Legislature

Implementing full-day kindergarten is a priority for Democrats in the Nevada Legislature, but the ambitious proposal comes with an as yet undetermined price tag or funding.

Gaming walks around the Nevada Legislature like the big strutting rooster, the whale in Nevada’s political swimming pool. Because it is.
And with good reason. While other states and countries charge much higher fees on gambling and even collect more in taxes, Nevada’s casino-resort industry pays or collects 46 percent of the state’s general fund, by its own measure.

A Nevada assemblyman who was banned from the Legislature building attempted to buy a gun at Scheel's Sporting Goods Thursday night in Sparks.

Gov. Brian Sandoval has signed a bill legalizing online gambling in Nevada. The signing Thursday afternoon capped a dizzying day at the Legislature in which lawmakers quickly seized on the measure and passed in through both the Assembly and Senate as an emergency measure.

A shattered front door drew numerous concerned looks from people arriving at the Nevada Legislature Thursday.

The public is invited to a very special Carson City Chamber educational luncheon on Monday that should be of interest to every mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle and others concerned about drug use in our children beginning in the fourth grade.

Many well-meaning adults do not realize the drugs in their medicine cabinet may be the pathway to their child’s drug use.

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:

by S. LANEY OLSON

I knew little about broadcast up until Feb. 14 of last week. However, when the opportunity for me to shadow Brent Boynton from KNPB arose, I jumped at it without hesitation. I had always been interested in broadcast but had focused my attention on print. This was opportunity to expand my horizons.

The 2012 education PISA* rankings indicate that the USA came in at 25th for math, 14th for reading and 17th for science out of 30 countries with only three of those countries spending slightly more money per pupil than America. Yet the mantra for more money, benefits and taxes for education continue just as it has for the last sixty years. If more money will solve the education problem then why hasn't it ever worked in the last sixty years?

A mass shooting took place less than two years ago in Carson City’s IHOP restaurant, just down the road from the Nevada Legislature.
Since that day in September 2011, more senseless mass shootings have occurred in the United States — the one in Newtown, Conn., sparking a nationwide debate over gun control.

Carson City's nonprofit agency that helps feed and provide shelter to those in need — FISH — will host its annual “Have A Heart” Banquet on Thursday, March 14. The Banquet will be at the Carson Nugget with cocktails and silent auction beginning at 5:30 p.m. and dinner served at 6:15 p.m. Ninety-five percent of FISH’s funding comes from local donations and the Have A Heart Banquet is an important part of our fundraising effort.

by NATASHA VITALE

In the first installment of the new series designed to bring the work of artists live to the Nevada Legislature, Reno’s Amy Hunter will appear in Carson City Feb. 15, 3:30 p.m. in Room 3100 to speak of her work and demonstrate her craft.

Growing up in a small town in Nevada, Hunter said, she was always engaged in the arts. She started with drawing, progressed to painting and was drawn to photography as it allowed her to express what she sees in its perfect simplicity.

by ALEX POMPLIANO

It’s become somewhat of a cliché, saying in a retrospective astonishment that something began as an idea. In theory, everything begins as an idea. But I’ve never been a part of something from the very beginning that would eventually lead to a fully realized organization like the Nevada Media Alliance, so you’ll have to forgive the cliché.

The public is invited to a very special Carson City Chamber educational luncheon that should be of interest to every mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle and others concerned about drug use in our children beginning in Grade 4.

Many well-meaning adults do not realize the drugs in their medicine cabinet may be the pathway to their child’s drug use.

Nevada lawmakers on Monday banned troubled Assemblyman Steven Brooks from the legislature and placed him on leave while an independent investigation into his recent bizarre behavior is conducted.

As part of Tribal Day at the Nevada Legislature, Native Americans are letting lawmakers know they are against the bear hunt.
Dozens showed up at the legislative building in support of Senate Bill 82. They say the bear is sacred and that the hunt violates their rights.

In an era when showing off your tattoos is the rage, some Nevada legislators have gone in a different, and decidedly old-fashioned, direction.
They have returned to the days when Mark Twain covered the Legislature for Virginia City's Territorial Enterprise and are sporting beards or long Wyatt Earp-style mustaches.

With the 77th Legislative Session underway, lawmakers are shaping Nevada's future. Many say that future begins with one thing.
"Increase the standards, increase the expectations in education," Gardnerville resident George Butler said. "That's the thing that's going to really grow the economy and attract businesses and entrepreneurs and things like that."

Troubled Assemblyman Steven Brooks, D-North Las Vegas, intends to serve in the Legislature this session, scuttling a potential deal that would have had him take a leave of absence.

The 77th session of the Nevada Legislature opened for business Monday with the usual pomp and circumstance but little of the drama members were afraid might occur around the swearing in of Assemblyman Steven Brooks, D-North Las Vegas.

by MICHAEL V. MARCOTTE

As I pen this, three UNR grad students are leading eight undergrads in the final planning of the launch of the Nevada Media Alliance. I may be supervising this experiment in news partnering, but these eager, ambitious journalism students will be deciding — and doing — much of what goes into it.

Treat your Valentine to a Jazz Sampler for Sweethearts, an evening of sweet and hot big-band music with singers Sheryl Adams and June Joplin at Comma Coffee in Carson City on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Comma Coffee, 312 S. Carson Street, is across the street from the state legislature building in Carson City. General admission is $5 at the door; free for age 18 and under.

A petition to create a business tax to fund education was upheld, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Thursday, sending it to the 2013 Legislature for action.

Rev. Rob Jennings-Teats of Carson City's First United Methodist Church said God repeatedly admonished his prophets, “Do not be afraid." But, he told the group of about 60 people gathered Monday at the State Legislature, “It is a fear of each other that drives us to own more and more guns.”

As the 2013 Legislature readies to convene, most observers have focused their attention on taxes.
Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval has promised to veto any tax increase, while Democratic leaders have vowed to launch an extensive review of the existing tax structure, which has the potential to change the way businesses pay license fees, the live entertainment tax and other levies.

If the press is sometimes referred to as the fourth branch of government, the fifth branch surely would be lobbyists – the paid professionals who advocate on behalf of industries, business owners, labor unions and causes large and small.
In Carson City, lobbyists play a key role, serving as power brokers in the Nevada Legislature.

Sagebrush journalism was a style of literature born in the American West that had some very deep roots in Virginia City. It came to life around 1860 and had run its course by the turn of the 20th century. In that ensuing 40 year time period some Sagebrushers became world renown.

From the federal government to the Nevada Legislature, many small business owners are wondering how new laws and government regulations may affect them in 2013. They can find out for themselves on Thursday, Jan. 31, at 9 a.m. PST, when NevadaSmallBusiness.com, in association with Nevada State Bank, presents “Insights: Impact of New Regulations on Small Business,” a free interactive Web event featuring a panel of Nevada experts.

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…...