Rep. Mark Amodei Says House Republicans Will Reject Short-Term Senate Payroll Tax, Jobless Benefit Fix

By Sean Whaley | 9:09 pm December 19th, 2011
Updated 9:09 pm December 19th, 2011

CARSON CITY – Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said today that Republicans in the House do not believe a 60-day stopgap response to expiring tax breaks and unemployment benefits as approved by the Senate is a workable solution.

Amodei, in a telephone interview this evening with the Nevada News Bureau, said the temporary fix is unworkable for the business community and creates too much uncertainty that could threaten job creation efforts. Congress needs to approve legislation resolving these issues for a full year, he said.

Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev.

As a result of the concerns, Republicans in the House are going to reject the (Continue reading…)

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Nevada’s Jobless Rate Falls To 13 Percent In November, First Drop Since May

By Sean Whaley | 4:31 pm December 19th, 2011

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s unemployment rate fell in November for the first time since May, to a seasonally-adjusted 13 percent, a state agency reported today. The rate is down nearly two percentage points from the same time last year, pushing the estimate of jobless Nevadans down to 171,800 from 198,200.

The rate dropped four-tenths of a percentage point from October’s 13.4 percent rate.

“This month’s unemployment number, while still unacceptably high, shows that we are starting to see steady increases in hiring,” said Gov. Brian Sandoval. “In addition to a trend of adding jobs on a consistent basis, we are beginning to see increased signs of growth. While the (Continue reading…)

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GOP Political Operative Sig Rogich Says Earlier Presidential Caucus Would Have Benefitted Nevada

By Sean Whaley | 3:54 pm December 19th, 2011
Updated 3:55 pm December 19th, 2011

CARSON CITY – Long-time Republican political operative Sig Rogich today disagreed with comments from former Gov. Bob List that Nevada is better off with a Feb. 4 GOP presidential caucus rather than the January date that had been proposed initially.

“Why in the world would you want to step back, and we’re not going to be rewarded for such a thing, all things being equal,” Rogich said in an interview on the Nevada NewsMakers television program. “I just don’t think that it makes any sense to be that far back when you have an opportunity to be up in play.”

Sig Rogich.

Rogich was responding (Continue reading…)

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Carson Judge Rules Anti-Abortion Initiative Petition Can Go Forward

By Sean Whaley | 1:26 pm December 19th, 2011
Updated 2:03 pm December 19th, 2011

CARSON CITY – A district judge today ruled against pro-choice advocates seeking to stop an initiative petition that proposes to outlaw abortion by declaring that life begins at conception.

An appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court is likely.

The 12-page judgment from Carson City District Judge James Wilson said the proposed constitutional amendment submitted by the Nevada Prolife Coalition does not violate a rule for ballot measures requiring them to address only a single subject.

Carson City District Judge James Wilson.

“Prolife’s initiative may have effects in various areas including common birth control methods, the treatment of ectopic pregnancy, in vitro fertilization treatment, and stem cell research,” Wilson (Continue reading…)

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Nevada’s Health Ranking Improves In New National Report, But Obesity, Smoking Remain Serious Concerns

By Sean Whaley | 2:55 pm December 16th, 2011
Updated 2:55 pm December 16th, 2011

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s overall health improved five spots this year compared to the rest of the nation but still ranks in the bottom 10, according to the 22nd edition of America’s Health Rankings.

Nevada’s health improved from 47th in 2010 to 42nd in the new report.

The good news: Nevada has a lower prevalence of obesity than other states, ranking 4th with 23.1 percent of the adult population identified as overweight.

Smoking has also decreased significantly in Nevada, from 29 percent to 21.3 percent of the adult population in the last ten years.

Photograph by Tomasz Sienicki via Wikimedia Commons.

But these positive developments mask just (Continue reading…)

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State Job Creation Efforts Move Forward With Funding Of New Economic Development Office

By Sean Whaley | 6:00 pm December 15th, 2011
Updated 6:01 pm December 15th, 2011

CARSON CITY – Efforts by Gov. Brian Sandoval and state lawmakers to encourage new business creation, relocation and expansion in Nevada took a major step forward today when the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee approved nearly $3.5 million to fund a new economic development office.

The funding will enable Steve Hill, executive director of the Governor’s Office on Economic Development, to develop a state economic development plan and hire the staff needed to move forward on private sector job creation efforts.

Steve Hill, executive director of the Governor’s Office on Economic Development. / Nevada News Bureau file photo.

The state plan, relying in part on research performed by (Continue reading…)

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State Lawmakers OK $65K For Ethics Commission To Hire Staff To Reduce Backlog Of Unpublished Opinions

By Sean Whaley | 4:29 pm December 15th, 2011
Updated 4:30 pm December 15th, 2011

CARSON CITY – The Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee today approved a funding request from the state Ethics Commission to hire a full-time attorney for six months to reduce a two-year backlog of unpublished opinions.

The request for $65,000 from the Legislature’s contingency fund provoked little comment from the panel, which is made up of the Assembly Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees.

The funding will allow the commission to catch up on about 60 ethics matters in which decisions have been rendered but the opinions have yet to be published.

Ethics Commission Chairman Erik Beyer told lawmakers that the funding is not the complete answer to the workload (Continue reading…)

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DOJ Reports $5.6 Billion In Fraud Recoveries In 2011, $8.3 Million In Nevada

By Nevada News Bureau Staff | 12:49 pm December 13th, 2011
Updated 11:35 am December 14th, 2011

CARSON CITY – The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that it recovered $5.6 billion in civil and criminal fraud efforts in 2011, a 167 percent increase over 2008.

In Nevada, recoveries totaled $8.3 million in 2011, a 137 percent increase over 2008 when $3.5 million was recovered.

Courtesy U.S. Department of Justice.

Of the $5.6 billion recovered by DOJ in 2011, over $2.9 billion was in health care fraud alone, the agency reported.

Nevada was one of 21 states where recoveries more than doubled.

“All across the country, the Department of Justice continues to move aggressively to protect the American people from fraud,” said U.S. (Continue reading…)

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Qualifications Of New Welfare Administrator Called Into Question

By Sean Whaley | 8:48 am December 14th, 2011

CARSON CITY – For the second time in two years questions are being raised about the qualifications of Diane Comeaux, a top state human services administrator, to do her job.

The director of the agency said he has complete faith in her abilities.

Mike Willden has appointed Comeaux, who currently serves as the administrator of the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS), to the administrator position over the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services (DWSS). The appointment will occur in early 2012.

Willden, director of the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), said Comeaux’s experience is “pretty much unmatchable when it comes (Continue reading…)

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State Board OKs $175,000 Settlement With Former Inmate To Settle Federal Lawsuit

By Sean Whaley | 4:40 pm December 13th, 2011
Updated 4:41 pm December 13th, 2011

CARSON CITY – A state board today agreed to pay a former prison inmate $175,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit stemming from his shooting by a correctional officer in 2006.

The Board of Examiners, made up of Gov. Brian Sandoval, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State Ross Miller, approved the settlement with former inmate Donald Hixon.

Hixon was serving a sentence for possession of a stolen vehicle at the High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs when he was shot by a correctional officer for fighting with another inmate. Hixon was not armed.

High Desert State Prison.

The correctional officer, Paul Chaffee, was (Continue reading…)

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State Board OKs $65K For Ethics Commission To Hire Staff To Reduce Backlog Of Unpublished Opinions

By Sean Whaley | 2:20 pm December 13th, 2011
Updated 2:21 pm December 13th, 2011

CARSON CITY – A state board today approved a $65,000 request from the state Ethics Commission to hire an attorney to help reduce a two-year backlog of unpublished opinions.

The Board of Examiners, made up of Gov. Brian Sandoval, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State Ross Miller, approved the request submitted by Caren Jenkins, executive director of the state Ethics Commission.

Caren Jenkins, executive director of the state Ethics Commission, spoke at the Board of Examiners meeting today. / Photo: Nevada News Bureau.

The request to tap a legislative contingency fund to pay the salary of an attorney for six months must (Continue reading…)

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Former Gov. Bob List Says Later Nevada GOP Caucus Date Will Help, Not Hurt, Nevada

By Sean Whaley | 3:09 pm December 12th, 2011
Updated 3:09 pm December 12th, 2011

CARSON CITY – Former Nevada Republican Gov. Bob List said today that he believes the state will have a critical role to play in the selection of the party’s nominee for president despite seeing the caucus date pushed back to Feb. 4.

“No, I think that being fifth actually has turned out to be better than being third,” said List, who is a Nevada State Republican Party national committeeman. “This race is certainly not going to be decided by the time Florida has its primary.

Former Nevada Gov. Bob List.

“We’re going to have the Iowa caucuses, which are non-binding on the delegates, then you’ve got New (Continue reading…)

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Nevada Gaming Revenues Jump 8.1 Percent In October, Baccarat A Key Factor In Win

By Sean Whaley | 2:44 pm December 9th, 2011
Updated 2:50 pm December 9th, 2011

CARSON CITY – Nevada casinos took in $961 million in October for an 8.1 percent gain over the same month in 2010, the Gaming Control Board reported today.

The Las Vegas Strip took in $561 million for a healthy, double-digit gain of 13.3 percent. A big reason was the $159.3 million in revenue taken in from the card game baccarat, a 74 percent increase over October 2010.

Washoe County saw a significant decline in gaming revenue, however, of 9.3 percent. Eight of the last 10 months in this calendar year have been down in the county.

For the fiscal year-to-date, gaming revenues statewide total nearly $3.6 billion, or (Continue reading…)

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Business Leaders Want Clear And Practical State Plan For Economic Diversification

By Sean Whaley | 3:38 pm December 8th, 2011
Updated 3:38 pm December 8th, 2011

CARSON CITY – A member of the panel charged with helping diversify Nevada’s economy and create jobs said today he wants to make sure the state plan developed to achieve these goals is a practical working document.

“I hope we have concrete definitions that go beyond buzzwords,” said Sam Routson, a member of the state Board of Economic Development.

The plan needs to be a working tool that the public can easily understand, he said. Routson is the chief administrative officer for the agricultural company Winnemucca Farms.

State Economic Development official Steve Hill, right, Gov. Brian Sandoval, and other state officials hear about the Brookings report in November. / (Continue reading…)

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State Ethics Commission Seeks $65K To Hire Staff To Reduce Backlog Of Unpublished Opinions

By Sean Whaley | 5:34 pm December 7th, 2011
Updated 5:34 pm December 7th, 2011

CARSON CITY – Faced with a two-year backlog of unpublished opinions, the state Ethics Commission is seeking $65,000 from a contingency fund to hire an attorney to help deal with the situation.

Photo by Tom Ventura via Flickr.

The request for funding from the Legislature’s Interim Finance Contingency Fund would allow the commission to contract with a temporary full-time attorney for six months beginning in January 2012 to help in getting the backlog of opinions written and published.

The funding request will first go to the state Board of Examiners on Tuesday. If approved by the board, made up of Gov. Brian Sandoval, Attorney General Catherine Cortez (Continue reading…)

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