(Annie Black) – With Gov. Sisolak keeping much of the state closed for business, that $1.2 billion budget hole the Legislature put a band-aid on last month – using the usual smoke-and-mirrors budget gimmicks – is gonna be back with a vengeance.
By the time the Legislature reconvenes for its next regular session in February, don’t be surprised if that deficit is doubled. Or more.
Why? Because they didn’t really cut anything. They simply raided and drained the Rainy Day Fund and moved money around from various accounts.
What the governor SHOULD have done last March – and what the Legislature SHOULD have done last month – was the same thing the governor did to the private sector: Lay off non-essential government employees and cut non-essential government services, programs, agencies and departments.
THAT’S where the money is.
You simply cannot run the same sized government when tax revenues from closed businesses and out-of-work families are a fraction of what they were.
If we’re supposedly “all in this together,” then taxpayer-funded government workers and operations MUST be cut, just as various businesses and private sector workers have been cut.
Delaying the inevitable will only make the pain worse next year when it again comes time to pay the piper. Why more Republican elected officials aren’t screaming this from the rafters is a mystery.
UPDATE: “Resign Sisolak” Proclamation
When I launched our AnniePAC online proclamation yesterday – declaring that Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s “systemic incompetence” in mishandling the COVID-19 situation has resulted in an “economic health crisis” for which he should resign – I thought maybe we’d get a couple dozen signers.
After all, I’m just a small-town councilwoman who won’t even be officially elected to the Nevada State Assembly until November.
But we’ve already gotten almost 600 signatures…and more keep rolling in every hour as word spreads throughout the state.
THANK YOU!
We’re going to keep collecting online signatures through close-of-business tomorrow and then print out a hard copy of the proclamation and mail it to the governor on Monday. So if you, your friends, family, neighbors or co-workers want to add your names, you still have time.
Click here: anniepac.com/proclamation
Annie Black: In the News
Nick Yamashita of The Progress has a new story out on the Legislature’s changes to election law that were passed in the recent special session. Some excerpts…
Mesquite resident Annie Black is the newly elected Assemblywoman for District 19 which includes Mesquite, Overton and a portion of the Las Vegas valley. She is also currently serving on the Mesquite City Council.
Black is the former President of the Mesquite Republican Women’s Club. She gave some insight from the conservative standpoint regarding the bill. “It is a travesty.” Black said. “It was all done in the middle of the night, so it seemed pretty shady.”
Firstly, Black points out the dire financial situation which Nevada is currently in. There are no spare funds to allocate to mail-in voting, she said. “We could be using that money better towards helping our failing economy,” she said.
Another huge problem with the bill is the likelihood of ballot harvesting, Black said. This is the gathering and submitting of absentee or mail-in ballots by third-party individuals, volunteers or workers; rather than submission of the ballots by the voters themselves to official collection sites.
Black said that this is a recipe for fraud-tainted election results. “They have found people are voting but their votes are ineligible due to signatures not matching,” Black said. “There are just so many chances for voter fraud to occur here!”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I’d like to see the money follow the student. If a school is going to be closed, and we’re giving all of this money on the federal basis to a school… I think the money should follow the student. And that’s something that we want to do.
“We’re having a hard time with the Democrats. They want the money to follow the union… I would like the money to follow the student. And this way, you can make your own choice if the school is closed.
“Why are we paying if a school is closed? Why are we paying the school? I’d rather give it to the student, the parents, and you do your own thing.”
– President Donald Trump
Annie Black is a Mesquite City Councilwoman and Assemblywoman-elect for Nevada State Assembly District 19. You can get more information by visiting www.electannieblack.com
