Titus charges Nevada legislature to keep it up

State lawmakers in Nevada serve as examples to their counterparts in Washington because they are putting state issues ahead of politics, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said in an address to a joint session of the Nevada Legislature on Thursday.

Titus also applauded lawmakers for guiding the state on a road to economic promise after the financial crises four years ago when Nevada was among the worst states for unemployment and foreclosures.

“I’m proud to brag about our recovery as we slowly moved in right direction, but while bragging must remember that we have a long way to go,” Titus said.

It is possible for America to reach unprecedented prosperity in the coming decade if elected officials work together on issues rather than entrenching along party lines, she said.

She continued that lawmakers on the federal and state level must make significant investments in people, transportation infrastructure and green energy.

Government must also focus on veterans issues, education funding and immigration reform — namely, opening up the visa program and ensuring students stay in the country after finishing their studies — if America is to remain an elite nation.

She also praised specific bills from both houses that have pushed the bounds of usual government.

“You voted to tax an industry that’s been exempt since they wrote the constitution, you moved toward repealing Nevada’s version of DOMA, and you’ve visited marijuana farms out of state,” Titus said to the amusement of the audience. “Madam Speaker, when you said this was not going to be business as usual you meant it, you’ve done a lot this session and I’m proud of it.”

Titus served in the Nevada Senate 20 years — including 15 as the Minority Whip — before a failed run at governor. She was then elected to Congress for the first time in 2008, but she lost re-election in 2010. She was then elected a second time last year.

Titus was the final member of the Nevada delegation to Washington to address this session.