Behind the Bar is The Nevada Independent’s newsletter devoted to comprehensive and accessible coverage of the 2021 Legislature. 

In this edition: More details on Speaker Jason Frierson’s prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. Plus, another GOP effort to tax electric vehicle charging, return of the small business advocate office, what elected officials had to say about discrimination against Asian Americans and another Carson City Restaurant Spotlight.

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I want to hear from you! Questions, comments, observations, jokes, what you think we should be covering or paying attention to. Email me at [email protected].

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For reporters, heading into the Speaker’s office means it’s time to talk about a major piece of policy, or some kind of major upcoming development to watch for in the legislative session.

Monday was different.

My colleague Michelle Rindels and I headed into the office to interview Speaker Jason Frierson on a much more personal topic: his prostate cancer diagnosis and decision to undergo a cryotherapy treatment on Wednesday.

It’s an immensely personal thing to share. I think Frierson was mildly uncomfortable, at least at the start of the interview, with talking at length about the diagnosis and his decisions as they relate to treatment.

But Frierson didn’t have to share this much information — legislators tend to not really share too much about their personal health history or ongoing issues, especially as it relates to temporary absences from the legislative chambers. 

All accounts indicate that the procedure went well, and I believe that Frierson plans to participate in (virtual) committee meetings as soon as Thursday. 

But in the days since the interview and while writing the story itself, I’ve reflected on just why Frierson decided to share his diagnosis. Obviously, there is news value and a necessity to report that one of the two most powerful Democrats in the Legislature is battling cancer, but one thing that struck me in reviewing the transcript in how much of his focus was on spreading general awareness about prostate cancer.

“I just felt compelled to make sure that if there was one person ... that will go get tested when they turn 50, or one person that will follow up after they get a ... PSA (prostate-specific antigen test) that's higher than it should be for the age, then it's well worth it,” he said during the interview. “Just one.”

It’s pretty easy to get numb to the various pronouncements and awareness days (or weeks or months) that are announced almost daily in the Legislature. There’s a lot of them, and only 120 days to recognize them all.

But an announcement like the one Frierson made cuts through that monotony of floor speeches and recognitions, and makes it real. This is a man who many who read this newsletter have met, and who is concerned about whether he’ll be around to see his kids grow up. That’s real.

If anything, this should bring a little more attention to a preventable disease that nonetheless kills nearly 300 people a year. It should also bring more attention to a bill that I, in all honesty, probably would have skimmed over before this interview happened.

It’s AB187 — a bill that “Designates the month of September of each year as ‘Ovarian and Prostate Cancer Prevention and Awareness Month’ in Nevada.” It’s up for a hearing on Monday, and we’ll be covering it.

— Riley Snyder

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Electric vehicle tax again proposed by Senate Republican leader

Monday was not April Fool’s Day, Senate Minority Leader James Settelmeyer (R-Minden) told members of the Senate Growth and Infrastructure committee at the start of the week.

Yet the nominally anti-tax leader of the state Senate Republicans nonetheless is sponsoring a bill, SB191, that would levy a 10 percent surcharge (also known as a tax) on the sale of electric service to charge the battery of an electric vehicle or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

Settelmeyer hasn’t had a major change of heart on taxes (he introduced a similar bill last session), nor does he have it out for electric vehicle owners — telling committee members Monday that he’s one of the handful of lawmakers who owns an electric vehicle. He said his main concern was ensuring the solvency of the state’s Highway Fund — which is mostly funded through taxes on gasoline sales.

“We bought an EV based on the fact that it was economical,” he said. “We're able to get a used one for $8,000, and the fact of not having to contribute at all bothered me.”

The proposal attracted support from trade groups representing contractors, the petroleum industry and even the state’s Independent American Party, whose lobbyist Lynn Chapman in perhaps the understatement of the session said they “usually don't support taxes and fee increases” but thought Settelmeyer’s bill made sense.

But the legislation was opposed by a handful of clean energy groups, whose representatives said the bill would unfairly target electric vehicles and that lawmakers should take a more holistic approach to modernizing transportation infrastructure and funding.

“This bill only hurts the EV drivers who utilize public charging, which are generally those drivers who do not have access to home charging and live in multi-unit dwellings, which are usually the lower income drivers,” Plug In America lobbyist Katherine Stainken said. “And so this bill is seeking to ensure that the roads in Nevada are adequately funded by EV drivers? This bill makes no sense in accomplishing that objective.”

Settelmeyer — who at one point quipped that the DMV didn’t submit a fiscal note on the bill because they were “looking at the chances the majority party letting the minority party have a bill passed” — said he was open to amendments on the proposal, including potentially broadening the language to include other alternative fuel sources and sending a portion of the proceeds to county governments for transportation spending.

“Let's try to be far-reaching, so we don't have to come back and do this again,” he said.

— Riley Snyder

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Support for small businesses is on the horizon

Since the start of the COVID pandemic, 35 percent of Nevada's small businesses have permanently closed their doors. 

Lawmakers worry that unless the state provides more support, that percentage will only continue to grow.

One solution to the problem lies in an initiative Gov. Steve Sisolak touted in his State of the State address and was introduced as AB184. Sponsored by Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson (D-Las Vegas), the bill would establish an office of small business advocacy with staff dedicated to helping small businesses access resources and knowledge.

"Our small businesses need us more than ever," Frierson said during a Senate Government Affairs committee hearing Monday. "With the influx of federal, state and local resources available during these tough times, I see no better time for this office to exist, to help Nevadans navigate through these difficult times and find the resources in a central location to have the greatest chance of success."

The office would operate under the lieutenant governor's purview, acting as a central hub for businesses seeking advice, navigating bureaucracy and looking for support. A similar concept was introduced in 2019 but failed to advance out of the Senate.

But the program comes with a price tag. It’s projected to cost a combined $576,000 over the next two fiscal years, and $412,000 in future budget cycles, per a fiscal note attached to the bill. The dollars would fund two positions (one director and one associate or ombudsman) and help pay for a case management system and other start-up costs.

Businesses with 100 employees or less would have access to the program, Lt. Gov. Kate Marshall said. Reports from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that businesses employing fewer than 20 people account for 83 percent of all firms in the state.

Plans also include hiring a Spanish-speaking aide, and Marshall said that the office would seek to make sure that interpreters are available to help business owners in the language with which they are most familiar.

"One of the things you find when you're talking to small businesses is that [for] minority and women, [owning a business] is an opportunity for those demographics to move ahead economically in life," Marshall said. "It is a path, and it is a particularly American path. And so, the ability to serve diverse communities becomes very important."

— Tabitha Mueller

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‘Hate has no home in Nevada’: Leaders speak out against discrimination toward Asians

State and local leaders in Nevada are turning a spotlight on discrimination against Asian Americans in the wake of a shooting at Asian-owned spas in Georgia that left eight people dead.

Democratic Assemblywoman Cecelia Gonzalez, who is of Thai and Mexican descent, said on the Assembly floor on Wednesday that she was “heartbroken” by the news of the shooting that happened on Tuesday. Six Asian women were killed at three spas, and a 21-year-old white man was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the case.

“It is with a heavy heart I rise in support of my Asian brothers and sisters across the country as we continue to experience escalating rates of violence driven in part by fear-mongering and racism,” she said. “ I will continue to be a voice for all of our communities targeted by extremists, including my (Asian-American Pacific Islander) community, as long as our community continues to experience bigotry.”

Hours before the rampage, Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom requested the drafting of a resolution condemning and combating racism, xenophobia and intolerance against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

“This is a huge issue around the country,” Segerblom said at a meeting Tuesday. “Fortunately we haven't seen visible public signs of this happening in Las Vegas. But 10 percent of our population is Asian and it's important to be proactive and let them know that we stand behind them.”

During public comment, Craig Valdez, a member of the Clark County Asian American Pacific Islanders Community Commission, urged the commissioners to support the resolution as incidents of racism, discrimination, harassment and assault toward AAPI population have surged nationwide since the start of the pandemic. Asian Americans reported nearly 3,800 hate-related incidents between March 2020 and February 2021, according to a report released by Stop AAPI Hate on Tuesday.

“Fear of the novel coronavirus, which originated in China, has increased racist and xenophobic sentiments, creating a climate that hails back to the era of yellow peril,” Valdez said. “Hate has no home here in Nevada. Our community must come together to confront this hate and vitriol and work collaboratively across the lines of difference in the pursuit of justice and liberation.” 

— Jannelle Calderon

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By the Numbers: Behavioral health budget cuts

On Tuesday, members of a legislative budget subcommittee took a deep look at the state’s behavioral health budget, which suffered substantial cuts during the 2020 budget-focused special session. Here are some figures that stood out:

$38 million: The total dollar amount of budget cuts made to the state’s behavioral health budget accounts during the 2020 special session. Division administrators said most of those cuts have since been restored.

$176,000: The proposed reduction in the budget for the state’s problem gambling treatment program for each fiscal year in the two-year budget. If approved, the proposed cuts would be assessed and through the state’s Advisory Committee on Problem Gambling.

63: The number of individuals who, if the $176,000 in annual funding was restored, could receive treatment through the state’s problem gambling treatment program.

62: The current number of vacancies in the northern Nevada state behavioral health program. The governor’s proposed budget would keep 22 of those vacancies throughout the first year of the budget.

— Riley Snyder

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Carson City Restaurant Spotlight

I found myself a bit torn on Tuesday evening — should I start dinner or devote my full attention to the scintillating if dense panel discussion about mining taxes unfolding live on The Indy’s YouTube account?

I chose the latter, and decided to let the nearby pupuseria La Santaneca handle the food.

If you haven’t tried pupusas, they’re a staple of El Salvador cuisine that is essentially a chunky grilled tortilla stuffed with melty cheese, meat and other tasty accompaniments. They’re the ultimate savory, not-really-spicy comfort food best served with a side of spicy tax policy debate.

I ordered an assortment of pupusas filled with cheese, chorizo, beans, jalapeno and loroco (an edible Central American flower), and they came piping hot with little baggies of marinated cabbage and a mild red salsa to heap on top. I’d recommend two to three pupusas per person, which are between $2 and $4 a pop.

Even if you don’t have the sonorous voices of Jim Wadhams and Laura Martin as your soundtrack, La Santaneca is an abundantly worthwhile choice for your next takeout dinner.

Place your order (before 8:30 p.m.) at (775) 301-6678, and pick it up at 316 East Winnie Lane.

Have a restaurant suggestion for the Spotlight? Tell me at [email protected]. FYI: We’re not accepting free food in order to preserve the integrity of the reviews.

— Michelle Rindels

What we’re reading:

Three weeks until all adults can get the COVID vaccine, Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez and Megan Messerly report. 

Another calm, well-thought-out and reasonable debate about guns — this time on banning “ghost guns” and beefing up the banning of guns on private property.

An important read from Daniel Rothberg on swamp cedars, a “unique population of large juniper trees” in Eastern Nevada that’s sacred to Indigenous communities in the area. Sign up for the Indy Environment newsletter here.

If you need more Daniel in your life, or want to relive the YouTube comment flame war, check out our panel discussion on Nevada mining taxes.

AG Aaron Ford wants his office to have the same “pattern and practice” investigatory powers that the U.S. Department of Justice has (but stopped doing them in 2017). An interesting subplot in this Michelle Rindels story is the LVPPA continuing to break ranks with other law enforcement unions.

Our story on Monday’s bill introduction Deadline Day that wasn’t (my conspiracy theory is that there’s a big Bachelor fan in the legal division who didn’t want to miss the finale).

Another great installment in our Freshman Orientation series, on Assemblywoman Clara “Claire” Thomas (via Tabitha Mueller).

There have been a handful of bills introduced this session that affect public record laws. (Associated Press)

Residents of Empire and Gerlach held a screening of Nomadland, the Academy Award-nominated film that in part takes place in rural Nevada. Many locals are in the film, including the girl who asks Frances McDormand’s character early on if she’s homeless, but the nearest theater is 100 miles away in Sparks. (Reno Gazette-Journal)

Attorney Sigal Chattah spoke with the Review-Journal about her bid for attorney general. In semi-related news, Wednesday marks the one-month anniversary of her lawsuit seeking to open the state Legislature to the public, but as of Tuesday, attorneys for the Legislature haven’t actually been served with the lawsuit. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Most Nevadans who got their first COVID shot are following up to get their second COVID vaccine shot. (Nevada Current)

Not only did the Department of Corrections and Gov. Steve Sisolak not allow for compassionate release during a pandemic (5,460 inmates and staff contracted COVID, 56 died), but the office also suspended “good time” credits during the pandemic. Advocates say they’ve identified “817 people who should have received mandatory parole hearings and 71 whose sentences would have ended ‘if they would have received 60 credits they lost over the course of this year.’” (Nevada Current)

UPCOMING DEADLINES

Remaining Bill Introductions Deadline: 4 (Monday, March 22, 2021)

First Committee Passage: 22 (Friday, April 9, 2021)

Days Until Sine Die: 74 (May 31, 2021)