Chair Vaughn Hartung is resigning from his position on the Washoe County Board of Commissioners to take a position on the board of the Nevada Transportation Authority.

The comments came as part of a sweeping 90-minute discussion with Nevada Independent CEO Jon Ralston in Las Vegas, in an interview that ranged from the governor’s new $11 billion budget to plans to critical comments Lombardo made over the state’s universal mail-in elections.

In the wake of Gov. Joe Lombardo’s State of the State speech, Democrats — who still control both legislative chambers — were quick to criticize the partisan elements of the address, even as they signaled they may support some funding priorities on bipartisan grounds. 

The proposal, which was released Monday evening alongside the governor’s biennial State of the State address, sets the general fund budget at $11 billion over the next two years, an increase of more than $1.7 billion over the current two-year state budget.

During his inaugural State of the State speech, Lombardo announced details of his proposed two-year $11 billion budget, shared Tesla’s plans for a $3.5 billion manufacturing facility in Northern Nevada and pledged to provide raises and bonuses for state employees, although to a lesser extent than former Gov. Steve Sisolak proposed last month. 

The Clark and Washoe County school boards are starting the year with new trustees and leaders who hope to help their districts navigate school safety and staff recruitment and retention challenges. 

Happy New Year! The House of Representatives is ringing in 2023 with an episode of administrative dysfunction unseen since before the Civil War.

In 2023, in spite of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s fierce criticism of the Steve Sisolak administration on the campaign trail, he kept even more. Ten out of the 17 cabinet appointments announced by Lombardo Friday were Sisolak holdovers

Dzurenda was appointed to lead the agency by former Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval in May 2016, and led until his departure under Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak in August, 2019. 

The new sheriff, who is taking over the state’s largest police agency after former Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo defeated incumbent Democrat Steve Sisolak and became governor, said he plans to avoid using the same failed strategies “over and over again.” 

“As we reap the promise of a new day, I want you to know I’m fully committed to putting the future back to where it belongs — in the hands of the people,” Lombardo said. “That is the Nevada way.”

Even late in his term, Gov. Steve Sisolak’s tenure was defined by his COVID response — a response he argued saved lives, even if it caused collateral economic damage. 

Steve Sisolak made history in 2018 by becoming the first Democrat to win the Nevada governor’s race in more than two decades. Click through the interactive timeline for highlights from Sisolak's term, which ends on Tuesday.

Across 54 Sisolak promises in the tracker, The Nevada Independent tracked 37 as “completed,” 10 as “failed” and six considered “compromised,” with one more left as “in progress.”

The very legality of the actual electors’ votes hinged, in part, on Cegavske’s presence at the ceremony. The Republicans who participated in the illegitimate ceremony without her, but apparently discussed trying to get her to join in, are under federal investigation.

The outgoing governor announced highlights less than two weeks before he leaves office. The state’s Economic Forum projected earlier this month that the state will bring in $11.4 billion in tax revenue in the next two-year budget cycle.