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Recent Nevada Forum Posts
Nevada News
- 10/22/08 - Voting Protection Victories and Voting Rights Threats
- 10/21/08 - Voting Protection Victories and Voting Rights Threats
- 10/13/08 - Metal Remains at Heart of Fallon Leukemia Inquiry
- 10/10/08 - Progressive States Network Voter Suppression Update
- 10/07/08 - Ballot Initiatives for Election Reforms
- 10/05/08 - Sen. Ensign's Position on Torture
- 09/29/08 - Cleaners' Chemical Lingers in Water, Soil
- 09/16/08 - In Nevada, Climate Change May Create Chances for Business and Profit, Observers Say
- 09/12/08 - Drugs Affect More Drinking Water
- 08/22/08 - Grassroots Direct Action: San Francisco Voters Nov. 4 Will Tell Their Congress Reps to Defund the War
- 08/21/08 - Water Scarcity Will Only Be Tackled If We Change the Way We Eat
- 08/15/08 - Mines Still Threaten Colorado River, Foes Say
- 08/05/08 - Las Vegas Bets on Environmentalism
- 07/24/08 - Has Your Town Declared Peace Yet?
- 07/02/08 - Freezing The Sun
- 07/02/08 - Not This Water
- 07/02/08 - Quenching Las Vegas' Thirst
- 06/30/08 - States Taking Initiative on Environmental & Climate Crisis while Feds Do Little or Nothing
- 06/24/08 - Harry Reid Puts Mining Reform in a Deep Hole
- 06/20/08 - Big Bad Boom: Radioactive Deja Vu in the Ever More Water Deficient American West
- 06/11/08 - Move Over MoveOn: Grassroots Netroots Alliance (GNA) Launches New Progressive Campaign to 'Press the Politicians'
- 06/01/08 - Tucson Residents Turning to Gardens
- 05/22/08 - Largest Privatization Deal in U.S. History Proposed for Pennsylvania Turnpike
- 05/15/08 - Center for American Progress: What Are You Paying for the War?
- 05/05/08 - The Forever Waste
- 04/22/08 - This Fish Story is True
- 04/04/08 - Vegas Resorts Find Gold in Going Green
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Help Keep Nevada Wild!
Gold Butte, in south-west Nevada is being threatened by the increase in people living in neighboring areas and the Bureau of Land Management has designated Gold Butte as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Action is need to help preserve this special piece of Nevada.
Congress can help preserve Gold Butte by creating a National Conservation Area with Wilderness Designation on the 350,000 acres of public land there. Please ask Nevada's congressional delegation to take the lead in making sure that this happens.
Take Action
Updated 7/23/08
Nevada 2007 Legislative Roundup
(From Progressive States Network)
Despite partisan stalemate over a number of issues, the Nevada legislature made serious reforms in education, clean energy, and open government this session.
In a major education bill, the legislature passed an increased budget that, among other things, increases per-pupil spending by 13% over two years, funds after-school programs, provides incentive pay for teachers in at-risk schools and hard-to-fill subject areas, adds full-day kindergarten to 63 schools, and creates 29 "empowerment schools", where principals and teachers have a greater say in how the school is run.
The Nevada legislature also passed a raft of clean energy and environmental legislation:
- SB 422 enacted new rules that require the state to compile an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, although the provision of the bill that would have required mandatory emissions reduction was removed.
- AB 115 increased staffing at the state Division of Environmental Protection to regulate and monitor mercury emissions.
- AB178 creates a net metering system that allows customers generating renewable energy to pump surplus power into the power grid and draw on credits later, while also banning the sale of low-efficiency light bulbs by 2015.
- SB 347 encourages schools and other public entities to use renewable energy such as wind and solar, while creating new residential incentives for energy conservation by requiring utility companies to evaluate energy consumption for residential properties.
- AB 396 restricted the power of Homeowners' Association from restricting members from installing solar panels or other insulation measures to promote energy efficiency.
- The state also fixed overgenerous tax breaks previously offered to "green" buildings.
To promote more open government, the legislature expanded open meeting rules to apply to the state Tax Commission to bring greater scrutiny of large corporate tax breaks and require government bodies to make requested public records available within five business days.
On criminal justice issues, the legislature expanded "good time" credits to encourage the release of more than 1200 inmates in the next two years. The legislature also changed the treatment of mentally ill people convicted of crimes by restoring a "guilty but mentally ill" plea abolished in a previous session and maintaining treatment for inmates released from state hospitals.
The legislature restricted payday loans and banned balloon payments and extensions at the end of the loan term. The bill also banned collection action against families of military personnel who are deployed in combat.
While more comprehensive health care reform is needed, the legislature did pass a prescription drug card program, which lets all residents acquire the cards for free and secure a roughly 20% discount on drug prices.
2008 Special Session
Governor Jim Gibbons called the Legislature into a rare special session to address the state's budget woes. A housing crisis and slowing tourism industry have left the state facing a $1.2 billion shortfall in the current two-year budget cycle. Lawmakers and the governor already have slashed operating budgets, delayed building projects and drawn down the rainy day fund to make up for $914 million of the gap. Under legislation approved during the special session, the remainder budget deficit will be closed by an additional 3.3 percent cut - $106 million - in reductions to agencies' operating budgets. While legislators approved a mixture of budget cuts, including $48 million from textbooks and instructional supplies for K-12 education, they were able to avoid deferring a four percent cost-of-living raises that teachers and state workers were promised effective July 1. Governor Jim Gibbons has until July 9 to act upon legislation that reaches his desk.
Take Action. Support Green Jobs!
The Green Jobs Act of 2007 authorized $125 million per year to create an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Worker Training Program as an amendment to the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The Green Jobs Act (GJA) is an initial pilot program to identify needed skills, develop training programs, and train workers for jobs in a range of industries - including energy efficient building, construction and retrofits, renewable electric power, energy efficient vehicles, biofuels, and manufacturing that produces sustainable products and uses sustainable processes and materials. It targets a broad range of populations for eligibility, but has a special focus on creating "green pathways out of poverty."
Congress has not yet appropriated money for the Green Jobs Act. Please contact your Senator today and urge them to fund the Green Jobs Act of 2007!
Read more at Green for All's web site.
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