Tom RIggins: A sad state

My recent writings have been about foibles of the Biden administration. However, our state government seems intent on making our neighbor to the west look like pikers when it comes to liberal folly.

Our Legislature is busily trying to transform us into California east. It is very important to watch what they are up to and be vocal in contacting legislators on key issues. You can see what is happening by accessing online the Nevada Electronic Legislative Information System or through several other non-government sites. If you send an email to our Assemblywoman, Robin Titus, she will include you in her updates. Her updates also include information on how to view, submit written information, or testify.

Over 1,200 bills have been proposed for this session. Obviously, many will never make it to committee for discussion and even fewer will make it to the Assembly or Senate floor. The problem is that many of those making it to or through committee are dangerous to our way of life. Here are a few.

AB286 seeks to completely infringe on our firearms rights and appears to be in direct contravention to Article 1 Section 11 of our state constitution. It proposes to prohibit someone from possessing a firearm inside any building without written permission. This includes private property and private businesses in addition to presently excluded government buildings. It also has several other prohibitions. Prohibited venues include everyone where a mass shooting has occurred, including theaters, bars, and dances. It seeks to make someone a felon essentially by desiring to protect oneself. Please make your voice heard. As a side observation, a background check for my state-issued work license takes one week. Why does it take two months for a Concealed Carry background check?

SJR8 is another liberal lovefest. It is called the Equal Rights Amendment but there are no equal rights in it. It is anti-family and anti-woman. It will allow biological males to compete against girls in K-12 sports, allow self-proclaimed transgender males to use female restrooms, require taxpayer-funded abortions, and eliminate parental consent laws for abortions and sex changes. This one is bad news regardless of your political affiliation. Where are the women’s rights groups on this one?

ACR3 seeks to impose “environmental justice” which is a broad statement that will cover just about anything someone wants it to. They identify the use of natural resources as “Exploitation and appropriation of land from indigenous communities and pollution from various industries.” It seeks enforcement “…in the exercise of such (government) powers, the State must examine the impact of state and local governments to determine whether the actions of the State and local governments degrade the quality of the environment, in order to provide the information necessary to ensure such actions minimize habitat and ecosystem destruction, respect community perspectives and promote environmental justice.” In other words, there will be no regard for property rights of private property owners, mining, agriculture, or businesses. As a side note, there was a bill proposed last year, that I don’t have a number for or status on, that will require car dealerships to stock a certain number of electric cars regardless if their brand makes them or if there is any demand for them. That is typical of liberals to use a back door to force private business to do their bidding for them.

The mining tax debate is back in the Legislature. There are numerous legal issues surrounding this debate. In the 2020 special session there were three proposals made, with short notice to the public and essentially under “cover of darkness.” These were on the ballot in 2020 but legal challenges raise the issues of the resolutions not being passed by the two-thirds majority required for tax increases and questions about the legality of proposing tax increases under the published guidelines for the special session.

On taxes, there will undoubtedly be proposals to increase sales tax. Watch for it. Also on the table is a major change to how property taxes are assessed. Currently it is based on depreciated replacement cost. The desire is to change to market value. In today’s market your taxes could quadruple.

SB139 would force health insurance companies and Medicaid to cover treatments for sex change therapy or hormone treatments. Welcome to universal health care.

So far the state budget hasn’t been discussed. Democrats are apparently too busy trying to radicalize the state. They will apparently figure out how you are going to pay for it later. Stay vigilant.