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Nevada Policy Adds Nohra, Sutton to Board of Directors 

LAS VEGAS – Nevada Policy has expanded its board of directors with the addition of venture capitalist Guy Nohra and entrepreneur Lisa Song Sutton.

“The experience Lisa and Guy bring to our board will be invaluable as we continue to promote free market solutions and advocate for individual liberties throughout the state,” Nevada Policy President John Tsarpalas said.

Nohra is co-founder of Alta Partners, a leading life sciences venture capital firm which has funded more than 150 companies since 1996. Nohra, who has more than 30 years of experience in life sciences, was named to the Forbes’ Midas List in 2007.

He has served on the boards of 30-plus private and public companies in the United States and Europe. He was chairman of 12 boards and participated on several audit, compensation and compliance committees.

Nohra was a candidate for governor in the 2022 Nevada Republican primary.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford University and an MBA from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

Sutton is a real estate investor, entrepreneur and former Congressional candidate for Nevada’s 4th district. With a background in business litigation, Sutton began her career working in a top Las Vegas law firm before launching and scaling several companies across various industries, including real estate, food and shipping retail.

The daughter of a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War, Sutton is a strong advocate for the veteran community. She is currently a general partner of The Veteran Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in veteran-led and military spouse-led companies.

Sutton is also a sought-after speaker, sharing her message of leadership, empowerment and action with audiences from the TEDx stage to local schools, encouraging the private sector to become more involved in their communities.

She was the first Miss Nevada of Asian descent and remains actively involved in her community, serving on the boards of StartUpNV, Nevada’s largest statewide business incubator, and the Young President’s Organization’s Las Vegas chapter.

Sutton is a graduate of the University of Arizona and the University of Miami School of Law.

About Nevada PolicyNevada Policy’s mission is to effectively promote policies that encourage free-market solutions, protect individual liberties and eliminate unnecessary governmental restrictions on the citizens and businesses of Nevada.

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Coalition Looks to Lombardo, Legislature to Bolster Education Opportunity

LAS VEGAS – School choice advocacy groups are urging Gov. Joe Lombardo and the Nevada State Legislature to increase educational opportunities for children in the coming year.

The newly formed Nevada Educational Options Coalition, made up of Nevada Policy, Power2Parent, Americans for Prosperity, the Nevada School Choice Coalition (a project of American Federation for Children), Nevada Action for School Options and Battleborn Moms, is optimistic that 2023 will be a year of positive change, in part because of Gov. Lombardo’s platform, which includes increased school choice.

“With the election of a new governor, there has never been more enthusiasm among Nevadan families to fix our broken education system,” said John Tsarpalas, president of Nevada Policy. “Parents are watching other states adopt universal education savings accounts and asking themselves, ‘why not here?’”

“Parents overwhelmingly support school choice, and now we have a governor who understands that education plays a critical role in the future success of our state,” Power2Parent President Erin Phillips said. “When we don’t prioritize education, our children lose opportunities and our economy suffers without a workforce prepared to meet current demands in a variety of fields.”

“After years of fighting to expand and protect the only school choice program in Nevada that is helping vulnerable students – the opportunity scholarships – it’s refreshing to have a governor who understands that this is not the time to pick political fights when our children have suffered long enough,” said Valeria Gurr, Nevada state director for the American Federation for Children. “Instead, this is the time to compromise.”

“Nevada students require educational solutions as diverse and unique as they are, and the time for action is now,” said Americans for Prosperity-Nevada State Director Ronnie Najarro. “The coalition urges Gov. Lombardo to join the fight and prioritize education as the legislature gears up for session.”

The coalition outlined several ways to improve education in Nevada, including the following:

  • Properly fund the Opportunity Scholarships, increase base funding and restore the small escalator in order to stabilize the program, address waiting lists and provide for small incremental growth.
  • Capital funding for charter schools: In Nevada, 95 public charter schools serve more than 62,700 students, which is approximately 8 percent of the state’s K-12 student population. However, public charter schools cannot access facility funding generated by property taxes;
  • Introducing Universal Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) of approximately $7,000 per student;
  • Allowing students to find innovative ways to meet graduation requirements, especially those in which funding is not dependent on bodies in the classroom but could allow for alternatives such as internships and online schooling; and
  • Expanding the Transforming Opportunities for Toddlers and Students (TOTS) Grant program, which provides grants to Nevadans with disabilities to help them recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and increase opportunities.

Members of the Nevada Educational Options Coalition believe a school choice program where funding follows the child would be beneficial to Nevada students. The goal is to have 90 percent of per-pupil funding be allocated to education savings accounts that would enable parents to access funds and apply them to the education environment that works best for their children.

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Nevada Policy Adds Seven Dual-Serving Legislators to Lawsuit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jan. 2, 2023

CONTACT: Kevin Dietrich (702) 720-5340; kevin@nevadapolicy.org

Nevada Policy Adds Seven Dual-Serving Legislators to Lawsuit

Nevada Policy’s efforts to enforce the constitutional separation of powers doctrine continues full steam ahead, with a just-filed motion to include seven newly elected state legislators to the lawsuit.

The just-elected legislators appear to have retained their employment in the executive branch of government, which violates the constitutional prohibition that forbids legislators from “exercising any functions” related to the other two branches of government.

Originally filed in July 2020, the lawsuit has already produced some notable victories. In April 2022, Nevada Policy obtained a unanimous state Supreme Court victory that allows all citizens to bring constitutional separation of powers challenges without having to satisfy the traditional standing requirements.

The issue of standing (discussed in more detail here) has, for more than 70 years, blocked this issue from being heard by the state’s highest court.

This landmark ruling meant that we had finally cleared the path towards obtaining a definitive ruling on the separation of powers issue, with our ongoing lawsuit asking the court to follow its binding precedent and the plain text of the doctrine to declare that the Nevada Constitution forbids government employees from simultaneously serving in the Nevada Legislature.

Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, two of the most prominent dual-serving legislators, Clark County prosecutors Nicole Cannizzaro and Melanie Scheible, both of whom served concurrently as state senators, have already resigned their employment in the executive branch.

Consequently, there are no longer any prosecutors simultaneously serving as state legislators, which is one small, but important, step towards providing Nevadans with a legislature that serves the public rather than government.

Accounting for resignations and other changes in employment, as well as Nevada Policy’s just-filed motion to add the seven newly elected legislators, there are now 11 dual-serving legislators who are the subject of our ongoing lawsuit.

Almost all the newly added dual-serving legislators are public school employees, which highlights the inherent conflicts of interest that led the Framers to bar such dual service. These dual-serving legislators necessarily undermine faith and trust in the legislative process given they will be responsible for considering whether to raise taxes to increase funding for their own employer.

Similar conflicts exist when these dual-serving legislators consider whether to approve educational reforms like school choice, which will unquestionably improve the quality of education but in a way that might undermine their professional interests, given that school choice threatens the public school system’s tax-funded, monopoly status.

The lawsuit is currently pending before Clark County District Court Judge Jessica Peterson, who is considering the Defendants’ various motions to dismiss. We are hopeful that a ruling denying all those motions will be issued in early 2023.

About Nevada Policy
Nevada Policy’s mission is to effectively promote policies that encourage free-market solutions, protect individual liberties and eliminate unnecessary governmental restrictions on the citizens and businesses of Nevada.

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Nevada Policy Supports Call for COVID-19 Spending Audit 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

June 23, 2022

CONTACT: Kevin Dietrich, (702)-720-5340; kevin@nevadapolicy.org

Nevada Policy Supports Call for COVID-19 Spending Audit 

Federal Pandemic Money Misused in Nevada; Transparency Needed

Las Vegas – Nevada Policy Research Institute applauds and supports Sen. Scott Hammond’s call for “an audit of every state dollar spent from March 12, 2020 to May 20, 2022,” or the duration of Governor Sisolak’s Declaration of Emergency. Nevada Policy President John Tsarpalas issued the following statement: 

“The recent revelations by ProPublica into a fraudulent COVID testing company that operated in Nevada brings into question the process in which federal funds were distributed and to whom. Across the country, there has been large amounts of fraud, misuse and impropriety related to COVID funds.In the interest of transparency and accountability, a full audit is needed into how the billions of federal dollars Nevada received was spent, the process of awarding money and the connection of recipients to the grantors.”

About Nevada PolicyNevada Policy’s mission is to effectively promote policies that encourage free-market solutions, protect individual liberties and eliminate unnecessary governmental restrictions on the citizens and businesses of Nevada.

 

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Nevada Policy wins big at the Nevada Supreme Court

In a unanimous decision, the Nevada Supreme Court today ruled in favor of Nevada Policy in the Institute’s ongoing separation of powers lawsuit. In a landmark, precedent-setting ruling, the Court expanded its rules regarding taxpayer standing.

Today’s decision will make it easier for all Nevadans to bring constitutional challenges such as these, thereby helping to ensure that the Nevada government operates within the confines of the state constitution.

“As NPRI has long argued, the government has an obligation to operate within the confines of the Constitution,” said Nevada Policy Vice President Robert Fellner. “But that will only happen if the judiciary permits Nevadans to bring constitutional challenges such as these.

“Today’s ruling is thus a tremendous victory for all those who believe in constitutional government and the rule of law,” Fellner added.

The lawsuit alleges that numerous Nevada state legislators are violating the constitutional separation of powers prohibition by simultaneously working as government employees. In addition to violating the constitution, dual-service also raises a host of conflict-of-interest issues, given that dual-serving legislators can frequently vote on issues that directly affect the very government agencies that they themselves work for.

In previous years, there was an almost universal consensus regarding the harms caused by dual service, with several Nevada Democrats condemning the practice.

“Few would support rules that limit their own power,” Fellner added, “which is precisely why the power to write the law must be kept separate from those tasked with enforcing the law.”

Now that the Nevada Supreme Court has formally recognized Nevada Policy as an appropriate party to bring this challenge, the case goes back to the district court, which now must address the fundamental question raised by the Institute’s lawsuit: whether state legislators can simultaneously serve as government employees.

After more than 70 years of waiting, today’s state supreme court ruling means that Nevadans are finally going to have an answer to that question.

For more information on Nevada Policy’s ongoing Separation of Powers lawsuit, please visit NevadaPolicy.org.

For questions, please contact Nevada Police Vice President Robert Fellner at Robert@NevadaPolicy.org.

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Nevadans Oppose Recent Changes to State Voting Procedures

Nevadans believe recent changes to state law regarding elections aren’t in the best interest of the state, according to a poll released by the Nevada Policy Research Institute.

More than three of every four Nevadans support requiring photo IDs for both in-person and mail-in balloting, compared with 10 percent who oppose it.

Nearly twice as many individuals, 52 percent to 27 percent, oppose allowing someone other than the person casting a ballot to return it, a process known as “ballot harvesting.”

Also, some 53 percent favor requiring that all ballots be counted within a day of the election, versus 34 percent who oppose the idea.

The first two were among changes codified into law last year in Nevada with the passage of Assembly Bill 121. AB 121 ensures most residents can cast a ballot without having to provide identification and permits individuals to collect and turn in mail ballots on behalf of other voters. The law also guarantees all active, registered voters will receive an unsolicited ballot in the mail.

“We believe everyone should have an opportunity to vote, but this change opens to the door to allowing bad actors to manipulate elections in our state,” Nevada Policy President John Tsarpalas said. “Election integrity is critical to the well-being of representative government, and once you lose the perception of honest and fair elections, it’s very hard to regain that trust.

“Nevadans have a right to believe that every election will be safe and secure, and that every vote cast, including theirs, will be counted,” Tsarpalas added.

Poll of Nevada residents was conducted by OH Predictive Insights between February 24 and March 7, 2022, with a MoE of ± 4.0%.

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Media Mentions

All Media Mentions

Nevada families hungry for lower food costs

Opinion piece by Nevada Policy president, John Tsarpalas

A Brighter Tomorrow through Business Regulations

Nevada Policy article on business regulations in the state of Nevada

The Government Took Their Home. Now, a Family’s Lawsuit May Change Nevada’s Forfeiture System

Quote from Outreach and Coalition Director, Marcos Lopez.

Nevada Policy

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