AnnieGram

(Annie Black) – Nevada is a “blue” state (for now).  Democrats control the governor’s office, as well as both houses of the state Legislature. And Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak reaffirmed yesterday that he’s counting on a “blue state bailout” to plug the budget hole his own ill-considered policies and mis-management of the COVID crisis have […]

(Annie Black) – As a freshman member of the Nevada State Assembly I’m only allowed to introduce five “bill draft requests” (BDR) before the start of the 2021 legislative session, and one additional bill after the session starts. With so many problems plaguing our state, the hard part was narrowing down the list of potential

(Annie Black) – The Economic Forum – a group of appointed financial analysts who decide how much money the governor and the Nevada Legislature can spend each year – met this week and set the next budget at around $8.5 billion. That’s a drop of around $400 million from the current budget, but around $1.2

(Annie Black) – Writing in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend, reporter David Harrison noted that “the pandemic-induced economic downturn hit the nation’s state and local governments harder and faster than any other in almost 70 years.” “As hard as this year has been, next year could be worse,” Mr. Harrison continued.  “Governments went

(Annie Black) – Since announcing my decision last week that I’ve chosen not to join the Republican Assembly Caucus, a number of people have written expressing concern that I’ll be all alone without colleagues reviewing legislation with me. Others have suggested I start a separate caucus for conservatives – much like the Freedom Caucus in

(Annie Black) – OK, that headline about my decision not to join the Republican Assembly Caucus this week isn’t quite accurate.  I did NOT defect to the other team. I’m still a conservative Republican and have simply decided to represent my constituents as an independent member of the Nevada Legislature rather than have my hands

(Annie Black) – The 2020 presidential race sure feels like déjà vu all over again. It’s widely believed by many that the 1960 presidential election was stolen from Republican Richard Nixon due to election fraud in Chicago.  When the dust settled, Democrat John F. Kennedy eked out a win in Illinois by less than 9,000

(Annie Black) – The election counting ended last Thursday.  I am now OFFICIALLY the assemblywoman representing District 19, though not sworn in yet. Yeah! Last Friday I attended a meeting of the Republican Assembly Caucus where members picked its new leadership team for the 2021 session.  After that meeting – and after thinking long and

(Annie Black) – Well, it’s all over but the counting.  And we still don’t know who won and who lost in a number of close races – some of which won’t be known until the counting stops next Thursday. Unfortunately, some folks in Mesquite’s city government missed the memo. City Manager Aaron Baker has been

(Annie Black) – Over the summer the Nevada Legislature convened in special session to fill a $1.2 billion hole created by the #SisolakShutdown in the current budget cycle.  They did it primarily by draining the state’s rainy-day fund and implementing various smoke-and-mirror budget gimmicks. That effort is going to seem like a walk in the