The Land and Water Conservation Fund, which uses money from offshore oil and gas leasing for public-lands conservation, would get $900 million a year under legislation advanced by the Senate last week.

Final passage on the measure is expected to come next week. The Senate voted 65-19 early Friday morning to cut off debate on the legislation, which would also provide $1.9 billion a year, for five years for deferred maintenance at the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Education.

The Senate vote comes as the House, which is controlled by Democrats, did not vote last week, but did hold hearings where members participated remotely. 

House Democrats released a legislative package last week, co-sponsored by Rep. Steven Horsford and Rep. Dina Titus, that would set nationwide standards for policing in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an African-American who died while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department. Floyd’s death has sparked protests around the nation against police brutality and systemic racism in America.

LWCF

Both Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Sen. Jacky Rosen supported the legislation to fully fund Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The two co-sponsored the measure when it was first introduced in March.

The fund benefits western states like Nevada, where more than 85 percent of the land is owned by the federal government.

“This legislation is a big win for Nevada, and for public lands and outdoor spaces across the country, and the Senator is hopeful that it will pass the Senate early next week,” said Cortez Masto spokeswoman Lauren Wodarski.

Rosen called the measure “a landmark bill” that “would take major steps to ensure that parks, forests, and other public lands in Nevada and across the country remain protected for future generations,” in a statement provided by her office. 

Approval of the bill came after the House in March 2019 passed a bill to permanently authorize the LCWF, which until then had only been authorized a few years at a time. The Senate approved that measure in February. 

Created in 1964, the LWCF is authorized to receive $900 billion a year and the bill advanced by the Senate last week would ensure that it receives that amount each year. The LWCF typically receives half that amount from congressional appropriators, who have discretion over how much to provide the fund. In fiscal 2020 it received $495 million, which was the highest level of funding it received in 15 years.

Policing reform

House Democrats, led by leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), unveiled the Justice in Policing Act on Monday. Horsford was present at the Capitol to help release the bill. 

The measure, which the House is expected to consider the week of June 22, would prohibit racial, religious profiling; ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants; end qualified immunity offered to police officers and create a police misconduct registry to prevent problem officers who are fired or leave one agency from moving to another jurisdiction without any accountability. The measure would also limit the transfer of military-grade equipment to local law enforcement agencies.

Rosen also came out in favor of the bill Friday. Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California also helped draft the House bill and are leading the Senate Democrats’ effort. 

“We must take action to address systemic racism and unjust behavior in our criminal justice system,” Rosen said in a statement. “The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 will help to establish strong standards for law enforcement training, accountability, and practices in our nation.” 

Kevin Gerson, a spokesman for Titus, said that Titus’ support is premised on her belief that “we need to bring structural reforms to police departments across the country to root out systemic racism.” 

Rep. Susie Lee said she has been in discussions with constituents, black community leaders and representatives of law enforcement and all want change. 

“They want funding for mental health care, social workers, and drug treatment to keep our neighbors and our police safe,” Lee said in a statement from her office. “They want to work together to root out the systemic biases we all know exist in not just our criminal justice system, but health care, education, housing, and throughout our society.” 

“I don’t support ‘defunding’ the police, but I’m not going to get caught up in political arguments when there’s so much that we agree on and need to act on now,” Lee added of the slogan used by progressive Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York.

Cortez Masto said that she too has been having conversations with members of the state’s African-American community, state legislators, members of the legal community, law enforcement and others. 

“I believe we need structural changes to address the racial inequities that exist in our justice system, in policing, and across all levels of government and society,” Cortez Masto said in a statement. “I’m reviewing the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 to assess its impact on the State of Nevada.”

A member of the CBC, Horsford also took part in a CBC forum on police accountability Thursday when he indicated that further legislation will be needed to tackle racism in the nation’s institution beyond the police forces. 

“Racism is the crux of the issue that we do have to address -- but it is not just racism in our police departments,” Horsford said. “It is racism in every other system: education, housing, health care, jobs. This is the first of many steps.” 

He added that the coronavirus pandemic will test state and local governments which will need to decide how to address racism with fewer funds than normal. 

“Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, our state and local government budgets are about to be severely impacted,” Horsford said. “Priorities are going to have to be set. We must ensure that our investments in our communities are used to combat this systemic racism for the future of our country.”

Rep. Mark Amodei, the only Republican in the delegation, said he believes there is “plenty of low hanging fruit” for bipartisan policing reform legislation, specifically, additional police training and making sure that bad actors are held accountable.  

Amodei said those are “two obvious areas to start...if the goal is we want our police forces to be more reliable, more sensitive, better trained and more responsible for weeding out the bad ones.”

He added that he does not believe there are a large number of bad police officers. When asked if he supports creating a registry of bad officers or repealing the qualified immunity officers have, Amodei said he wants to see what comes to the floor before deciding. 

“Let's wait and take a look at it,” he said, adding he does not want to create an industry out of people suing the police. 

House Republicans led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California are working on their own bill. 

Hearings

Members of the delegation also participated in several congressional hearings last week, including Rosen who questioned Small Business Administration Administrator Jovita Carranza about limits on SBA’s perennial Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and grant program.

The EIDL program is separate from the Paycheck Protection Program, which was created as part of the $2 trillion CARES Act. PPP loans don’t have to be repaid if the funds are spent on specific expenses, including keeping workers on the payroll. 

The SBA, in May, reduced the maximum EIDL amount that can be borrowed to $150,000 from $2 million. Borrowers that apply for EIDL are also eligible to apply for a $10,000 advance grant that does not have to be repaid. Now, that $10,000 grant has been capped at $1,000 per employee. 

“It's a 93% reduction with a $2 million level,” Rosen said at a hearing convened by the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Thursday. “Many Nevada businesses, of course, have contacted my office telling me that the $150,000 just isn't enough.”

Carranza told Rosen that the levels on both were reduced to provide aid to 5 million small businesses that applied for EIDL.

“It was a matter of realizing that we had 5 million applications already in the queue,” Carranza said, adding that the $150,000 was an estimate of the average expenses for a small business for six months.

“The grant was the same calculation,” Carranza added.

Carranza also said that the SBA has been encouraging borrowers seeking aid through EIDL to apply for PPP where—according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who also appeared at the hearing—$130 billion in unspent funds remain.

Rosen signed onto a letter with four other Senate Democrats Thursday urging Mnuchin and Carranza to issue guidance to ensure that child care providers are eligible to receive PPP loans and other small business pandemic aid.

“We have heard from child care providers in our states that they are facing significant obstacles to accessing the small business benefits created by the CARES Act,” the letter said, adding that banks have been reluctant to lend to child care providers many of which are sole proprietors that may not have formal business relationships with banks. 

At a Senate Finance Banking Committee hearing Tuesday on housing issues, Cortez Masto questioned Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson about what policies and programs HUD is working on to provide aid to African American, Latino, and low-income resident who are disproportionately suffering due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Carson said that, while HUD uses demographic data to draft policy, his agency works with the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, which works to address the underlying causes for those disparities.

Cortez Masto pressed Carson on what HUD is specifically doing, but Carson said that those problems require “an all-of-government approach” beyond HUD.

The Nevada Democrat was frustrated by Carson’s response.

“I appreciate the all-in approach.” Cortez Masto said. ”But you are the secretary of HUD, and so we’re looking for specific programs and policies out of your department to address the housing piece and I have not heard that and I think that’s the frustration we are hearing today from many of the senators.”

Titus also took part in a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing where she raised concerns about the benefits received by Transportation Security Administration screeners, also known as transportation security officers (TSOs,) as they perform their jobs during the pandemic. 

Titus said that six TSOs have lost their lives and about 640 have contracted the virus.

“And yet, unlike other federal workers, they lack adequate health and safety benefits,” Titus said. 

She also noted that the TSA no longer pays for the employer share of healthcare costs for part-time TSOs. Titus helped introduce a bill last month to restore that benefit.

Miscellany

Titus and Horsford introduced legislation last week that would prohibit the Trump Administration from using federal funds to restart explosive nuclear weapons testing, which would take place in Nevada.

The Trump administration has repeatedly advocated for policies that would compromise the safety of Nevadans, and this recent discussion of resuming nuclear testing in our state is yet another example of such disrespect,” Horsford said in a release.

The bill comes after the Washington Post recently reported that Trump discussed the possibility with White House officials. That drew condemnation from Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who called the idea “as reckless as it is dangerous” in a statement.

For a full rundown of the measures the delegates supported or opposed this week, check out The Nevada Independent’s congressional vote tracker and other information below.

SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO

Legislation sponsored:

S. 3913 – A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow an above-the-line deduction for attorney fees and costs in connection with consumer claim awards.

SEN. JACKY ROSEN

Legislation co-sponsored:

S. 3912 – A bill to hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct in court, improve transparency through data collection, and reform police training and policies.

REP. DINA TITUS

Legislation sponsored:

H.R. 7140 – To prohibit the use of funds for an explosive nuclear weapons test.

Legislation co-sponsored:

H.R. 7120 – Justice in Policing Act of 2020

REP. SUSIE LEE

Legislation co-sponsored:

H.R. 7172 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a tax credit for installation of regionally significant electric power transmission lines.

REP. STEVEN HORSFORD

Legislation sponsored:

H.R. 7172 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a tax credit for installation of regionally significant electric power transmission lines.

H.R. 7171 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow an above-the-line deduction for attorney fees and costs in connection with consumer claim awards.

Legislation co-sponsored:

H.R. 7140 – To prohibit the use of funds for an explosive nuclear weapons test.

H.R. 7120 – Justice in Policing Act of 2020

Disclosure: The Nevada Independent has received a PPP loan.