director, Randi Thompson, and several Carson City small business owners, made the following statements following the first presidential debate and in anticipation for the first vice presidential debate.

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 – Forget the tame, staid, policy driven debates seen in most races in Nevada so far this year.

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.

SPARKS – Fresh on the heels of another disappointing jobs report, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan held a brief rally here today, telling a crowd of 2,500 at a local small business that President Obama needs to be replaced to get the country back on track.

Western Nevada College students who are beginning fall classes should be better able to succeed, thanks to a new admission and college preparation process.

‘Project Graduate’ is reinventing the way new degree and certificate-seeking students are preparing for classes. In addition, WNC now requires advising services to new students before they register.

“It’s changed our admissions process, changed our entire counseling and advising processes,” said Deborah Case, director of Counseling Services. “It’s very impactful in the way we do business for new students.”

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.

At the conclusion of Tuesday’s South Lake Tahoe City Council closed session, the council unanimously voted and offered the full time permanent City Manager position to Nancy Kerry. The terms of the two-and-a-half year contract are still being negotiated.

CARSON CITY – A broader measure of Nevada’s unemployment picture, including those who have given up looking for work, showed slight but continued improvement through the second quarter of 2012, a federal report released today shows.

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.

A reader yesterday submitted the following letter dealing with the Carson City Center Project, aka Nugget Project, and the citizen's petition to put the issue on the ballot:

Carson Supervisors Poised to Lose Credibility. . .Again

This Thursday Carson's supervisors are poised to undermine the community's clear desire for finite boundaries on the downtown library complex project.

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.

One of the biggest, once-in-a-lifetime thrills this writer experienced was first-time voting eligibility in local, state and national elections. What a privilege to have my official opinion added in to the larger community, with an impact on public decisions going forward. Much can be learned from the morning-after election results, which chronicle where we are as a community at a given moment. . .a snapshot of what's on people's collective minds, or at least those who choose to exercise their voting rights.

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 – A broader measure of Nevada’s unemployment picture, including those who have given up looking for work, showed slight but continued improvement through the first quarter of 2012, a federal report released today shows.

The rate in Nevada dropped from 22.7 percent in the four quarters through Dec. 31, 2011, to 22.3 percent through March 31, according to the quarterly report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

CARSON CITY – A new business index evaluating the states on the effects of their tax systems on entrepreneurship and small business ranks Nevada 3^rd behind South Dakota and Texas.

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council’s “Business Tax Index 2012” pulls together 18 different tax measures, and combines them into one tax score that allows the 50 states and District of Columbia to be compared and ranked.

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 unemployment rate fell four-tenths of a percentage point in February to a seasonally adjusted 12.3 percent, but the news is not all positive, a state agency reported today.

Bill Anderson, chief economist with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR), said an argument can be made that the forces behind the drop in the jobless rate were signs of weakness.

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.

Event at Obama for America Campaign Office, March 15, at the Carson City Democratic Central Committee Headquarters
at 502 E. John Street (& Roop St.) behind Bank of America

On Thursday at Noon, Occupy Carson City demonstrators, MoveOn.org members and homeowners in crisis will rally at the local Obama for America (OFA) office in Carson City, NV to demand that government-controlled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide relief to ten million underwater homeowners by adjusting their mortgages to reflect the true value of their home.