Annie Black

(Annie Black) – First things first…

Despite threats and efforts to not seat me in the Nevada State Assembly – along with social media calls for my resignation – I officially took the Oath of Office on Monday.

THANK YOU to everyone who supported, voted for and trusted me to represent you in the 2021 session of the Nevada Legislature.  I won’t let you down.

Now, I know that as a freshman “back-bencher” I’m supposed to keep my head down, sit in a corner and not speak unless spoken to.  But that’s just not my style and not what “Annie’s Army” signed up for.

So, let’s roll…

As promised, I delivered copies of our “Unlock Nevada” petition, with many of your names on it, to my 62 colleagues Monday.  You can click here to read it.

And since point #1 in the petition calls for “immediately repealing ‘emergency’ orders that restrict local businesses and limit the size of peaceful gatherings,” I used my first day in office to submit a bill to do just that…

“AJR: Proposes a resolution terminating the governor’s Declaration of Emergency per authority conveyed to the Legislature by NRS 414.070.”

Here’s what NRS 414.070 says:

“Any such emergency or disaster, whether proclaimed by the Governor or by the Legislature, terminates upon the proclamation of the termination thereof by the Governor, or the passage by the Legislature of a resolution terminating the emergency or disaster.”

So the Legislature absolutely has the authority to end the governor’s disastrous COVID-related Directives currently in place.  Or, at the very least, every legislator – being in a co-equal branch of government – should go on record voting to keep them.

Moving on…

Shortly after the swearing-in ceremony on Monday, we were presented with four sets of “rules” governing how the session would be conducted that we were expected to vote on immediately, with no opportunity to read them.

Same thing happened over in the Senate, as noted by freshman State Sen. Carrie Buck in a tweet yesterday morning…

“My first day…well, let’s just say it was interesting. Two 70-pg. documents determining the rules of the session 5 min. before you get sworn in. Read it, be ready to vote, or they start without you. Is this really how it works? Used to doing my homework, but that was impossible.”

This may be “how it works,” but it’s not right and no way to conduct the people’s business.

In fact, one of the bills I’ve introduced on your behalf, the “Slam-and-Jam Prevention Act,” would require all bills be posted online in their entirety for at least 48 hours so you can read them before your legislator votes on them.

The fact is, I had no idea if the proposed rules were good or not.  So when they came up for a vote, I voted “no.”  Not to be an obstructionist, but to disrupt this flawed way that business has always been done in the past.

Lastly…

I wrote before Christmas that I was thinking about introducing an election reform bill.  However, I’ve since learned that several of my colleagues already have such bills in the works.  Here’s a list helpfully provided yesterday by the Nevada Republican Party…

• BDR-24-801 (Assemblyman Matthews) – Revises provisions relating to the election.
• BDR-C-652 (Assemblyman Wheeler) – AJR: Proposes to amend the Nevada Constitution to require the Legislature to canvass the vote and certify election results.
• BDR-24-690 (Assemblywoman Dickman) – Enacts the Nevada Election Accountability Act.
• BDR 609 (Assemblywoman Hardy) – Revises provisions governing elections.
• BDR 24-649 (Assemblyman Ellison) – Requires proof of identification to vote.
• BDR 24-537 (Assemblywoman Hansen) – Revises provisions governing elections.

So rather than duplicate these efforts unnecessarily with my own bill, I plan to consider co-sponsoring some or all of theirs to fix the problems we had in this last election.

Anyway, we’re off to the races.  And again, thank you for joining me in the fight and having my back!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Florida lifted people up.  We believe every job is essential.  We protect your right to earn a living.  We ensure your kids have the right to attend school in-person.  Lockdowns do not work.  School closures have been disastrous.” – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (cc: Gov. Sisolak)

Annie Black is the Nevada State Assemblywoman representing District 19.  You can get more information by visiting www.electannieblack.com 

If you have anyone who wants to receive my AnnieGrams, please have them sign up at www.AnnieBlack.net or shoot their email address to me at annie@electannieblack.com.  But make sure you have their permission first.

(Annie Black) – The Nevada Legislature will be back on Monday.  And as Mark Twain famously warned: “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session.”

Unfortunately, for the last ten months your lives, liberty and property have been under assault while the Nevada Legislature was NOT in session, thanks to Gov. Steve Sisolak invoking and abusing “emergency” powers to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, the FIRST order of business for the 2021 session of the Legislature should be to pass a resolution revoking the governor’s Declaration of Emergency and assume its rightful role as a co-equal branch of government.

And make no mistake, the Legislature has the power to do just that…

NRS 414.070: “Any such emergency or disaster, whether proclaimed by the Governor or by the Legislature, terminates upon the proclamation of the termination thereof by the Governor, or the passage by the Legislature of a resolution terminating the emergency or disaster.”

If the Legislature then votes to approve keeping some or all of the governor’s emergency Directives in place, at least your representatives in the Senate and Assembly will be on record on this critical issue, as they should be.

In addition, the Legislature should also change state law to mandate that any future “emergency” declarations AUTOMATICALLY expire in 30 days (or less) unless extended by another vote of the Legislature – especially since the Legislature will be in session for the next 120 days.

To that end, on Monday I will deliver to all 63 legislators copies of a petition signed by almost 2,000 Nevadans calling on the Legislature to “Unlock Nevada and End the Sisolak Shutdown.”

Click here to read and download your own copy.

Since Democrats control both the State Senate and the State Assembly, this will only happen if Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson take the lead and do so.

If you’d like to individually encourage them to immediately revoke Gov. Sisolak’s Declaration of Emergency, here’s their contact information…

Leader Cannizzaro
Email:  Nicole.Cannizzaro@sen.state.nv.us
Phone: (775) 684-1475

Speaker Frierson
Email:  Jason.Frierson@asm.state.nv.us
Phone: (775) 684-8537

But I have a favor to ask…

I know passions are high.  I know the pain you’re suffering is real.

But personal attacks and profanity won’t help.  In fact, it’ll have the exact opposite effect.  So please be firm, but respectful.

Make no mistake; our objective isn’t “unity.”  We’re never going to unite in sacrificing your lives, liberty and property to one-man, authoritarian rule.

No, our objective is civility.  Oppose, absolutely yes.  Strongly.

But let’s not lower ourselves to fake news reporter Jon Ralston’s level (“NV’s newest assemblywoman, Annie Black, R-Fraud Caucus, who is a complete loon…will be a zero in Carson City”) in doing so.

“Annie’s Army” is better than that.

Thank you for being involved in this upcoming legislative session.  Your participation in petitioning the representatives of our government WILL make a difference.

Annie

P.S.  If you have anyone who wants to receive my AnnieGrams, please have them sign up at www.AnnieBlack.net or shoot their email address to me at annie@electannieblack.com.  But make sure you have their permission first.

QUOTES OF THE DAY

“The fact is, that whenever the Legislature is in session, the people wait with fear and trembling for it to adjourn, and then they thank God that it is over.” – E.F. Dunne of Storey County, one of Nevada’s founding fathers, 7/8/1866

Annie Black is the Nevada State Assemblywoman representing District 19.  You can get more information by visiting www.electannieblack.com 

(Annie Black) – In his State of the State Address last week, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak proposed increasing, not decreasing, the current state budget even as the economic ravages of his shutdown orders continue.

Indeed, it was reported today that gaming revenue for 2020 was down 25 percent!

Still, the governor declared that his budget proposal “does not contain any new taxes.”

But note the careful parsing of that statement.  He said there weren’t any “new” taxes.  He decidedly didn’t say anything about raising EXISTING taxes.  And that’s a loophole the left plans to drive right through.

For example, the DMV is seeking a four-year extension of the “temporary” $1 per transaction “technology fee” currently in place, even after blowing a $75 million contract to upgrade its computer system in 2018 with the existing money.

There is nothing so permanent as a “temporary” tax hike.

In addition, as reporter Riley Snyder pointed out…

“(Gov. Sisolak’s) budget actually does call for a tax increase, in the form of requiring a sales and use permit – now a one-time $15 fee – to now be annual, still at $15. Expected to raise $487K per fiscal year if my tired eyes are reading this chart correctly.”

And in case there’s any doubt, I’ll be voting “no” on these.

In any event, the governor doesn’t have the final say.  The Legislature does.  And the tax-and-spend crowd is already preparing to siphon more dough from your pockets.

In fact, Michelle White, the governor’s chief-of-staff, declared the day after the address…

“The governor is going to be working with the Legislature to see if there’s any augmentation or refinements that need to be made as we go forward.”

“Augmentation or refinements”?  Why can’t these people just be honest with Nevadans and call them what they are?

TAX HIKES.

And the Big Government crowd is just getting warmed up.  From a January 20 report by April Corbin Girnus of the Nevada Current…

“Raising revenue is an absolute necessity if Nevada is going to be able to recover and build a state that retains and attracts businesses and new residents,” (Battle Born Progress Executive Director Annette) Magnus said in a statement. “The old days of scraping by on fumes need to come to an end, especially as this pandemic has exposed how overly reliant our state revenue is on tourism industries.”

Nevada State Education Association President Brian Rippet said in a statement that “while there is some good news reflected in Governor Sisolak’s proposed budget, Nevada is still in desperate need of new revenue. Unfortunately, we did not hear about a plan to get us there in tonight’s state of the state address.

The good news is the Democrats don’t have enough votes to get the 2/3 super-majority necessary to pass any tax hikes.

The bad news is there are Republicans in the Legislature who are open to giving Democrats the votes they need to pass tax hikes.

Grab your wallet and watch ‘em like a hawk.  I know I will.

P.S.  If you have anyone who wants to receive my AnnieGrams, please have them sign up at www.AnnieBlack.net or shoot their email address to me at annie@electannieblack.com.  But make sure you have their permission first.

QUOTES OF THE DAY

“The Democrats are so drunk with power, they truly believe that a Biden Executive Order will lower the global temperature and stop the rise of the oceans.” – Stephen Moore

“The teachers’ unions are the single biggest obstacle to black youngsters getting a decent education – and among the biggest donors to the Democrats.” – Thomas Sowell

Annie Black is the Nevada State Assemblywoman representing District 19.  You can get more information by visiting www.electannieblack.com 

(Annie Black) – Even as other Democrat governors begin reopening their states now that President Trump is no longer in the White House, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak continues with his iron grip on the state’s economic throat while doing nothing (other than talk) to reopen our public schools.

With deadly results.

“Since schools shut their doors in March,” the New York Times reported over the weekend, “an early-warning system that monitors students’ mental health episodes has sent more than 3,100 alerts to (Clark County School District) officials, raising alarms about suicidal thoughts, possible self-harm or cries for care.

“By December, 18 students had taken their own lives.”

Tragic.

And make no mistake.  The fact that so many public-school classrooms remain shuttered is due to the teachers’ unions that continue to object to teachers being forced to show up in person for their jobs even as store clerks, cashiers and waitresses show up for theirs.

The decisions to continue blocking the schoolhouse doors so kids can’t get in are purely political.  The “science” Gov. Sisolak continues to claim is behind his shutdown decisions was settled long ago.

There is simply NO scientific or health reason to keep classrooms closed.

The teachers’ unions don’t care.

If the government is going to continue barricading public school classrooms, parents should be rebated the money allotted to their kids’ education so they can move them into a private school, charter school or homeschool.

In 2015, Republicans in the Nevada Legislature created universal Education Savings Accounts (ESA’s) providing parents about $5,000 per child to send their kids to the school of THEIR choice, not the government’s.

Just as food stamps can be used at private grocery stores.

But in 2019, after regaining control of the Legislature and the governor’s office, Democrats killed ESA’s.  That decision is now killing some of our kids…literally.

Yesterday marked the start of School Choice Week.  And never has it been more important.

But don’t hold your breath waiting for Democrats in the Nevada Legislature to bring back ESA’s.  They’re more worried about getting support from the teachers’ unions than supporting your kids.

Fund students, not schools.

LAST CHANCE to Sign “Unlock Nevada” Petition

The 2021 session of the Nevada Legislature begins in one week (grab your wallets!) and I’m driving up from Las Vegas today.

Since I’ll be on the road and inaccessible most of the day – and since people are still going online to sign my “Unlock Nevada & End the Sisolak Shutdown” petition – I’m going to extend the deadline until tomorrow.

Then we’ll add all your names to the bottom of the petition, print out 63 copies, and hand-deliver one to every legislator so they have it before next Monday.

If you want to add your name to the list, sign now or forever hold your peace!

Click HERE

QUOTES OF THE DAY

“We lost a senior at my son’s high school to suicide, his depression exacerbated by quarantine.” – Asra Q. Nomani

“Kids are killing themselves because of isolation while teachers’ unions are fighting to keep schools closed despite schools not being a serious vector of disease transmission. Never forget this.” – Sonny Bunch

“Teachers unions have proven to be one of the most destructive organizations in American society.” – John Cooper

“By pushing to keep schools closed even as evidence mounted that in-person classes were relatively low-risk and remote learning was ineffective, teachers’ unions failed students and parents.” – Peter Suderman, Reason magazine

“The teachers union is coming for more money at the (Nevada Legislature), yet are resisting any plan to reopen. Families are suffering. Kids are losing opportunities.” – Deborah Earl

“Time for the funds to be allocated to students and allow them to go elsewhere for their educational needs. Teachers unions don’t have a right to hold children’s education hostage to their own fears.” – William Tyson

“Education funding is supposed to be meant for educating children – not for protecting a government monopoly. We should fund students instead of institutions.” – Corey DeAngelis

“It is those with the least access to school choice who suffer the most. Wealthy families can afford to buy laptops, pay tuition for independent schools or even hire private tutors for one-on-one lessons. By contrast, poorer students often face difficulties even accessing the internet for online learning.” – Valeria Gurr

“If you homeschool you should get a voucher from your taxes in order to buy different types of curriculum and school supplies.” – Clark County School District Trustee Katie Williams

Annie Black is the Nevada State Assemblywoman representing District 19.  You can get more information by visiting www.electannieblack.com 

(Annie Black) – As Nevada’s economy continues to gush red ink, thanks to Gov. Steve Sisolak’s seemingly never-ending authoritarian and heavy-handed “emergency” shutdown orders, the governor is proposing a budget Band-Aid when a tourniquet is called for.

In a summary of his Executive Budget released on Monday, the governor proposes cutting state government spending in the next biennium by a measly…2 percent.

But even that’s not quite what it seems.

During a special session last July, the Legislature reduced current general fund spending to $8.35 billion.  But the governor’s proposed new budget is set at $8.69 billion.

So in reality, the governor is actually proposing a spending INCREASE over current spending while the state is STILL reeling from the Sisolak Shutdown.

That’s not only fiscally irresponsible, but an insult to Nevadans who have suffered unmercifully under his dictatorial reign for the last ten months.

Hang on.  It’s actually even worse than THAT.

While Gov. Sisolak divided Nevada’s private sector workers into “essential” and “non-essential” and forced the “non-essential” ones into the unemployment line, he hasn’t done the same for government employees.

Indeed, while hundreds of thousands of Nevadans have been laid off, some permanently, state government employees – both essential and non-essential – face only six days of unpaid “furloughs” for this entire coming year.  And no furloughs for the second year.

So much for the governor’s claim that we’re “all in this together.”

Instead of increasing non-essential government spending, we should be cutting non-essential government spending.

Instead of furloughing essential government employees, we should be laying off non-essential government employees.

Instead of tax hikes – or, as Michelle White, the governor’s chief-of-staff, deceptively calls them, “augmentation or refinements” – we should be cutting taxes and fees.

Instead of burdening Nevada businesses with restrictions, fines and harassment from inspectors and enforcers, we should be cutting government regulations.

Instead of keeping Nevada families on virtual house arrest, we should be taking steps to limit ANY governor’s ability to so badly abuse the privilege of “emergency” one-man or one-woman rule in the future.

If you agree, please add your name to the hundreds who have already signed my online petition calling on the Legislature to override the governor’s “emergency” directives, immediately unlock Nevada and end the Sisolak Shutdown.

Click HERE.

QUOTES OF THE DAY

“What scares me most is not the fact that our media is lying to us. It’s the fact that most of you believe them.” – Matt Couch

“Some people seem to think that the answer to all of life’s imperfections is to create a government agency to correct them. If that is your approach, then go straight to totalitarianism. Do not pass ‘Go.’ Do not collect $200.” – Thomas Sowell

“Are there real problems with how elections were conducted in 2020?  Absolutely.” – Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter/columnist Debra Saunders, 1/15/21

Annie Black is the Nevada State Assemblywoman representing District 19.  You can get more information by visiting www.electannieblack.com 

(Annie Black) – In invoking dictatorial powers to address the COVID-19 pandemic last March, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak declared such powers were afforded to him by state law.

He has abused those powers for over ten months now, choking the life out of our state’s economy and doing irreparable harm to the lives and livelihoods of Nevada’s citizens.

No politician should be allowed to have such unlimited power for an unlimited duration.

The Nevada Legislature is schedule to convene again on February 1, 2021.

Please click on the link below to add your name to AnniePAC’s new petition – adopted from a similar resolution passed by the Elko County Commission on January 6, 2021 – calling on legislators to immediately Unlock Nevada and End the Sisolak Shutdown.

I will hand-deliver copies of this petition, with everyone’s name on it, to each Nevada State Senator and Assemblyman on Day One of the 2021 session on your behalf.

Thank you for helping to make Nevada a better place to live and work.

Assemblywoman Annie Black
Nevada Assembly District 19

P.S.  In order to get hard copies of the petition printed with your name on it for distribution on the first day of the session, please go online and add your name by MIDNIGHT, JANUARY 24, 2021.