You may remember from the recent special session the statutory changes the legislature needed to make to be eligible to apply for $175 million dollars in education funding from the federal “Race to the Top Program.” Having made the change removing the prohibition on the use of student test scores in teacher evaluations, the next [...]
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Nevada’s clean energy economy on the move: wind power
One of the most rewarding aspects of legislating is watching the progression of passed legislation and their results. In the next few days, “Renewable Generations”, a rebate program that combines new wind rebates with the wildly successful Solar Generations program, will open for business. A result of AB 178 that I sponsored and passed last [...]
Assembly District 24: More Democratic than ever
With the June voter registration numbers being reported by the Nevada Secretary of State, Assembly District 24 is now more Democratic than ever. In my first election in 2006, there were 6.7% more Democrats than Republicans. Now, with the 2008 election right around the corner, the advantage has almost doubled to 12.3%. What does that [...]
Endorsement news: faculty and conservationists
I’ve received news of two more endorsements of my re-election campaign in recent days: support from university faculty and conservationists. The Nevada Faculty Alliance represents educators at the Nevada System of Higher Education institutions. I’m honored to have the support of so many neighbors and friends in the higher education community, a particularly strong constituency [...]
Spending some time with Nevada Boys’ State
I had the privilege this afternoon of speaking to the American Legion’s Nevada Boys’ State program on the UNR campus. The program “develop[s] future leaders by educating and inspiring Nevada’s youth. [The] program strives to create an understanding of and appreciation for our democratic form of government while encouraging a commitment to future service.” The [...]
Discussion on proposed Nevada social studies standards
At tomorrow’s meeting of the Council to Establish Academic Standards, discussion will likely focus on proposed updates to Nevada’s social studies standards. Concerns expressed about the proposed standards include that they are overly broad, and somewhat vague (example: “Explore the lure (emphasis added) of the West, and the reality of life on the frontier as [...]
The next rodeo
Filing yesterday at the Voter Registrar’s office. “So are you going to run again?” It’s a question I’ve been getting ever since the end of session last summer. In the euphoria of feeling like I had just finished a marathon with flying colors, the answer came easy, “of course.” As I’ve watched the issues I [...]
Nevada NewsMakers
Check out my interview from yesterday’s Nevada NewsMakers where I discuss the Governor’s budget cuts, renewable energy and the need to diversify Nevada’s economy with Sam Shad and Scott Craigie. Nevada NewsMakers, March 3, 2008: Zipped wmv, 56mb, Zipped wmv, 8mb
Legislative wrap up
With plenty of wrap up articles available online, here’s a brief overview of how my legislative agenda fared over the course of the legislative session. AB 158 Living Wills Registry Perhaps the toughest piece of legislation I worked on this session was AB 158, the creation of an online registry for living wills. The legislation [...]
State of the State
Last night Governor Gibbons delivered his State of the State address. If you missed it on T.V., you can still watch the address or read it. Here are just a few of my thoughts following the Governor’s address: Water The Governor has proposed a study of our water resources and I look forward to this [...]
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