Blurbs, Links, News Clips & Snippets

CARSON CITY – U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., today sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., asking them to schedule a vote on the No Budget, No Pay Act (S. 1981).

Saying he is frustrated with Congress’ “consistent failure” to pass a budget, Heller introduced the No Budget, No Pay Act. This bill requires Congress to pass a concurrent budget resolution and related appropriations bills in order to receive pay. Pay is not awarded retroactively if Congress passes a budget after the deadline has passed.

In his letter, Heller said in part: “More than three years have passed since Congress adopted (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval’s recent agreement with on-line retailing giant Amazon to begin collecting Nevada sales tax on purchases is unlikely to see federal legislation supporting the policy from Nevada’s junior senator.

The deal reached by Sandoval and Amazon is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2014, or sooner if federal legislation is passed to allow states to collect revenues from internet purchases.

Sandoval said today he has discussed the issue with U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, but that Heller is opposed to such legislation at the federal level.

Gov. Brian Sandoval. / Nevada News Bureau file photo.

“I have spoken with Sen. Heller,” (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY – Secretary of State Ross Miller today announced a social media awareness campaign to encourage Nevadans to register to vote ahead of the June 12 primary election.

“While many of you are registered voters, we all know someone who hasn’t updated his or her address after moving residences or completed a voter registration card after moving to the state,” Miller said. “You can remind them that there is still time to register to vote or update their information for the June 12 primary election.”

Miller is asking Nevadans to join him in promoting the voter awareness campaign.

“It only takes a few seconds to update your Facebook status (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY – The campaign of 4th Congressional District candidate Danny Tarkanian has responded to a complaint filed with the Federal Elections Commission by the Nevada state Democratic Party, saying any errors will be “remedied immediately.”

The campaign issued a statement that said: “Although the campaign has yet to receive an official copy of the complaint from the FEC, we have seen copies provided by the press and are in the process of reviewing the facts in order to respond in a timely and accurate manner.

“After we complete our review of the complaint and the facts, any errors in the reports will be remedied immediately, and any other issues (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY – Nevada has dropped two spots to rank 12th in the latest survey of company executives on the best and worst states to do business.

In the eighth annual survey by Chief Executive magazine of chief executive officers, Texas claimed first for the eighth time, and California came in last for the eighth time.

This year 650 business leaders responded to the 2012 survey, up from 550 in 2011.

CEOs were asked to grade states in which they do business on the issues of tax and regulation, quality of workforce and living environment. The results were released earlier this week.

While Nevada continues to rankly (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY – Today, the Nevada State Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission regarding what it says are numerous irregularities in the first quarter FEC report of Danny Tarkanian for Congress.

The alleged irregularities include Tarkanian’s failure to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign debt leftover from his failed 2010 Senate campaign.

The Tarkanian campaign responded Friday to the complaint.

Tarkanian, a Republican, is running for the new 4th Congressional District seat created in the 2011 redistricting process. He ran in a crowded GOP primary in 2010 for the U.S. Senate seat held by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Sharron Angle (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY – Secretary of State Ross Miller today released voter registration numbers that show nearly 9,500 Nevadans registered to vote in April, with Democrats adding 1,638 more voters than Republicans.

The Secretary of State’s Elections Division reports that Republicans increased their number of active voters by 2,277 while Democrats increased active voters by 3,915. At the end of April, 392,050 active Republican voters and 428,774 active Democratic voters are registered in Nevada.

Photo by Tom Arthur via Wikimedia Commons.

Registered nonpartisans increased their number of active voters by 2,485 in April, bringing the statewide total to 168,225. In all, active Nevada voters total 1,049,004, an increase (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY — The final day for Nevadans to register to vote by mail or electronically is less than two weeks away, per a press release reminder today from Secretary of State Ross Miller

Key 2012 election deadlines: 

May 12: Last day to register to vote by mail (or electronically at www.registertovotenv.com for Clark County residents)

May 12: Last day for military and overseas citizens to register to vote. Military and overseas citizens are encouraged to fill out the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to register and request an absent ballot at the same time. The FPCA can be accessed here and at www.fvap.gov.

May 22: Last day to register to vote (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY – Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., today introduced legislation to accelerate the process for transferring small parcels of federal land to local communities.

The “Small Lands Tracts Conveyance Act,” H.R.4976, is aimed at reducing the decade-long process that now exists for many land transfers in Western states, even those that are noncontroversial, he said.

Amodei, who represents the 2nd Congressional District covering much of rural Nevada, said that while such transfers need to be scrutinized, the bureaucratic regulatory maze and slow legislative process are the main culprits in dragging out the transfers.

Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev.

“Why should it take more than 10 years for the Bureau (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY – Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., today said she will introduce legislation to permanently end a Bush era ban on cities -  including Las Vegas and Reno – from hosting federal agency and executive branch conferences and conventions.

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said he will join Berkley in the effort.

A similar effort in 2009 by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., did not pass.

Heller and Berkley are both seeking the same U.S. Senate seat, filled by Heller in 2011 when he was appointed to the post by Gov. Brian Sandoval.

The announcement by the two Nevada members of Congress comes as the fallout (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY – Republican Assembly District 37 candidate Wes Duncan today called on his Democratic opponent, Assembly Majority Leader Marcus Conklin, to cancel a pharmaceutical fundraiser in Napa, California set for Wednesday.

“With Nevada businesses struggling, I cannot believe that Assemblyman Conklin would hold a fundraiser in Napa, California,” Duncan said. “Assemblyman Conklin talks about promoting business in Nevada, but when it comes to his own campaign, he is happy to send his money out of state when most Nevadans are facing difficult times.”

Napa Valley. / By Aaron Logan, from http://www.lightmatter.net/gallery/albums.php {{cc-by}} via Wikimedia Commons.

Duncan said the state’s elected representatives should be focused (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY – Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., is praising the decision by the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands to hold a legislative hearing for H.R. 4039, the Yerington Land Conveyance and Sustainable Development Act, on Tuesday.

The hearing is an important first step before the bill can be marked up by the committee and brought to the House floor for consideration.

“For more than four years, the city of Yerington and Lyon County have worked on this sustainable development plan to enable all community stakeholders to benefit from an increase in adjacent private lands,” Amodei said in a prepared statement. “The (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY – Nevada is out of the running for next round of federal Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge funds to improve early childhood education.

Nevada submitted its application in November 2011.

The U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services announced today that $133 million from the 2012 Race to the Top fund will be available for continued investments in state-level, comprehensive early education reform.

The agencies have invited the next five applicants from the Fiscal Year 2011 slate – Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wisconsin – to apply for a share of the funds.

“The Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge has demonstrated the dedication (Continue reading…)

CARSON CITY – U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., today sent a letter to U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla.,  chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, requesting that his upcoming hearing focus on the misdeeds of the General Services Administration (GSA), not Nevada.

On Tuesday Mica announced his committee will conduct a hearing of GSA’s activities, including a training conference held in Henderson in October 2010. GSA chief Martha Johnson resigned after she dismissed two deputies and suspended other career employees over the incident.

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev.

“Heller’s letter says in part: “I agree that the GSA’s actions are inexcusable. Taxpayer dollars should be spent (Continue reading…)

Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller today released voter registration numbers that show Democrats registered 1,590 more voters than Republicans in March.

The Secretary of State’s Elections Division reports that Republicans increased their number of active voters by 954 whereas Democrats increased active voters by 2,544. At the end of March, 403,565 active Republican voters and 452,219 active Democratic voters are registered in Nevada.

Registered nonpartisans increased their number of active voters by 2,046 in March, bringing the statewide total to 175,992. In all, active Nevada voters total 1,095,017, an increase of 6,076 from the previous month.

The latest voter registration breakdown by county, party, age, and district can be found here at the Election Center.