Jackson is believed to be the first formerly incarcerated legislator in state history. In Carson City he wants to build on his work as an organizer for progressive groups.

If these donors are to be believed, they decided what reforms we need, funded ad campaigns and a slick website, and all we need to do is vote yes to receive their ready-made “reforms.”

Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo is chairing a group called the Nevada Voter ID Coalition, and progressive group Battle Born Progress launched a PAC opposing the initiative.

If voters pass the measure, Nevada would become the third state to implement statewide ranked-choice voting, after Maine and Alaska.

Most Nevada progressive groups are backing Biden’s re-election — but not with direct endorsements — and are banking on young voters thinking Biden better serves their future, a strategy that could face challenges.

Laura Martin, executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) Action, said Lombardo’s plans for the coming biennium work for a “small percentage of people at the top” and not struggling Nevadans. 

Question 3 will ask voters whether they want to overhaul the state’s election system and fundamentally change the way people cast votes.

In this week’s Indy Environment, we report on a proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, authorizing the expansion of the Fallon Naval Air Station.

The lawsuits echo claims made by former President Donald Trump, who in the days following the 2020 election erroneously said that his campaign observers were denied access to ballot-counting rooms.

Mining association president Tyre Gray argued that for a bill to be applied retroactively, clear legislative intent must be expressed in the bill and he did not believe that was the case for AB495.

The event was a first not only for Winnemucca, but for many of the participants, too, evoking strong emotions about acceptance and belonging.

Nevada became the second state in the nation to enact a state-managed public health insurance option on Wednesday, with Gov. Steve Sisolak’s signature transforming a bill that hadn’t even been made public until six weeks ago into law.

The bill, AB495, was introduced late Saturday in the Assembly, marking the work product of days of furious, behind-the-scenes negotiations between Democratic legislative leadership, Gov. Steve Sisolak and representatives from the mining industry, teacher’s unions and other powerful political players. It’s been scheduled for a hearing on Sunday.

A bill to establish a state-managed public health insurance option cleared its first major legislative hurdle on Monday, passing the Senate on a party-line vote.

The fight over how Nevada conducts elections may have subsided since last year’s election but roared back in full view on Thursday, as state lawmakers held hearings on two measures that drew partisan battle lines and could have a profound effect on election cycles in the state.

With the legislative session almost halfway over, this week’s Indy Environment newsletter looks at several bills, including proposals to transition away from natural gas, change mining oversight and create new programs for how water is managed across the state.

This week’s Indy Environment newsletter looks at a legislative effort to protect a unique population of Rocky Mountain juniper trees in an area known as Bahsahwahbee, or “the sacred water valley” in Shoshone. For Indigenous communities, the area means everything.

Wadhams conceded that mining could pay more in taxes, but did not specify a number and warned that excessive taxation could drive mines out of business or drive the industry out of the state — and that commodity prices can be volatile and thus are not ideal for propping up the state’s tax base. Martin suggested that essential services including education and health care have been slashed in Nevada and that mining needs to contribute more to the state budget. And Malkiewich provided historical context and legal interpretations of a fight that dates back to the signing of the state Constitution in 1864.

Lawmakers are considering a bill brought forward by Attorney General Aaron Ford that would limit but not ban no-knock arrest and search warrants, though a proposed amendment with further restrictions has complicated support for the legislation.

As the fifth march kicks off virtually this weekend, Nevada organizers are reflecting on what the event means to them amid the pandemic and which issues they are tackling this year, as a new White House administration leads the country.