October 27, 2023
Senate Democrats’ focus for the next three weeks? Judges, judges, judges. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has vowed to use his remaining time controlling the floor to fill judicial vacancies, adding to the 220 that the upper chamber has confirmed through Joe Biden’s presidency. Senate Republicans are throwing roadblocks in their way — forcing full roll calls to proceed with votes, for example — but have been hampered by absences. Therefore, Democrats have been able to confirm numerous judges, and Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) have voted yes on the more than 20 judicial vacancy-related votes the Senate has held since the election, from ending debate on various nominees to their actual confirmations.
WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee will move forward with a virtual nomination vote for its presidential candidate as soon as Aug. 1, after its Rules Committee approved the process on Wednesday. The DNC has been moving forward with plans to hold a virtual nomination roll call since well before President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by former President Donald Trump’s campaign and its allies that sought to end Nevada’s practice of counting mail ballots received up to four days after Election Day. In a Wednesday ruling, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Miranda Du dismissed the case on the grounds that the plaintiffs — which also included the Republican National Committee (RNC), Nevada GOP and a Nevada voter — did not have standing to file the lawsuit, which alleged the state is violating federal election law by accepting and counting mail ballots postmarked by Election Day but received as many as four days after the election. The Associated Press first reported news of the dismissal Wednesday.
Pershing County voters chose two new county commissioners in the June 11 primary election - Connie Gottschalk and Charles (Chuck) Sayles. The outgoing commissioners are Larry Rackley and Shayla Hudson. In April, the 11th Judicial Court disqualified Wendy Nelsen from the race, finding she did not reside in the county. She disagreed but accepted the decision. Nelsen threw her support to Gottschalk and Sayles.
WASHINGTON — Republicans on the U.S. House Administration Committee argued at a Thursday hearing that there is a need for legislative action to bar noncitizens from voting in federal elections. Noncitizens are barred from voting in federal elections but they can vote in local elections if a local law is passed allowing them to do so. Certain municipalities in California, Maryland and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia, allow noncitizens to participate in local elections.
After a Republican floor rebellion last week kept his bill from getting a vote, Rep. Mark Amodei’s (R-NV) Mining Regulatory Clarity Act passed the House on Wednesday by a vote of 216-195. Six Republicans voted with Democrats to send the bill back to committee last week as part of an ongoing war with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) about his legislative decisions. There were further fireworks Wednesday — the vote was briefly postponed as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) brought a motion to vacate the speaker to the floor. But after both parties joined together and tabled that motion, the mining bill sailed to a smooth passage with the support of all Republicans and even nine Democrats.
Nevada’s general fund revenue is 5% higher so far in fiscal year 2024 than earlier forecasts from the state’s Economic Forum, Legislative fiscal analyst Michael Nakamoto told legislators Monday.
In the 2023 Legislature, small Storey County, 30 miles east of the Reno-Sparks area, won a major battle with some lawmakers in neighboring county and city governments. A coalition of some Northern Nevada lawmakers, first supported by Gov. Joe Lombardo, proposed to siphon off about 80 percent of the $50 million in annual taxes from the Tesla Gigafactory at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center that were due to Storey County when Tesla’s 10-year state tax abatements expired at the end of 2024.
When in doubt, just make it a study. It’s a common narrative in Carson City: When a promising but controversial bill has no realistic path forward, the bill becomes a study, conducted in the name of gathering more data and insight that might convince future lawmakers to take action. But some lawmakers this week expressed frustration at the prospect of “yet another survey” on an issue many feel is nearing crisis levels.
With fewer than 10 months until Nevada must allocate all funding received through the American Rescue Plan (ARP), state legislators on Wednesday agreed to pull more than $23 million in previously approved funding from various health projects unlikely to meet federal deadlines. Scraped funding included four state health projects and personnel in the agency responsible for children and family mental health amid hiring challenges. The de-obligations also included cost-cutting measures in certain ARP-funded projects, but also mean the state now has $47 million in unused ARP funds.
While he is not up for reelection, Gov. Joe Lombardo will hardly be a bystander in this year’s election cycle, and political observers believe his influence could play a role in the handful of races that decide whether he maintains veto power over the Nevada State Legislature. The Republican governor has largely embraced the narrative that he is Nevada’s last line of defense against unfettered Democratic control. Last year, he racked up the most gubernatorial vetoes issued during a single legislative session, a distinction he has welcomed.
A ballot measure to require and implement voter identification could now be up for a statewide vote this year after a Carson City judge rejected a legal challenge filed against it. In his Monday ruling, Judge William Maddox said the ballot initiative is constitutional because its description of effect (a 200-word summary of the measure included on signature forms) effectively conveys to voters what the petition does. The judge also said it does not contain an unfunded mandate — dismissing arguments the legal challenge levied against the petition.
In a Republican primary that did not feature former President Donald Trump, “none of these candidates” — a protest choice unique to Nevada — received more votes than former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
By Eric Neugeboren The Nevada Independent The Nevada Supreme Court will not decide whether the state’s civil forfeiture system is unconstitutional after the family leading the challenge agreed to a six-figure settlement. The legal challenge stems from the case of Sylvia and Elvin Fred, who have fought for years to retain control of their Carson City home after the government assumed control of the property from 2019 to 2022 under asset forfeiture, a process where law enforcement takes private property believed to be connected to a crime. Elvin was convicted of a drug trafficking charge in 2015, and officials recovered methamphetamine, firearms and cash from the home, according to the forfeiture application. Lawyers representing the family said that Elvin had faced multiple punishments for the same crime — the home seizure and a lifetime prison sentence with the possibility of parole — which they argued violated the state’s double jeopardy laws. As part of the settlement terms, the Fred family and prosecutors asked the high court to drop the case. The court dismissed the case Monday. Prosecutors declined to comment. The family received around $400,000 through the settlement, and the government has dropped efforts to reseize the home (the government had attempted to regain control of the home even after the family retook possession in 2022). The state government paid $350,000, while Carson City’s government covered $50,000. The family has already received all of the funds, Sylvia said. In an interview earlier this month, Sylvia said the settlement will get the family “back to square one.” The home had previously served as a place of refuge for Fred family members who were experiencing homelessness, but it had fallen into disrepair and become functionally uninhabitable while under government control. “That’s what the money means to us, is just almost the very beginning,” Sylvia said. “Again my family can be in a home that was intended for all of our family.” See COURT, Page 27 COURT — From Page 3 The settlement means that there will be no court-ordered changes to how the civil forfeiture process operates in the state. The Freds’ lawyers had hoped a court victory would require civil forfeiture proceedings law to be changed and for the process to be included in the original criminal sentencing. The forfeiture process has garnered pushback across the political spectrum, including from criminal justice reform organizations and libertarian groups that view it as an infringement on due process. But the Legislature has resisted reforms to the process. A bill last year that would have required a criminal conviction before a forfeiture proceeding could start, unless the forfeiture was part of a plea agreement, failed to get a final vote in either chamber. Another bill from the 2021 session that would have placed limits on the practice for low-level drug crimes also failed to pass. In 2015, legislators required that local law enforcement agencies report their forfeiture and seizure activity annually, and this year, the Legislature passed a bill expanding what should be included in those annual reports. From July 2021 to July 2022, law enforcement agencies in Nevada seized more than $5.5 million worth of property, with nearly $3 million ultimately being forfeited to the agencies, according to a report from the attorney general’s office. Sylvia said the family anticipated that it would win the Supreme Court case, but that her priority was her family and the legal process had already taken years. Elvin will be eligible for parole next March. Sylvia said she hopes that he will have a greater chance of success because the home will be livable again. “He does have a home to go to,” Sylvia said.
Gov. Joe Lombardo told The Nevada Independent last week that he plans to caucus for former President Donald Trump and will vote “none of the above” in the state-run primary. Lombardo made the comments in an interview less than a month before Nevada’s Republican presidential primary and a separate Republican caucus two days later, noting that he planned to participate in both contests to maintain his voting record with the state and caucus for Trump.
LACONIA, N.H. (AP) — U.S. presidential elections have been rocked in recent years by economic disaster, stunning gaffes, secret video, a Russian collusion hoax, Hunter’s laptop and a pandemic. But for all the tumult that defined those campaigns, the volatility surrounding this year’s presidential contest has few modern parallels. Not since the Supreme Court effectively decided the 2000 campaign in favor of Republican George W. Bush has the judiciary been so intertwined with presidential politics.
Six Nevada Republicans, including state party Chair Michael McDonald, pleaded not guilty in a Clark County court on Monday to felony charges brought after their attempt to pledge the state’s electoral votes to Donald Trump following the 2020 election, despite President Joe Biden’s victory in the state. The charges came nearly three years after the defendants participated in a fake signing ceremony outside the Legislative Building in Carson City on the same day the state’s actual electoral votes were cast for Biden.
A member of an immigrant advocacy group represented by well-known Democratic attorneys is suing to stop a question aimed at requiring Nevadans to provide photo identification before voting from appearing on next year’s general election ballot. The lawsuit, filed last Monday in Carson City District Court, argues that the ballot initiative is unconstitutional because its description of effect (a 200-word summary of the measure included on signature forms) does not reflect all of the question’s implications and would expend taxpayer funds as it does not have an identified funding source. Challenging the description of effect is a common tactic in Nevada to persuade judges to reject proposed ballot questions.
WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is making good on his promise to House Republicans to release more than 40,000 hours of U.S. Capitol Security tapes from Jan. 6, 2021.
The federal judge overseeing the lawsuit to block former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot denied a preliminary injunction and deferred ruling on a motion to dismiss the case last week.
The company managing the Northern Nevada State Veterans Home has not been transparent about its finances and violated certain contract requirements, according to a state audit released Thursday.
Monday marked the end of candidate filing for Nevada’s 2024 presidential nominating contests, with Democratic hopefuls and some Republicans filing for the state-run primary and the bulk of top GOP candidates filing for a party-operated caucus.
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