Vote Nevada Supporters,

I hope that everyone had a very restful and enjoyable holiday season. Now that the new year is here and our elected officials have been or are about to be sworn in, it is officially advocacy season.  It’s time to switch from “What does the Controller do?” to “What are we doing about education and the water shortage?”

Nevada is a Dillon’s Rule state, which means all power flows down from our legislature to subordinate governing bodies.  The legislature created the counties and cities and now decides which powers these entities can exercise.

This is not an optimal way to run things as our legislature technically only exists in odd years for 120 days; the rest of the time, the more limited governing bodies are managing everything.

So, if a law passed by the legislature has a problem, there is no way to fix it until the legislature comes into session again.  To lessen the impact of this problem, the legislature often empowers state agencies to write regulations to implement laws or they empower governing bodies to just figure out how to implement laws on their own.  This is a big reason why Nevada has difficulties fixing problems.

If we really want to solve systemic issues related to education, health care, mental health care, and basic governing infrastructure, we will either need a legislature that is in session more or we need to empower state agencies and local governing bodies to directly create and fund laws for addressing a wider range of issues.

This solution, however, requires a constitutional amendment to pass that creates Home Rule, but, until heck freezes over and that happens, we must rely on direct citizen participation to help get things done

This Saturday, January 7^th, Vote Nevada is offering our workshop on using the legislature’s website for engagement and advocacy during the 2023 legislative session.  We will focus on the website’s wide range of tools and features.  The workshop is from 9 to 10 am, via Zoom.  RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/Legislative-Advocacy-Training-2023

The Governor’s State of the State Address is scheduled for January 23^rd at 6 pm.  We will see the Governor’s budget around the same time.  For the most part, the budget will be the one created by former Governor Sisolak’s team, but the new Governor has the discretion to alter the funding allocations.  The budget reflects the current Governor’s priorities, except in the first year due to the overlap with the outgoing Governor.

The legislature can change the budget allocations but doing so sets up the possibility of the Governor vetoing bills supported by the Democratic legislative majority.  Legislators can add to the budget, but Nevada has a balanced budget mandate, consequently, adding to the budget requires adding new revenue sources, aka raising taxes.  See also heck freezing over.

In the two weeks before the legislative session starts on February 6^th, the Interim Finance Committee hears the state agency budget requests.  Unlike in the recent past, for this session, the Economic Forum has forecast revenue more than the agency requests.  You can read more about the budget surplus here: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/economic-forum-lombardo-lawmakers-will-have-11-4-billion-for-two-year-budget 

When the legislative session starts on February 6^th, the first week is devoted to funding the session, recognizing the leadership, establishing the rules, and affirming the committees.  By the end of the week, the Assembly and Senate will begin the process of reading each bill three times before assigning each to a committee for hearings.

The majority party’s legislative leadership decides which bills are assigned to committees for hearings and the committee chairs decide which bills receive hearings and in which order.

You can see the committee information here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/82nd2023/Committees/List 

If you would like to know more about the process and how to read, follow, and advocate for or against bills, RSVP for the January 7^th workshop at https://vote-nevada.news/Legislative-Advocacy-Training-2023

Our second event this month is on January 12^th with Elko resident Scott Gavorsky whose blog is: The Rurals of Nevada https://ruralsofnevada.substack.com/

Scott is doing some deep dives on newly released Census data to show that Nevada has three distinct rural areas, all with their own character.  Scott will join us on January 12^th, from 6 to 7 pm, via Zoom to chat about how he uses Census data to learn more about Nevadans across the state.  If you would like to attend, RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/Using-Census-Data

One last thing, if you are registered as a Nonpartisan voter, we’d like to hear from you.  Some important races in this last election were decided by young voters and voters not affiliated with one of the major parties, so, we would like to get to know you.  If you are a Nonpartisan voter who is willing to share a little about yourself, go to this form https://vote-nevada.news/Nonpartisan-Voters-Survey

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics

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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

 

Vote Nevada Supporters,

The 2022 election cycle officially ended Tuesday with Georgia’s runoff election and Senator Raphael Warnock’s re-election.  Senator Warnock’s campaign manager emphasized their campaign strategy of reaching out to Democrats, Independents, swing voters, and moderate Republican voters as the key to their win. 

This second high-profile runoff election in two years has raised concerns among Georgians, including Senator Warnock, who is quoted here: https://georgiarecorder.com/2022/12/08/senate-runoff-fatigue-renews-debate-over-runoff-process-in-georgia/

Senator Warnock’s campaign strategy was very similar to Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola’s.  The Congresswoman’s campaign manager is a former CSN Student, Anton McParland (I know, small world!), so I’ve been messaging with him since she won to find out how they were able to run so successfully against two well-known Republican candidates.  Again, the key was the Congresswoman’s campaign team also focusing on reaching out to every voter and rejecting negative messaging.

Because Alaska adopted a top 4 open primary system, there are now more candidates running, so more opportunities for Gen Z and Millennial Alaskans to participate in campaigns including as managers.  So, Anton is mentoring Gen Z volunteers who would like to manage a campaign one day. 

Anton will be joining me on Zoom on Monday, December 12^th at 1:00 pm to chat about Congresswoman Mary Peltola’s campaign and opportunities for younger civic engagers to play meaningful roles in shaping campaign messaging.  If you are interested in participating in this discussion, you can RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/Anton-McParland-Meeting

This chat will be recorded.

I am also in contact with Congresswoman Peltola’s office to see if we can do a Zoom meeting with the Congresswoman to talk about her historic election as Alaska’s first Native American member of Congress.  As soon as we find a day and time that works for her, I will let everyone know.

January is just around the corner, so our legislative session will be here in no time.  That means it’s time for our Legislative Advocacy Training workshop.  Our legislature has one of the best websites nationally that provides many, many tools for direct engagement.  From the live streaming page to bill tracking, to committee hearing recordings, the website has everything you need to be a fully engaged civic citizen.  

The Legislative Advocacy Training Workshop is Saturday, January 7, 2023, from 9 to 10 am, via Zoom.  You can RSVP here:

https://vote-nevada.news/Legislative-Advocacy-Training-2023

The workshop will be recorded.

Two bills Vote Nevada will be tracking and working to pass in 2023 are AB37 and AB69.  AB37 creates a behavioral health workforce development center https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/82nd2023/Bill/9566/Overview.  

And AB69 expands the student loan forgiveness program to higher education faculty who teach in behavioral health programs and to behavioral health providers who treat students in schools https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/82nd2023/Bill/9625/Overview.

If you have some time now that we aren’t glued to an election results website, you might want to read a new blog from Elko resident Scott Gavorsky: The Rurals of Nevada https://ruralsofnevada.substack.com/

Scott is doing some deep dives on newly released Census data to show that Nevada has three distinct rural areas, all with their own character.   I spoke with Scott, and he agreed to join us on January 12^th, from 6 to 7 pm, via Zoom to chat about how he uses Census data to learn more about Nevadans across the state.  If you would like to attend, RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/Using-Census-Data

The chat will be recorded.

Lastly, The National Constitution Center is offering a virtual Bill of Rights Tour on Wednesday, December 14th at 9 am or Friday, December 16th at 10 am.   You can RSVP for the 14^th here https://constitutioncenter.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LNinBOEfR6m14l4blJ5cQQ or you can RSVP for the 16^th here https://constitutioncenter.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QlsHX2ZnQN2sOLyp2DZN4Q  

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra 

Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics

Please consider selecting Vote Nevada as your preferred nonprofit on Amazon Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_uspo_laas_aas

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Hello Vote Nevada Supporters, 

Vote Nevada Supporters,

As we near the end of the 2022 election cycle, now is a good time to review what happened and begin planning for the 2023 legislative session.

Election Takeaways:

You can access numbers for races state-wide from the Secretary of State’s website: https://silverstateelection.nv.gov/

Many races were very close, and some races had high numbers for the None of These Candidates option.  Our electorate was almost evenly divided in many races, and many voters split their tickets between the two political parties.  

You can read an early assessment of the election cycle overall by Dr. Dave Damore, from UNLV and Brookings Mountain West, here: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2022/11/16/blue-metros-red-state-politics-in-the-2022-nevada-midterm-elections/

Tomorrow, each county’s registrar or clerk will present the final vote totals to their respective county commissions, and then, when the county commissions accept the final tallies, the certified results will go to the Secretary of State.  The Secretary of State will then present all the results to the Nevada Supreme Court.

We had three ballot questions before us this year and all three passed.  Questions 1 and 2, the Equal Rights Amendment and the Minimum Wage constitutional amendments, will go into the constitution immediately after certification.  Question 2, however, does not go into effect until July 2024.

Ballot Question 3 is a citizen petition constitutional amendment, so it must pass again in 2024.  Ballot Question 3 passed with close to 53% of the vote. 

Fortunately, Alaska adopted a similar election reform in 2020, so, the state implemented the reform this year.  Here are the Alaska totals right now: https://alaskapublic.org/2022/11/16/alaska-election-results-live/

Alaska has a law similar to Nevada’s that requires election officials to wait to receive and tabulate their mail-in ballots, so, when that time period ends on November 23rd, any races without a candidate who has a majority of the votes will enter into an instant runoff.  

In those races, the candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated and the voters who selected those candidates as their first choice have their second-choice votes transferred to their second-choice candidates.  A second runoff tabulation then occurs, and the runoff process continues until one candidate in each race has at least 50%+1 votes.

Currently, it looks like Mary Peltola will win the election to the House of Representatives as the first indigenous woman to represent Alaska at the federal level.  And it is likely that Lisa Murkowski will win re-election to the U.S. Senate.  Both women will likely win after one round in an instant runoff.

Congresswoman Peltola sent Nevada a message: https://twitter.com/MaryPeltola/status/1593014322716119042?s=20&t=xKTu6r1JiUVTJgmTQrMjbQ

After our election results are certified, we will pivot to the next session of Congress and the 2023 legislative session.  

The federal House of Representatives will have a Republican majority, so the leadership and committee chairpersonships will change.  The U.S. Senate currently has a 50/50 membership, which gives the Democrats a majority due to Vice President Harris’s tie-breaking vote.  

Because no candidate received 50%+1 in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race between Senator Raphael Warnock and challenger Herschel Walker, there will be a runoff election on Tuesday, December 6, 2022. 

Legislatively, at the state level, the Democrats have the majority in both houses, but only have a supermajority in the Assembly, so, they do not have the votes needed to override a veto.  With a new Republican Governor, this may become an issue if there is conflict over bills and budgets.

Over the next few weeks, each party will select members to serve in legislative leadership roles, and then leadership will appoint members to committees.  When the election ends, you will be able to see each chamber’s members and leaders here https://asm.leg.state.nv.us/  and here https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Senate/

You can access additional information about the legislative session, which starts February 6th, here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/82nd2023/

In December, the Economic Forum, the commission of economic experts who estimate how much tax revenue will be available over the next biennium, will meet to release their estimates on Monday, December 5th, at 9:30.  You can access the hearing and the hearing materials here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Interim2021/Meeting/24289

You can also watch past Economic Forum meeting recordings here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Interim2021/Committee/1906/Meetings

After the tax revenue estimate is set, the Governor’s Budget must not exceed that amount unless tax cuts and/or tax increases are included to account for the additional spending.  Governor Sisolak’s team has already created the state budget, so, we must wait to see if incoming Governor Lombardo decides to make any changes to that budget.

The Governor’s State of the State Address will be in the middle of January.  And there will be two weeks of agency budget hearings with the Interim Finance Committee before the legislative session begins.  During these hearings, our state agency heads provide an overview of their budget requests.

Vote Nevada will offer our Advocacy Training Workshops in early January to prepare for the legislative session.  In these workshops, we will review the many features of the legislature’s website and discuss legislative processes.

One very good piece of news: Member of the Vote Nevada Mental and Behavioral Health Committee, Dr. Sara Hunt, successfully presented her proposal to have Nevada adopt a mental health workforce development program similar to Nebraska’s program to the Rural Regional Behavioral Health Policy Board! 

The Board agreed to sponsor the proposal, so we have a Bill!! https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/82nd2023/Bill/9566/Overview

AB37 will put Nevada on the path to address our severe shortages of mental and behavioral health care providers, so, KUDOS to Sara! 

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics

Please consider selecting Vote Nevada as your preferred nonprofit on Amazon Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_uspo_laas_aas

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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

Vote Nevada Supporters,

Please take some time to listen to these CSN students who are raising important concerns about negative campaign messaging.  You can watch the full discussion at the bottom of the written article:

https://news3lv.com/news/local/young-nevada-voters-say-negative-campaigns-pushing-them-away#

Let’s take some time today to remember that many community members are still struggling with fragile mental health due to the pandemic and ongoing economic issues.  Yelling at and chastising these community members won’t convince them to vote.  We need to offer compassion and support.

If you need help with election questions, please reach out.  I am here.

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics

Please consider selecting Vote Nevada as your preferred nonprofit on Amazon Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_uspo_laas_aas

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Facebook fundraisers.

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

Vote Nevada Supporters,

If you haven’t heard, we are ending the first week of early voting and turnout is very low, especially among young voters.  You can read more about turnout here: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/the-early-voting-blog-2022  

The forecast is that 60 percent of registered voters will participate in this election.  That means 40 percent of voters, who have mail-in ballots sitting on their kitchen tables are opting to not vote.  That is a problem.

It’s easy to say young voters are just not engaged, responsible citizens, but I would like to share what I hear from my students.  My students are frustrated and feel paralyzed by all the negative campaign ads.  The flood of negative advertising relentlessly tells them all the candidates are very bad for Nevada.  

These issue-focused young voters are trying to wade through the ads and research the candidates, but it is difficult to find reliable information, so they are giving up out of fear of making a mistake and voting for someone who will hurt the state.

Young voters tend to be nonpartisan, so, telling them to Vote Blue or vote R or D isn’t helpful; these voters want candidates who will address the issues most important to them.  With so few debates and forums that asked objective questions, my students are skeptical of anything that sounds like partisan talking points without substance.

They want to vote for someone, not vote against someone.  They want positive reasons to vote, so, they need help doing research to find nonpartisan answers to their questions.

Vote Nevada is therefore partnering with the Marble Manor Resident Council and Mass Liberation to offer a series of information workshops next week to answer questions and assist in researching candidates and ballot questions.  

If you know voters who are feeling frustrated and unsure about voting, please share this information and let them know anyone can drop in to get a little bit of help.  

A team of volunteers will be available at Marble Manor Community Center from Tuesday, November 1st through Saturday, November 5th.   Our team will be available from 5:30 to 7:00 pm each evening.  Here is the address: 912 Gerson, LV NV 89106

Here is the workshop flyer:

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics

Please consider selecting Vote Nevada as your preferred nonprofit on Amazon Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_uspo_laas_aas

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Facebook fundraisers.

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 

 

 

Vote Nevada Supporters,

Sample Ballots are in the mail as I type if you haven’t already received yours.  Mail-in ballots will be in the mail no later than October 19^th.   Early voting begins October 22^nd.   Now is the time to make a plan to vote:

1. Set aside some time to research the candidates on your ballot. Some tips:
   1. Take the information in campaign ads with a large grain of salt.
   2. Campaign websites are often superficial
   3. Look for reliable information about each candidate.
2. Research the ballot questions.
   1. You can use the Sec. Of State’s Ballot Question Booklet: https://www.nvsos.gov/sos/home/showpublisheddocument/10820/637968581844670000
   2. You can also watch a brief ballot question explainer here: https://vote-nevada.news/2022-Ballot-Questions-Review
3. You can find voting information specific to your county here: https://www.nvsos.gov/sos/elections/election-information/2022-election-information/voting-locations
4. You can sign-up to be notified when your mail-in ballot is counted here: https://nevada.ballottrax.net/voter/
5. Be sure to sign the back of your envelope if you use your mail-in ballot.
   1. Here is more information about mail-in voting: https://vote-nevada-blog.org/mail-in-voting/
   2. Be sure to mail in or drop off your mail-in ballot by no later than November 8^th.
6. Help a friend create a plan to vote.

Upcoming events:

               I will be on Zoom every Sunday between now and election day on November 8^th from 6 to 7 pm.  You can access the link by RSVPing here: https://vote-nevada.news/Election-2022-Office-Hours  Bring any and all questions about this election, researching candidates and ballot questions, and how to ensure that your vote counts.

Northern Nevada Marches Forward is hosting a panel discussion on protecting voting and democracy on October 11th, via Zoom, from 6 to 7:30 pm.  You can find more information here: https://fb.me/e/3RgbafylY 

Indivisible Northern Nevada is hosting an event with Secretary of State candidate Cisco Aguilar on Thursday, October 13^th, via Zoom, from 5 to 6 pm.  You can RSVP here: https://fb.me/e/2ZImbbRML 

On Tuesday, October 18^th Noon to 1 pm, the CSN Women’s Alliance and Nevada NOW is hosting a Q&A session on Ballot Question 1 with human rights attorney Kate Kelly via Zoom, “Nevada’s Equal Rights Amendment: Equality for all! This isn’t your grandmother’s ERA!”, click here to RSVP: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkceGupjouEt2E2Gv4swOvv1dvbmYe7ZbX

The CSN Women’s Alliance, the CSN Social Justice League, and the CSN Student Government are hosting a “Make Your Voice Heard in Democracy” event via Zoom on October 21^st, from noon to 1 pm.  We will be discussing why voting is important and how to make your voice heard.  RSVP for the link here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtc–rpzIjH9yFinBLie7NzLaAnf4Ac0Q9

Nevada NOW is participating in an ERA rally at the Floyd George Courthouse on October 22nd, from 4 to 5 pm.  You can find more information here: https://fb.me/e/f0b5Inc0Q

The YesOn3 campaign has a new website with interactive features.  You can watch the first endorsement commercial and participate by signing up through the Join page or by uploading a statement or short video under Share Your Story:  https://yeson3nv.com/

And the campaign now has a YouTube channel you can subscribe to: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyRF5KgJWw6EVl8VzKVzfRA

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

 Sondra

Please consider selecting Vote Nevada as your preferred nonprofit on Amazon Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_uspo_laas_aas

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Facebook fundraisers.

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