Primary election guide: Assembly District 40 Republican candidates

The four candidates running for the Republican nominee for Assembly District 40 are featured in the Nevada Appeal’s Primary Election Guide. The top vote-getter will advance to November’s general election to face off against Democrat Michael L. Greedy and Independent American candidate John Wagner. The term is for two years.

Sam England

Residence: Washoe Valley

Occupation: Physician Assistant

Age: 31

Contact information: Sam@SamEnglandforNevada.com; SamEnglandforNevada.com; 775-600-2472

Record of Service: Nevada Army National Guard since 2002; currently serving as a 1LT; Deployments: Iraq 2007; Afghanistan 2009

Education: Attended Interservice Physician Assistant Program (IPAP) through the Army at Fort Sam Houston, TX; Bachelors Degree in Physician Assistant Studies; Masters Degree in Physician Assistant Studies

A brief statement about your platform

Many a patriot has given their all to ensure that “We the people” remain in charge of our own destiny. The role of our elected officials is to protect our intrinsic rights as outlined in the Constitution of the United States as well as the Nevada State Constitution, and place our interests above their own political ambitions.

Last legislative session proved that our political voice is being actively silenced in the name of the progressive agenda and political correctness. In response to this attack, we must hold our elected officials accountable by standing with candidates that are willing to sacrifice for our God given rights. As a former army sniper with multiple combat tours, I understand how to fight, and can say from experience that I won’t back down from the enemy.

As an assemblyman, I plan on restoring our rights as they were outlined in our Constitution. My job is to only pass laws that are necessary, and only if we can afford them. I will fight to repeal the commerce tax not only because it is devastating to local business, but also because the people of Nevada spoke clearly when we voted against it four to one. I have no patience for “representatives” that ignore their voters and I vow to be your voice to the legislature.

What piece of legislation would you draft to improve the lives of residents in Assembly District 40?

As a current medical provider, I have intimate knowledge of healthcare laws and will put forth legislation that will protect us from the burdensome Obamacare mandate. As an elected official, it is my job to put choice back into your hands, and cut the red tape that is strangling our medical system. We need to improve access to primary care, attract more providers to Nevada, and lessen the ridiculous hikes in medication prices. While we can’t stop Obamacare, we can pass legislation that will certainly minimize its damage.

Part of the problem with our current system is the huge expansion of Medicaid. The financial burden of this expansion is still held up by the federal government but, will soon be switching over solely to the states. While Medicaid was expanded, while the number of providers in the state lags behind. This has caused an unsustainable burden on the emergency medical services, and is not in the best interest of the patient, or the tax payers that will inevitably have to cover it’s costs.

The expansion of Medicaid has increased emergency room wait times significantly. People do not have adequate access to primary care and revert to the emergency departments for non-emergent issues. This is adding tremendous cost to the overall system. That cost then must be paid for by those of us simply trying to get routine care.

The legislation I propose will tighten up the loose qualifications for Medicaid eligibility, and make Nevada more provider friendly. This will decrease the cost greatly, creating a more sustainable system that in turn will create more accessibility to providers and medications without breaking the bank.

Our Medicare population is the hardest hit and is having a difficult time affording basic medications and services. We need a system that upholds integrity and compassion, but relies on fiscal responsibility, not just unfunded mandates.

What book are you reading?

“2nd John”

Chris Forbush

Residence: Carson City

Occupation: Contract Attorney, Former Small Business Owner

Age: 30

Contact information: www.ChrisForbush.com; chrisforbush@gmail.com

Record of Service: 2 years – LDS Church Mission – Brazil; 2 years – Intern with state legislature

Education: Juris Doctorate, Cum Laude – BYU Law School 2015; BA – BYU 2012

A brief statement about your platform

I want to see Nevada succeed. In order for Nevada to succeed, its people, its individuals, must succeed. People succeed, people prosper, when they are free. They are free when certain things are removed from their path like onerous taxes, excessive regulation, and too much government. I want you, and every other person around this state, to succeed. Government at all levels, including the Nevada state government, is too big. It operates outside the scope of its proper, limited role, and abuses people’s free exercise of their legitimate rights. As such, I have only one platform on which I am running. I will do everything in my power to preserve, protect, and defend our Constitutional and Natural rights, our Life, Liberty, Property, and the Bill of Rights as our Founding Fathers intended, so that every one among us, and thus our state, can succeed.

What piece of legislation would you draft to improve the lives of residents in Assembly District 40?

At present I have no plans to introduce legislation. Many politicians enter the legislature with plans to “get things done.” Government, in my opinion, has too many laws on the books already. As such I would like to go to the legislature with plans to get things undone as they come to my attention. As an example, if the petition to get the Commerce Tax on the ballot fails, I will draft legislation to undo some of the harm it will cause small businesses. An idea I have is to propose that the $4 million tax liability threshold be frozen for a number of years so that the legislature cannot lower the threshold, which they could do under present language, and use it as a vehicle to grow the government and fund new illegitimate projects.

What book are you reading?

“The Making Of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution” by W. Cleon Skousen

Al Kramer

Residence: 4640 Old Clear Creek Road

Occupation: Retired

Age: 67

Contact information:

Record of Service: From January 1971 to September 1975, US Army; From October 1975 to April 1990, various private sector jobs as computer programmer, accountant, purchasing agent, budget director and assistant controller; From April 1990 through September 1993 computer programmer for State of Nevada; From October 1993 through December 1994, Deputy Treasurer for Operations for State of Nevada; From January 1995 to January 2015, elected treasurer of Carson City; From January 2015 to February 2016 Deputy Treasurer for Investments for State of Nevada.

Education: Received BS in Business with minors in Accounting, Economics and Statistics from Brigham Young University in 1970. Received MBA from Claremont Graduate School in 1988.

A brief statement about your platform

While the unemployment rate has gone down, there are still many people who have either given up looking for work or who are underemployed that make the numbers lower than they really are. I will work to provide more jobs in this district. I will support efforts to enhance the economic development of the areas so that employers will bring jobs here. Employers will not come if the tax structure is uncertain or onerous. I would work to repeal the Commerce tax and to make future taxes predictable. I will also work to make government more transparent and accountable.

What piece of legislation would you draft to improve the lives of residents in Assembly District 40?

I have heard many requests from citizens for a bill draft. I would introduce or cosponsor these requests: 1. A bill that would change the ‘caucus’ to a real primary. 2. A bill that would allow a person who waters a garden with

residential water to be allowed to sell produce at a farmers market. 3. A bill that would outlaw the herding of wild horses by aircraft. 4. A bill that would limit the use of a criminal record to keep a person from getting a job.

Questions about arrest records should be limited to a number of years, say five or ten, and not keep a person from getting a job 30 years later. 5. A bill that would give veterans a preference over non veterans in getting jobs. This is already the case for government jobs but needs to be the case in the private sector. 6. A bill that would severely limit the number of ‘forfeiture’ cases. A person is ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and having property seized before being proved guilty isn’t right. 7. A bill that would allow a person injured on the job to reject the plan of treatment from the Workmans Compensation doctor if their own physician indicated the plan was in error or may cause irreparable or long lasting damage and still have the treatments paid for by workman’s compensation.

What book are you reading?

Tom Clancy’s “The Bear and the Dragon”

Philip “PK” O’Neill

Residence: 1216 Sonoma St, Carson City

Occupation: Retired Law Enforcement, Incumbent State Assemblyman

Age: 64

Contact information: pk@nvsig.com; www.pkoneill4nv.com

Record of Service: State Assemblyman 2 years, Law Enforcement 40 years

Education: Sierra Nevada College BS Business Management 1985; Florida Peace Officers & Standards Training; Basic, Intermediate and Advance Certificates; Nevada Peace Officers & Standards Training: Basic, Intermediate, Advance, Management and Executive Certificates; FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Certificate

A brief statement about your platform

I have dedicated my career to public service with integrity and honesty, and view serving in the Nevada Assembly as an extension of that career.

I believe we are in a time of great challenge and great opportunity. Working together, we can keep Nevada a place to raise our families, by strengthening our economic climate and improving educational opportunities for our children.

As your Assemblyman, my responsibility is to champion the collective and individual concerns of constituents and Nevada as a whole. I pledge to listen to and respect all points of view, work with differing groups and seek consensus on legislation which will allow us to build on the positive changes made in 2015.

My goals for the 2017 Legislative Session are:

• Provide support for our community colleges, including safeguarding their ongoing, stable funding as they gear up to meet the growing demand for highly trained, skilled workers.

• Ensuring educational accountability established by Assembly Bill 278, requiring documentation verifying use of Class-Size Reduction Program funds; and AB421, establishing a commission examining ways to reduce costs, increase efficiencies and improve education.

• Identifying additional support for our veterans by acknowledging training applicable to Nevada State occupational licensing, and including enhancing educational and other benefits for families of veterans.

• Developing state employee training programs to attract and keep a top-notch workforce.

• Working with the Nevada Division of Aging and Disability Services to ensure our seniors and other vulnerable populations are appropriately represented.

What piece of legislation would you draft to improve the lives of residents in Assembly District 40?

I believe legislation to improve the lives of residents of Assembly District 40 was passed in the 2015 Session of the Nevada Legislature. Now the review and refinement of that legislation as it is implemented is critical.

A budget passed with specific funding for Nevada’s K-12 education system demanding accountability for improvement measures and establishing Educational Savings Accounts for parental choice; addressing issues related to mental health and advancing health care availability in rural Nevada; raises for state workers for the first time in years; benefits for veterans and seniors; and protecting and preserving our community colleges.

The approved budget was a major improvement in Nevada’s budgeting process – reducing dependency on gaming and tourism and identifying more stable, reliable revenue sources.

In my first term I introduced five bills, which were all enacted into law. One of these raised the prevailing wage threshold for government construction projects, an issue in need of resolution for more than 20 years. Carson City has already benefitted by from substantial savings in labor costs, allowing their budget to stretch further for road repair and maintenance.

The economic development initiatives of the two recent special legislative sessions providing incentives for major new industries to relocate to Nevada are creating positive impact in Northern Nevada through the “Tesla Effect”.

The legislative groundwork is in place. We must continue in 2017 to build upon the foundation created in 2015 by examining whether the funding and programs to improve educational outcomes are meeting expectations; by ensuring the challenges of our community colleges’ workforce development programs are being appropriately addressed; and by monitoring actions of neighboring states to ensure that we are competitive with them.

It is imperative we continue to press forward with the measures passed in the 2015 session. Businesses want stability, dependability and a level of certainty that what Nevada promised is what will happen, not the havoc created when programs are decimated or constantly changed by ideologues soon after they are implemented.

I am proud I was involved with the accomplishments of the 2015 session, and look forward to contributing to the growth of this region, which will come with the increased oversight and accountability established by reforms and programs that are just now starting to take effect.

What book are you reading?

“The Long Goodbye” by Michael Archer; “Get your Ship Together” by D. Michael Abrashoff; “Forty Miles A Day on Beans and Hay” by Don Rickey, Jr