We will be discussing the role of immigration in American History tomorrow. You can RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/American-Immigration-History
Join Vote Nevada on July 26th, 9 to 10 AM, via Zoom, to chat about the legislative session. You can RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/Leg-Update-2025
Vote Nevada Supporters,
Summer is upon us, yet nothing is lazy. So much is happening, it’s hard to keep up.
Based on some initial analysis of the President’s bill, it doesn’t appear that anything that could bust our state budget could happen until 2027. That does not mean we are out of the fiscal woods, however, for two reasons.
First, President Trump is still withholding money Congress appropriated for the states before this year. That money was built into our last budget cycle, so we may have shortfalls to overcome this cycle. Whether that will require a special legislative session is unclear.
Second, due to the President’s erratic tariff practices, the U.S. economy is starting to slow and show signs of weakness. Las Vegas is very resilient, so tourists are still coming, just not as many. If our projected revenue for this budget cycle starts to fall short, budget cuts may be in our future.
The news is also full of immigration enforcement tactics that lack the required adherence to due process. It is frustrating to try to understand how we ended up here; unfortunately, the politicization of immigration policy began with President John Adams and the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts.
President Adams and his Federalist Party targeted immigrants who might one day vote for his rival, Thomas Jefferson, and the Democratic-Republican Party.
If you are interested in a brief history of immigration policy in American history, I am offering a one-hour Zoom session this Saturday, July 19th, from 9 to 10 am. In addition to teaching U.S. history, I also teach Latin American Studies, so we can discuss why so many people flee from Latin American nations and the role of the U.S. in creating those conditions.
You can RSVP for the meeting here: https://vote-nevada.news/American-Immigration-History
I know it seems like the next primary election is far away, but it will be here faster than we can imagine. In this midterm, we will elect a Governor, a state Attorney General, a Sheriff, and many judges, so it will be vital for every voter to be a Primary Voter. Let’s start talking to friends and family now about voting.
Thank you for being a Nevadan with me,
Sondra
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. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through
PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA
Vote Nevada Supporters,
I am predicting we won’t see any lazy days this summer.
The dust hasn’t quite settled from the legislative session, yet we already have candidates who have announced their intention to run for office in 2026.
Before we head into election mode, though, we also need to focus on the interim legislative session, as well as a host of county and municipal meetings, which will cover critical issues related to bill implementation and new policies.
To maintain that focus, we have one more weekend of Vote Nevada Summer of Civics 2025 workshops, after which we will be ready to tackle each working group’s priorities.
You can join as many working groups as you like.
You can see each working group’s title and recorded kick-off meeting here: https://vote-nevada-blog.org/summer-of-civics-2025/
You can also RSVP for either or both of this weekend’s meetings on the same page.
This weekend’s meetings are:
Ballot Questions 101: RSVP for the Kick-Off Meeting
Oral History Project: Women in Trades: RSVP for the Kick-Off Meeting
These meetings have recordings from the past two weekends:
People’s Interim Committee: Kick-Off Meeting Video.
Preparing for 2026: Kick-Off Meeting Video.
2026 Civics Voter Guide: Kick-Off Meeting Video.
Civics Education & Engagement: 101: Kick-Off Meeting Video.
Thank you all for being Nevadans with me,
Sondra
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. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through
PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA
Vote Nevada Supporters,
Summer of Civics 2025 is officially underway! We had two successful working group kick-offs this past weekend. Our People’s Interim Committee & Preparing for 2026 kick-off meeting recordings are on this blog webpage: https://vote-nevada-blog.org/summer-of-civics-2025/
See the menu above.
If you hear something you like in either of these meeting recordings, which are approximately one hour long each, you can join by emailing me.
Please feel free to also RSVP for the remaining four kick-off meetings, scheduled for the next two weekends, on the same webpage above.
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The People’s Interim Committee will begin by seeking volunteers to follow boards, commissions, councils, and offices that can address our priority issues.
We would like to have at least one person per governing body who can post about the items on upcoming meeting agendas, as well as any actions taken on our priority issues. We need to maximize local government efforts to address the problems that weren’t fully addressed by our legislature and governor.
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The Preparing for 2026 Working Group would like to inform anyone considering running for office that we can offer workshops and mentoring for new candidates. This includes partisan and nonpartisan opportunities to run.
We are also off and running to ensure all voters know that our mid-term elections are very important. We elect the Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Controller, District Attorney, Sheriffs, judges, and many more in this midterm.
If justice reform is important to you, voting in our midterms is vitally important.
We will be launching the ‘Be a Primary Voter’ campaign in July.
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The recorded working group meetings are only an hour long. If you are interested in these two groups or any of the others, please feel free to join.
Thank you for being a Nevadan with me,
Sondra
Vote Nevada Supporters,
I apologize if you receive this information twice.
Included in this message is the meeting recording, invitations to the upcoming Summer of Civics events, and some links for more information.
This is the meeting recording: https://vote-nevada.news/Legislative-Review-Recording
You can access the legislature’s website here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/
Summer of Civics Working Groups
People’s Interim Committee: This working group will identify policy issues that failed to advance during the past legislative session but could be addressed by another level of government. We will also explore what needs to be a priority for the next legislative session. People Centered Workforce Development and Lifting People Out of Poverty will be top priorities.
June 14th from 9 to 10 am via Zoom, RSVP: https://vote-nevada.news/Peoples-Interim-Committee
Preparing for the 2026 Election Cycle: Vote Nevada will provide guidance on how to run for office, while working group members will develop an advocacy agenda for the election cycle and discuss community events that candidates can also attend. The focus will be on the community.
June 15th from 9 to 10 am via Zoom, RSVP https://vote-nevada.news/Preparing-for-2026
Create a 2026 Civics Voter Guide: This will be an electronic voter guide that offers civics information as well as candidate information. We will need volunteers to help gather election and civics information that we can include to help new voters.
June 21st from 9 to 10 am via Zoom, RSVP: https://vote-nevada.news/Civics-Voter-Guide
Civics Education & Engagement 101: This working group will discuss strategies for engaging with reluctant voters. Telling people they don’t understand the importance of voting or trying to shame them into voting can backfire. We need some conversation prompts that acknowledge why a voter may choose not to vote as a solution. Young voters, in particular, need to be heard first.
June 22nd from 9 to 10 am via Zoom, RSVP: https://vote-nevada.news/Civics-Ed-Engage
Ballot Questions 101: We will discuss the ballot question process, including which ballot questions will appear on the 2026 ballot and potential additional ballot questions that may be added.
June 28th from 9 to 10 am via Zoom, RSVP: https://vote-nevada.news/Ballot-Questions-101
Oral History Project: This working group will gather evidence for possible bills in the 2026 legislative session. Our first project involves interviewing women who have worked or are currently working in the trades, allowing them to share their experiences. We need to understand why there are so few women in the trades, which offer jobs that lift people out of poverty.
June 29th from 9 to 10 am, via Zoom: https://vote-nevada.news/Oral-History-Project
Feel free to join as many working groups as you’d like.
You can subscribe to the Vote Nevada Blog here: https://vote-nevada-blog.org/
You can subscribe to my Substack Blog here: https://sondracosgrove.substack.com/
Thank you for being a Nevadan with me,
Sondra
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. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA
Vote Nevada Supporters,
We are approaching the end of the legislative session, and unfortunately, we still have many unknowns. The budget is a large part of the problem, but our legislative leadership and the Governor still haven’t reached an agreement on some major policy issues.
Donor organizations seem to have the most pull right now, but if you have bills that haven’t died, we still have over a week left for advocacy. The session ends on June 2nd.
We can also start planning for summer! ~
With the temperature rising, it’s almost time for Vote Nevada’s Summer of Civics 2025.
Here is our current list of topics/events:
*The People’s Interim Committee: Review bills that died to extract good ideas that local government can address.
*Discussion on amending the U.S. Constitution: Are we due for the next round of amendments?
*Recording oral histories: Women in the trades.
*The ballot question process and what’s in store for 2026.
*Workshop: Learn how to run for office as a nonpartisan.
*What does a people-centered workforce development agenda include? Workforce development must be more than just training people for jobs.
*Getting ready for the 2026 election cycle: Civics education, voter resources, community events.
I will send out more information, including the Zoom links, as soon as I have dates and times.
Thank you for being Nevadans with me,
Sondra
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. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through
PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA
Vote Nevada Supporters,
Here’s an update on yesterday’s Economic Forum Meeting.
Today’s brief Zoom meeting about yesterday’s EF meeting:
https://vote-nevada.news/Economic-Forum-May-2025
The article referenced in the presentation: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/fearing-slowdown-economic-forum-predicts-173m-less-for-forthcoming-nevada-budget
You can watch the Economic Forum meeting recording and see all the meeting’s presentations and data here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Interim2023/Committee/1973/Meetings
An explanation of Nevada’s budget process: https://sondracosgrove.substack.com/p/death-by-fiscal-note-and-the-state?r=en6px
Please let me know if you have any questions, and thank you for being Nevadans with me,
Sondra
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. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through
PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA
Vote Nevada supporters,
The second major legislative deadline happened last Tuesday, April 22nd. Bills needed to pass out of the first house to stay alive, which means Assembly bills needed an affirmative floor vote to move to the Senate, and Senate bills needed an affirmative floor vote to move to the Assembly.
Unlike the first deadline, however, which resulted in approximately 281 dead bills, this deadline only saw seven bills die, with 200 bills exempted. When a bill is exempted, it cannot die due to a missed deadline. Why do they have deadlines if deadlines can be easily ignored? Welcome to our legislature.
Something that cannot be ignored is this week’s meeting of the Economic Forum, scheduled for Thursday, May 1st, at 9:30 a.m. The legislature established the Economic Forum and its companion Technical Advisory Committee on Future Revenues in 1993 to estimate the amount of money available each biennium for the state budget.
You can read more about how we manage the state budget here: https://sondracosgrove.substack.com/p/death-by-fiscal-note-and-the-state
During the May 1st meeting, the Economic Forum Commissioners will decide if their December estimate was too high, too low, or just right. As we all know, economic indicators are falling due to uncertainty surrounding the tariffs and the Trump administration’s more aggressive foreign policy stance. The loss of Canadian tourism is already hitting Nevada’s bottom line.
You can review the Economic Forum reports and watch the hearing from this page: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Interim2023/Meeting/34580
We all expect the state revenue projection to be lower; we just aren’t sure by how much. Because Nevada is a balanced budget state, if the revenue projection is lower than the one in December, the Governor and legislative leadership must cut the budget.
Unlike what happened in 2008-2009 when the Great Recession started, our economy is not collapsing. Instead, what is happening now is more akin to what occurred in 2020-2021 when the pandemic struck. The question is: When will the current issues causing the economy to contract be resolved?
I am hosting a Zoom meeting on Friday morning, May 2nd, from 9 to 10 AM, to review the reports from the Economic Forum and the Technical Advisory Committee. If you’d like to join, you can RSVP here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/lYjJbN25Q6-kdJ9YwB8wpw
Thanks for being Nevadans with me,
Sondra
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. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through
PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA
Vote Nevada Supporters,
The first major legislative deadline was Friday, April 11th. Approximately 281 bills died out of about 1,000.
Budget issues are playing a role as we wait to see if Congress will demand the administration send encumbered funds to the states or if the administration will defy Congress and the courts. If that happens, about one-third of Nevada’s budget will disappear, especially for health care.
Budget issues are just one reason bills could die. Many dead bills in this round died because of opposition from interest groups or because a bill’s sponsor is a member of the party in the minority.
Unfortunately, in too many instances, voters’ views have become increasingly irrelevant compared to the power of special interests and donors.
Let’s kick off the Vote Nevada Summer of Civics a little early to ensure that good ideas aren’t sacrificed for money and partisanship. After all, it sure feels like summer. You can sign up for any of these working groups using the form at the end of this message.
Here are the activities so far:
Vote Nevada is, therefore, starting a People’s Interim Committee. One of the first things we can do is review dead bills to see if any part of them could be addressed in another way. For instance, could a county commission, city council, or board or committee implement even part of a bill?
If we can find workarounds for dead bills, at least in those instances, we won’t lose two years waiting to see if a bill can pass.
2. Responsive workforce development that ensures workers have a stable place to live, affordable transportation options, childcare, nutritious food, and comprehensive health care is another challenge that can’t be fully addressed during a legislative session.
So, we need a People’s Interim Committee group that can find ways to focus on building up workers while we engage in workforce development.
3. Some community members have volunteered to offer Run as a Nonpartisan Candidate workshops this summer. These helpers have experience running for office and managing campaigns. So, if you’ve ever thought about running for office, please sign up for more information.
4. If you’re more interested in working on ballot questions, we have some already in mind for 2026, but we’d like to hear yours as well.
5. Public civics education is more important than ever, so if you’d like to create resources to help more Nevadans be confident voters, we also have a group for you. This group includes opportunities to practice leadership skills and communication strategies.
I’m sure we’ll add more activities by the time it officially hits 100 degrees in Vegas, but this is a good place to start.
Please sign up today: https://vote-nevada.news/Summer-of-Civics-2025
Thank you for being Nevadans with me,
Sondra
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. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through
PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA
RSVP: 
Vote Nevada 