8 minute read
News
from Dec. 10, 2015
Tug of war over school grants
Critics of the state program that pays parents to take their children out of public school say the latest step has been bungled by State Treasurer Dan Schwartz.
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On Nov. 30, Schwartz posted a notice saying he plans a December 21 hearing on adoption of implementing regulations for the program. “Of course, that falls short of the required 30-day notice for regulation adoption contained in the Administrative Procedures Act,” wrote one of our readers in an email message—who also said that after signing up to receive Treasurer’s meeting notices, she received several but not the Dec. 21 notice.
Nevada Revised Statute 233B.060 reads, “the agency must … give at least 30 days’ notice of its intended action, unless a shorter period of notice is specifically permitted by statute.”
Schwartz spokesperson Grant Hewitt responded, “The posting that is being referenced was actually updated on November 25, and was merely an update to the original posting that was done on October 22nd. As you may remember, the hearing on November 23rd was delayed because our office did not receive final draft regulations back from LCB until November 19th. In an effort to allow Nevadans the ability to comment on those regulations, as is the purpose of the adoption hearing, we chose to delay the hearing until December 21st. So this is not actually a new posting but rather an updated one.”
Our reader, Joyce Newman, said she intends to file an open meeting complaint.
Meanwhile, reaction grew to Schwartz’s plan to give grants to families that are not eligible.
The statute says the funds are available only to parents who remove their children from school after at least 100 days. Schwartz says he intends to give grants to military families just arrived in the state, anyway. Legislative lawyers have said that is outside his authority.
Schwartz portrayed it as a matter of supporting the troops.
“Nevada has long stood by its military families and veterans, and the [grants] program is no exception,” he wrote.
Las Vegas columnist Steve Sebelius wrote, “Unfortunately, no matter how much we may dislike it, the black letters of SB302 don’t yield to the wishes of the treasurer, ESA parents, the governor or anyone else.”
The final arbiter would be the courts, if the military issue is brought to them.
Czardom to be established
U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid announced this week he would sponsor legislation to create an Islamic State “czar.” He said he envisioned a federal employee who is “empowered to unify the federal government’s efforts.”
The federal government has occasionally used officials with enhanced powers, informally called “czars,” in fields like energy and illicit drugs. They have not been noted for great effectiveness, though during the 1940s—when the nation was greatly unified in wartime— they had better reputations.
The White House last week announced Robert Malley would handle all things related to IS. Reid’s bill would enhance his powers.
Robert Loggia 1930-2015
A familiar performer in Nevada movies and television programs has died. Robert Loggia was 85.
Loggia played a lot of tough guys and—later in his career—gruff but lovable grandfathers. Among his movies made or set in Nevada were The Greatest Story Ever Told, I Love Trouble, The Marrying Man, Independence Day, Prizzi’s Honor, and Over the Top. He also made two guest appearances in the Nevada television series Vega$. Loggia’s gravelly voice also make him useful in animated productions like Family Guy. Years LOGGIA after he made the movie Scarface, he also voiced a video game, Scarface: The World Is Yours.
Aiming at 2016
Tragedies fuel measures to keep guns from unsafe hands
Those who thought, or hoped, that U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s retirement might by make him less of a presence in Dennis Myers Washington, D.C., were disappointed last week as Reid led an effort to get Republicans on the record on gun control votes. In the wake of the Colorado Springs and San Bernardino tragedies, Reid—a longtime supporter of gun rights—said he and his Democrats would use a GOP effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act to try to pass amendments curbing guns in dangerous hands, such as those of terror suspects.
U.S. Sen. Harry Reid Nevada Democrat
In tweets posted on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3, Reid said, “We cannot allow ourselves to grow numb to gun violence or to feel powerless in the face of it. ... Gun violence has become a cancer on this nation. We must make common sense gun reforms that keep weapons out of dangerous hands. … We’re going to force the Senate to vote today on amendments that do something to stop gun violence.”
In a hallway news conference, he said, “We can start by passing improved background checks legislation. I know that the thought of upsetting the National Rifle Association scares everybody, especially my Republican colleagues. You know what scares the American people? Gun violence.”
Reid himself has received support from the NRA and worked with the organization in opening a shooting range in Clark County, but he differs with the group on types of weapons.
Sen. Ted Cruz raised the fever of the battle with this comment: “The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats. The media doesn’t report that. What they report—and there’s a reason why the Democrats for years have been viewed as soft on crime—because they go in and they appoint to the bench judges who release violent criminals.”
The Democrats were taken aback by the claim. Sen. Richard Durbin, the assistant Democratic leader, said when told of it, “What? Did he say that? No, that was Trump. It was Cruz? These guys are competing with one another, aren’t they?”
Reid went onto the Senate floor and mentioned Cruz’s Ivy League background: “That’s really quite stunning, that someone who, with the academic background of the junior senator from Texas, can’t read a simple report. ‘The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats.’ Think about that. Fanning the flames of intolerance is
U.S. Sen. Harry Reid said last week the National Rifle Association has become an adjunct of the Republican Party. At left is Reid’s Nevada state director, Mary Conelly.
un-American. We’re better than this.”
It was the second time he used that last phrase. On the day of the San Bernardino events, Reid said, “Gun violence has become a cancer on this nation. We are better than this. Too often we are turning on our televisions to scenes of horror like those we are witnessing today.”
The Cruz claim was quickly subjected to scrutiny by factchecking websites, including FactCheck and the Washington Post, which found Cruz’s comment incorrect. FactCheck reported, “The claim is based on research that found a majority of ex-felons in three states registered as Democrats. But that was a study of all ex-felons, not just violent criminals, as Cruz framed it. Also, a follow-up study of three additional states by the same authors found the majority of ex-felons in those states were neither Republican nor Democrat. Another study estimated ex-felons are more likely to vote Democratic than Republican, but the authors caution that that doesn’t mean criminality is associated with partisanship. Rather, it is a reflection that those in the criminal justice system are more likely to be black, Latino or poor whites.”
Reid originally intended to sponsor an amendment of his own barring gun ownership to those convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994. But he later yielded the sponsorship role to others.
An amendment sponsored by California’s Dianne Feinstein would have barred people on the federal terror watch list from gun purchases. The measure was defeated 44-53, with Republican Mark Kirk of Illinois voting with the Democrats, and Democrat Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota voting with the Republicans.
An amendment providing for background checks before online and gun show purchases can take place failed 50-48, with Republicans Kirk, Susan Collins of Maine, John McCain of Arizona, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania joining the Democrats. Democrats Heitkamp and Mark Warner of Virginia voted with the Republicans.
Republican John Cornyn offered a GOP alternative to that one, permitting the attorney general to delay a suspect terrorist from obtaining guns for 72 hours and requiring a court order to stop the sales. It went down 55-44, with Kirk voting against it and Democrats Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe
Manchin of Wyoming voting for it.
And Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa introduced an amendment to increased funding for criminal prosecutions of those who fail background checks. It would also have made straw purchases criminal and offered incentives for states to contribute to a national mental health data base. It failed 53-46, with Donnelly voting for it and Kirk and Mike Lee of Utah in opposition.
In the end, the inaction in Congress led to headlines like this one in Fortune magazine: “Washington Won’t Do Anything on Gun Laws.”
It’s unlikely Reid ever expected any of the measures to pass. It is more likely that he wanted to put Republicans on record on the issue in order for the votes to be used in the 2016 campaign.
While all this was going on in D.C., California Gov. Jerry Brown—dealing with the aftermath of San Bernardino—said one of the weaknesses of gun control is differing state laws.
“California has some of the toughest gun control laws of any state, and Nevada and Arizona are wide open, so that’s a gigantic back door through which any terrorist can walk,” he said.
Though some right wing sites claimed Brown was asserting that the San Bernardino guns were purchased in the two adjoining states, he did not say that. But his comments did throw a light on how porous some state laws are and on changing sentiments after the mass killings.
In Nevada, criminal and mental health background checks are required before purchases from licensed dealers. No such checks are needed for gun show and private purchases.
An initiative petition to mandate background checks on private and gun show firearms purchases has qualified for the Nevada ballot after receiving 242 percent of the needed 102,000 signatures. It is sponsored sponsored by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and has been endorsed by appointed Nevada Board of Education president Elaine Wynn and the Las Vegas Sun. It is opposed by Nevadans for State Gun Rights and the Nevada Firearms Coalition. Ω
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz Texas Republican
Lights
On 25 Kislev/Dec. 6, celebrants and Controlled Burn staffers made preparations on First Street in the hours before Hanukkah was commemorated in downtown Reno. The celebration commemorates the liberation from Hellenic control of the Jerusalem Temple in 165 BC.
