Carson City Update – May 12, 2019

It has been quite a week up here in Carson City as the Legislature begins its final sprint to sine die. But before I get to everything that is going on in session, I want to touch on what our team pulled off in Las Vegas this week.

Joe Biden brought his presidential campaign to Nevada for the first time on Tuesday, speaking at a union hall in Henderson.

Our team was out there offering the chance to play a Gaffes—a Craps-inspired game where each side of the dice has an infamous Biden blunder.

If you didn’t see our demonstration on social media, take a look here. We were fortunate to be spotlighted by two local television stations and a print report, while our video online has been viewed nearly 20,000 times.

Whether it’s quipping that you need an Indian accent to go to a Dunkin’ Donuts, inciting panic over Swine Flu, or joking about making women uncomfortable, Joe Biden should be used to embarrassing himself by now.

And he is going to embarrass himself once again when he loses his third attempt in over 30 years to be President of the United States. After eight years of the Obama/Biden policies that kept Nevada’s economy in the cellar, President Trump has our state booming. We can’t afford to turn back the clock now.

Just how good is our economy right now? As I mentioned last week, the payroll tax was slated to be cut because it was outperforming projections. Gov. Sisolak and Democrats in Carson City are desperate to pay off their special interests buddies, so they have been clamoring to stop the decrease.

Only problem? The 2/3 needed to pass a tax increase.

It would seem obvious that they would need 2/3 to stop the legislatively mandated decrease. The tax is supposed to be a certain rate in a couple months and the Democrats want it to be a higher rate.

With a supermajority in the Assembly, Democrats could easily pass it in that chamber, but they would need a Republican vote in the Senate since they don’t have a supermajority there.

Desperate to get it done, legislative leaders asked their “nonpartisan” lawyers for an opinion. Do they need 2/3 to raise the tax?

Well this week the lawyers came back and told them no, they don’t need 2/3. The attorneys bailed Democrat lawmakers out.

It’s defies logic to believe 2/3 won’t be needed to raise the payroll tax, which is why the Legislature is surely going to be sued if they don’t find a supermajority to vote for it and order Tramadol.

Call or email Republican Senators and ask them to hold strong and vote NO on this tax increase. Promises were made to cut this tax, and those promises should be kept.

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$350 Million…

A couple weeks ago I wrote you about Attorney General Aaron Ford giving his former law firm—Eglet Prince—a contract to sue opioid manufacturers on behalf of the state. It reeked of cronyism, and the Nevada Republican Party was on the forefront to point out the corruption.

Well now we’re finding out just how much our AG’s former firm is can make, and it is staggering.

Eglet Prince has the opportunity to cash in on nearly $350 million.

And say another Attorney General is elected before the litigation concludes and the contract was terminated, the state would have to pay the firm $700 for every hour it worked on the case.

Unbelievable.

People are finally waking up to this disturbing deal Ford cooked with his pals. Check out this column from The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Victor Joecks and share it with your local Republicans.
Nevadans need to know.

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Deadline…

Bills that passed out of one chamber already must be passed out of the other chamber’s committee by Friday, May 17.
That means we need all hands on deck for legislation we’ve been fighting all session.

One of those bills is the national popular vote. You don’t need me explaining how terrible this is again. You get it. We’ve been fighting tooth-and-nail for months to kill this dangerous legislation.

Call and email Senators and urge them to oppose A.B. 186.

The other bill we’re hyper-focused on is A.B. 291, the omnibus gun bill. We’re hearing there are Democrats uneasy about creating a patchwork of gun regulations by allowing counties to pass their own laws.

By allowing individual jurisdictions the ability to pass stricter ordinances than other counties, we will be making Nevadans unknowing criminals as they travel county to county.

That’s wholly unfair and is among many reasons this bill must be stopped.

Call and email Senators and urge them to oppose A.B. 291.

Once this bill is scheduled for a hearing, I will following up asking you to attend and speak out. We’ve got this bill on the ropes; now we need to finish the job and protect our Second Amendment.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out. Email me at josh.skaggs@nevadagop.org, or call me at 515-512-0858 and I would be more than happy to help you out.

And as always, if there are any other urgent matters before my next update, I will be sure to let you know. In the meantime, please forward this email to your fellow Nevada Republicans. It is crucial we keep people updated on what is going on in Carson City if we are going to ensure Republican voices are heard during the legislative session.

Thanks for all you do,

Josh Skaggs

Legislative Affairs Director

Nevada Republican Party