Black Drops Bill to Revoke Gov’s Emergency Declaration on Day One

(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 

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