Vote Nevada Supporters,
We have now pivoted to the post-legislative summer of civics, so, it’s time to start working on bill implementation. Isn’t that someone with an official title’s job?
Nope, once our legislative session ends, we must rely on agencies, boards, commissions, and offices to implement what passed and sometimes people get overwhelmed, and things fall through the cracks. So, if you supported bills that passed, re-read the bill to see who is responsible for enacting the new laws and get ready to help.
Two bills Vote Nevada is focusing on to ensure implementation are AB37 and AB528. AB37 is the Behavioral Health Workforce Center bill and AB528 is the bill to address homelessness.
AB37 is clearly written with a transparent path for implementation. The Board of Regents for the system of higher education will provide oversight of AB37 and Dr. Sara Hunt, Director of UNLV Mental and Behavioral Health Coalition and Assistant Dean of Behavioral Health Sciences, and a Vote Nevada member, will continue to nurture this one as an important point person. We will continue to support Sara as she tracks AB37’s implementation.
AB528 is a different story. The bill language is not very clear on how the process of creating a homeless services center will start. The bill assumes a private organization, which may be exempt from the Open Meeting Law, will be entrusted with managing its contribution as well as the state’s matching funds.
There is no language to require community input or participation in implementing the bill, so we may need to create opportunities to receive and provide feedback to ensure $100 million in state funds will not be managed behind closed doors.
I will be speaking about AB528 at the Carson City Democratic Luncheon on Monday, June 26th, at 1:30 pm, via Zoom. If you’d like to attend via Zoom, please email Rich Dunn at richdunn as one word and then @aol.com.
You can also watch a presentation about San Antonio’s Haven of Hope Campus, which is the model mentioned in the AB528 hearing, here: t.ly/6IsbZ
The next two Summer of Civics meetings are on June 27th and June 29th.
On Tuesday, June 27th, from 6 to 7 pm, via Zoom, we will look at the Open Meeting Law and Roberts Rules of Order. Our legislature exempts itself from the Open Meeting Law, which is why things get very chaotic and opaque at the end of the session. We will look at the history of Roberts Rules of Order and government transparency laws and chat about community participation when there are no rules. You can RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/Open-Meeting-Law-and-Roberts-Rules
On Friday, June 30th, from 6 to 7 pm, via Zoom, we will hear two presentations about Men and Mental Health. Dr. Sheldon Jacobs, a marriage and family therapist, will speak about the movement to ensure men can access mental health care, and Mark Tuggle will speak about the book Cultural Silence and Wounded Souls: Black Men Speak About Mental Illness, which he edited. You can RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/Men-Mental-Health-Awareness
On our two special Summer of Civics projects, we are raising awareness of the disparities between men’s and women’s sports and working to ensure Nevada is an ADA-compliant state. Based on some early research, there are two things that will help move the needle on sports parity.
The first thing is media coverage. When the media provides girls’ and women’s sports with the same level of coverage, girls’ and women’s teams hold their own on attracting viewers. So, we need to encourage both print and online news sources to treat girls’ and women’s teams equitably.
For instance, when women’s or girls’ teams win, at least the front page of a newspaper’s sports section should be where we see that story.
Second, younger fans are much more likely to support women’s sports through social media. So, we need as many people as possible posting on Facebook, tweeting, and sharing stories about women’s and girls’ teams on Instagram.
We can use the base hashtags: #WomensSports #GirlsSports #PayParity and #MediaParity plus the name or handle of the team being watched. For instance, while I was watching the Las Vegas Aces basketball game Wednesday, I used #WomensSports #ALLINLV @LVACES #MediaParity. The Aces officially use #ALLINLV.
The WNBA All-Stars Game is on July 15th, so we will be raising awareness about that game as well as celebrating all Women’s Sports on July 14th from 4 to 7 pm.
You can watch our kick-off meeting and review our Sports Parity materials here: https://vote-nevada-blog.org/vote-nevada-summer-of-civics-projects/
The July 14th event is at the College of Southern Nevada North Las Vegas Campus, in the June Whitley Student Lounge, from 4 to 7 pm. Let’s have some fun while we also practice civic engagement! You can RSVP here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrating-womens-sports-tickets-664947093657
I am coordinating three more Summer of Civics workshops focused on ADA compliance that I will send out soon.
Thank you for being Nevadans with me,
Sondra
Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics
Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations, you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here: https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations
Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization. Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues. We do, however, accept donations Here
Sondra
Vote Nevada 