ACTION ALERT: Ask the Legislature to Keep the NV Equal Rights Commission Enforcing Our Laws!

I just got an alert from HRC Las Vegas on this. Please read my letter to our legislators below, followed by HRC's and ACLU Nevada's explanation of why it's important to keep the NERC doing its job.

Hello. My name is Andrew Davey, and I'm a registered voter in Henderson. I'm writing today regarding the budget and the proposal by Governor Gibbons to eliminate the Nevada Equal Rights Commission (NERC).

While eliminating this important commission may be considered "penny wise", it's absolutely "pound foolish". Without it, all of Nevada's anti-discrimination laws will be rendered meaningless. Without it, many thousands of Nevadans will be at risk of all types of wrongful discrimination. And especially since SB 207 (passed last year) stipulates that the NERC handles anti-gay discrimination cases, there will be no enforcement mechanism to protect people being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation.

Another reason why eliminating the NERC will be "pound foolish" is that it won't really save the state money. All this would do is shift the burden of handling these racial and gender discrimination cases to the already overburdened Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and/or the state courts.

The NERC has proven to be a way to resolve employment and public accommodation discrimination cases, and it's very helpful in reducing the load of law suits being filed in state courts. And for LGBTQ Nevadans, this is the only way to resolve anti-gay discrimination in this state. Again, please don't allow Governor Gibbons to abolish the NERC in this special session.

Thank you.

--
Andrew Davey
My Address
Henderson, NV 89074
(702) My Phone

GOVERNOR GIBBONS & NV LEGISLATURE CONSIDERING ELIMINATION OF THE NV EQUAL RIGHTS COMMISSION.    CONTACT YOUR STATE LEGISLATOR TODAY!!    As part of his budget cuts, Governor Gibbons has proposed to eliminate the Nevada Equal Rights Commission (NERC), the state agency responsible for enforcement of Nevada's civil rights and anti-discrimination law.  This proposal is not acceptable.  It would have dire consequences for civil rights across the board, especially for LGBT rights. *           Eliminating NERC would make the passage of SB207, the bill that provided protection against discrimination in places of public accommodation based on sexual orientation, meaningless. Without NERC, there is no enforcement mechanism and no relief for victims of anti-gay discrimination. *           This is not just a severe danger for LGBT rights: NERC extends important resources that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is simply too overburdened to grant to Nevadans who have claims that include sex discrimination in employment, or racial discrimination in places of public accommodation.  The NERC provides a forum for mediation and other less formal methods of resolving employment and public accommodation discrimination claims - frequently without going to state court.  The elimination of NERC would undoubtedly lead to more filings in state court - which of course should be weighed in any serious cost savings analysis. Please join with us in calling on legislators to resist attempts to balance the budget at the expense of our civil rights.  Call or email your legislators now!  The legislature will vote on eliminating the NERC this weekend.  1)    Contact Leadership in the Nevada Legislature: Steven Horsford, Sen Majority Ldr: shorsford@sen.state.nv.us Bill Raggio, Senate Minority Leader: wraggio@sen.state.nv.us Barbara Buckley, Speaker of the Assembly: barbara@barbarabuckley.com John Oceguera, Assembly Majority Floor Ldr: joceguera@asm.state.nv.us Heidi Gansert, Assembly Minority Ldr: hgansert@asm.state.nv.us 2)   Contact your state legislators: Go to this link to identify your state legislators -   Email your State Legislator  Human Rights Campaign Las Vegas Steering Committee