Laxalt attends Labor Day activities

Adam Laxalt, the Republican Party’s nominee for governor, attended the Kiwanis Labor Day pancake breakfast and walked in the annual Fallon Lions Club parade.

Laxalt brought his young daughters to the breakfast, calling it one of the best pancake breakfasts in the state.

“We hope to make it a tradition,” he said.

Elected to his first term as the state’s attorney general in 2014, Laxalt decided to seek the office currently held by Gov. Brian Sandoval instead of running for a second term. During the past year Laxalt has visited both Fallon and Fernley numerous times, so the Lahontan Valley News asked him about issues that have come up since his last visit to Fallon in June.

Laxalt said the Attorney General’s office is making strides in combatting the opioid crisis in particularly in the rural part of the state through its Nevada’s Prescription for Addiction program that combats the use, abuse and misuse of prescription drugs the state. He said his office is helping counties by helping to purchase and install drug disposal incinerators that destroy prescription and illicit drugs seized or received through a take-back program. He also said medication to combat the opioid addiction is saving people’s lives from overdosing.

Furthermore, Laxalt said the Boys and Girls Clubs are receiving a large grant to help prevention.

“I think all these are important as well as on the on the law enforcement side,” he said.

Laxalt said the FBI is designating a prosecutor and investigator to investigate cases in Nevada as part of an opioid task force created in response to Nevada’s opioid epidemic. According to a study by the Drug Enforcement Agency, Nevada was ranked as the sixth highest state in 2016 for the number of milligrams of opioids distributed per adult. Laxalt said investigators will also be looking for “dirty doctors” who do not follow the law.

If elected, Laxalt said he will continue this program to save as many lives as the state can.

Laxalt, who served in the U.S. Navy in Iraq as a Judge Advocate General or military lawyer, said he continues to work on veterans’ issues, such as suicides, through a statewide veterans coalition and other groups.

“They know as a veteran I have made this a priority as the attorney general and will continue to make veterans a priority as governor,” he said.

Laxalt added he would like to establish a veterans’ suicide committee and get as many partners as needed to the table to examine the issues. He said a goal is to find jobs veterans enjoy and to “get dignity back in their lives.” Additionally, he said any committee will do its best to handle the issue and to have the needed resource to help veterans.

During the Kiwanis Labor Day pancake breakfast, Laxalt and the new Churchill County School District Superintendent Summer Stephens discussed education and the gubernatorial candidate said “they are on the same page.”

“We have to find a way to emphasize pathways to good paying jobs — career, technical, vocational — to try to sync our system steam with the jobs that are out there,” he said.

Laxalt said Stephens also expressed a desire to pursue that goal in Churchill County. He said if elected governor, he would like the state to empower the counties with their curriculum and education to meet the needs and give students a better opportunity for the future.

Laxalt said he’s concerned about reciprocity agreements among the states and would like to see an easier process for obtaining certification or licensure in Nevada. Laxalt said reciprocity must be made easier, especially for healthcare professionals, who come to Nevada from other states.

“I’m a huge believer in trying to lower some of these barriers to entry,” he said.

He said accepting teaching certifications issued by other states is another area to examine. He said districts are having a difficult time in filling their jobs. He said the same criteria applies for other areas that are having a difficult time filling jobs.

“We want to make it easier, not harder, for people to take these jobs and be successful in our great state,” he said.