Back to Basics

So Former Assembly Member Steven Brooks is back in the news today. Brooks was supposed to be at a court hearing in Las Vegas today. He couldn't make it... Because he was at a court hearing in San Bernardino County, California.

Here's what's happened so far.

The lawyer for a former Nevada lawmaker charged in a car chase and a police confrontation is asking that his client go through a mental health court program.

Ex-Assemblyman Steven Brooks appeared in a San Bernardino County, Calif., court Tuesday after pleading not guilty to charges stemming from his arrest March 28. Prosecutors say there could be a decision Friday on whether he's eligible for mental health court.

Mental health courts divert people into treatment programs and hold them accountable along the way.

Late in March, Steven Brooks was arrested in Victorville following a dispute with a tow truck driver in Barstow and a dramatic car chase with police. His attorney is now requesting for the California case to be transferred to mental health court. This way, he can finally obtain the treatment he needs.

At least there's a chance of Brooks obtaining the treatment he needs in California. Just before his latest arrest, Brooks sounded eerily prophetic in his final interview with Jon Ralston.

In four brief, surreal conversations, alternately heart-wrenching and frightening, shortly after he was expelled from the Assembly, Steven Brooks said he is "the assemblyman of sorrow," wondered why his colleagues "hate me so much" and declared he was going to "break the state" with a lawsuit worth at least $10 million.

Brooks was alternately angry, with expletive-filled rants directed at Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick and Majority Leader William Horne, despondent, weeping and saying he was checking himself into Seven Hills, a Southern Nevada treatment facility, and suicidal, saying he had no other recourse. [...]

"I'm the assemblyman of sorrow," he declared. "Why do they hate me so much? Fill in the blank: I'm so angry I could (blank) myself."

Brooks told me he was "on my way to Seven Hills to check myself into the hospital. He began weeping when I asked why, adding, "I have no other resort. I'm going to kill myself if they keep this up. I have nowhere to go. I'm the assemblyman of sorrow." [...]

"You know why they hate me? You know why want to kill me because I know all of their secrets."

No one expected what was coming next, probably not even Steven Brooks himself. Yet in an incredibly bizarre way, he warned us. Just days after Brooks was sent to jail in San Bernardino County, another former Nevadan emerged in California.

After The Sacramento Bee began investigating the mysterious Greyhound bus trip that landed James Flavy Coy Brown in Sacramento, the Nevada patient dumping scandal steadily grew. Now, there's a strong chance of Nevada facing law suits soon over improper discharge of mental health patients and transport of them out of state.

And now, outrage is spreading to a new state. Last weekend, ABC 15 Phoenix looked into the 100 cases of Rawson-Neal mental health patients bussed into Arizona. And while investigating, they may have uncovered yet another horrifying scandal in the making.

Mark Holleran, CEO of Central Arizona Shelter Services, says it's hard to track those patients down. He says "patient dumping" happens more than you might think.

"It just shows you how it's very easy to do this, and it's sort of under the radar. It's hard to detect," he said.

Holleran says a few years ago, former prisoners from Nevada got dumped at the shelter.

"They had been provided a bus ticket, a small amount of cash, a print out of a Mapquest that showed them how to get to CASS. And written on it was, 'ask for Howie,'" he said.

Holleran says these cases often end in chronic homelessness. He says that stretches resources in other states, like Arizona. And it passes along the problem, instead of fixing it.

"That might be something we might want to take a look at. Because if we can solve it for one place, I think we solve it for all the places," Holleran said.

So now, Arizona officials are reporting cases of Nevada patient dumping. And not only that, but we may have also dumped former prisoners on them as well! How about that for being a "good neighbor"?

One would think this would light a fire under the behinds of the Governor and legislators to fix this glaring crisis. Come on, we're now facing law suits and loss of federal funding! But no, they were too busy kissing the behind of Nicholas Cage. No, I'm not even making this up. And Ralston was downright revolted by today's lurid display of misplaced priorities.

James Flavy Brown can be shipped out of Las Vegas, leaving with barely his wits about him, some meds and peanut butter crackers. But the star of “Leaving Las Vegas” can be treated like royalty, with the mayor of Las Vegas as his sidekick, and an offer pending of enough taxpayer money to buy a peanut butter cracker factory.

These are the Legislature’s priorities – cut mental health funding, ignore English Language Learner money but give tax breaks to those who need them least. Brown gets a bus ticket to anywhere while Cage gets a national treasure trove worth of goodies and Apple gets a 90 percent tax break negotiated by the governor. That is tax policy in Nevada.

This is the state we are in.

I wonder if anyone stops to think: We may get Cage ghost-riding on the Strip, with his production company soaring and a Vegas backdrop for movies. But what does it say if that fake scene is juxtaposed a few miles off-camera in either direction with real tableaus of packed emergency rooms, overcrowded classrooms and jammed thoroughfares.

If this is part of a master plan, I’d like to see the drawing because it seems like a blueprint for disaster to me. What exactly is the policy articulated by this approach that allows $80 million to be cut from mental health services in five years but in one bill lawmakers are willing to give half of that amount [$35 million] to prospective Nevada-based filmmakers?

Lest you think my heart’s bleeding cuts off circulation to my brain, I get the job-creating argument, the economic diversification argument, the image-changing argument. But why is it a good idea for government to give incentives to anyone – movie producers, renewable energy companies – if offcials don’t provide incentives for people to really want to live here by supporting the quality of life, a culture that values higher and lower education, a political class that leads rather than follows?

He's right about this. It simply doesn't make sense.

Honestly, there may be some merit to encouraging more film production here in Nevada. But when we can't even take care of our own, who wants to risk shooting a movie here? Think about it.

Why is it that we always hear that "we can't afford" proper mental health care, decent schools, and repaired roads, yet our Governor and Legislature always seem to be able to afford corporate welfare to shower upon multinational corporations like Apple that neither need the help nor deserve it? Think about that as well. How on earth does this lead to a stable economy for our state? And how on earth does neglecting the most vulnerable in our society lead to a healthy economy?

It doesn't. That's precisely the problem. Our "leaders" in Carson City keep chasing after mythical economic unicorns while failing to provide the most fundamental building blocks of a sound economy.

Sure, luring Hollywood to Las Vegas sounds sexy. But ultimately, that won't mean shit for economic development if our schools keep bursting at the seams, our hospitals keep stuffing patients onto Greyhound buses heading out of state, and our roads are clogged with commuters while paved with just as many potholes. We seriously need to pay attention to the rude awakening we're now receiving. We must get back to basics, and we must do so before it's too late.

Switch

What a difference some new polling can make. Last week, PPP released a slew of swing state polls showing Senators who voted to filibuster gun safety legislation that included expanded background checks were becoming increasingly popular. One of those Senators was Jeff Flake (R-Arizona). And after a week of flailing around the issue following flailing poll numbers, Flake seems to be having a change of heart.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) told CNN he's open to expanding background checks if the Manchin-Toomey legislation is modified to be more accommodating for Internet sales between friends.

Flake said he'd consider voting for the bill if the requirement is altered to ensure that a gun owner may sell a firearm to a friend without an FBI check after exchanging text-messages or emails or posting on Facebook. The senator fretted that as currently written, the bill may deem that a commercial transaction and require a background check.

The legislation generally exempts background checks for private gun sales between friends and family.

Actually, this is why some gun safety advocates were concerned about that amendment. Because it exempted so many private gun sales from background checks, it kept "the gun show loophole" alive. It may have been narrowed, but the loophole would still be there.

Yet that was not enough for Senator Flake. He didn't even want the loophole narrowed that much. But now, he's backpedaling. And Steve Benen is noticing.

The substance behind Flake's concerns seems rather superficial, but what strikes me as interesting is the fact that the senator is backpedaling at all -- after his support for the Republican filibuster, Flake saw his support plummet among his constituents. Instead of saying, "I'm confident I did the right thing," we see the Arizona Republican effectively saying, "On second thought...."

Indeed, Flake rejected his party line yesterday, saying he sees no value in the GOP talking point about a national registry. "I know that is not what this bill does, just the opposite," Flake said.

The freshman from Arizona isn't the only one feeling defensive.

In New Hampshire, for example, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) has a new op-ed today talking about how much she likes background checks. If she were confident about the political implications of her vote last month, would his op-ed have been written? I rather doubt it. [...]

[Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid [D] did not specify how close he and his allies might be to 60 votes, but he told the Las Vegas Review Journal, "Joe Manchin called me yesterday. He thinks he has a couple more votes.... We may only need three additional Republicans. So we'll see."

And in case that's not enough, Greg Sargent caught this scoop yesterday.

One of these votes currently in play may be Senator Johnny Isakson, who sponsored a background check bill on the state level in Georgia. A gun control advocate who met with Senator Isakson today tells me that he said he is open to voting for Manchin-Toomey if and when it comes up again —and that he is in active talks with Senator Joe Manchin about the measure.

Piyali Cole, a senior official with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, met with Senator Isakson today, along with three other gun control advocates, asked him why he had voted against Manchin Toomey, and whether he’d be open to voting for it if changes were made.

“He said he is working with Manchin Toomey on a regular basis on the bill —he said he’s definitely having conversations with them,” Cole tells me. “When we asked him directly, is he going to vote for the Manchin-Toomey compromise bill when it’s reintroduced, he said he did not know but said he was definitely open to it.”

So does this mean gun safety reform will finally rise again in Washington? Maybe. Just don't get too excited just yet, as a possible gun safety comeback will have to wait for some sort of conclusion to the Senate's debate over comprehensive immigration reform.

But as we've said here before, there's one Senator whose vote likely determines the future of both policies. Last month, Senator Dean Heller (R-46%) was part of the G-O-TEA filibuster of Senator Reid's gun safety bill and the Manchin-Toomey Amendment that would have weakened Reid's original bill. What will be enough to make Heller switch his vote?

That's the big question on Capitol Hill now... And that's why local activists probably won't be going away any time soon.

Not Going Away

On Sunday, volunteers for the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Demand Action campaign made calls. Wait... What?! What were they doing?

These volunteers were calling other concerned Nevadans who signed any recent Demand Action petitions. And they asked these people to contact Senator Dean Heller (R-NRA) and ask him to reconsider his decision to break his promise to support expanding background checks for gun purchases. Heller's poll numbers are already falling in the wake of his filibuster of gun safety reform, but he needs to face more tangible pressure now if gun safety has any chance of being taken up again this year in Congress.

So that's why we saw this on Sunday.







Senator Heller has to hear from constituents here from Nevada if gun safety reform is to secure another chance on Capitol Hill. Senator Harry Reid (D-Searchlight) suggested yesterday that votes may be in play again now that several Senators who filibustered Reid's bill and the companion Manchin-Toomey Amendment are facing serious blowback at home (including Heller).

When the volunteers were calling, there was mostly positive feedback. Some even said they had already called and emailed Senator Heller's office. I guess when an issue like this has its worst polling days when it's "only" showing 70% support, one can't simply escape it.

That can also explain why the issue is back in Carson City. Back in March, SB 221 faced an uncertain future in the Nevada Legislature. Now, there's a chance as the bill has just been amended.

SB 221 calls for universal background checks here in Nevada. But under the amendment that bill author (State Senator)
Justin Jones (D-Enterprise) agreed to, private gun sales would have to undergo the federal background check system. And since that means private gun sales wouldn't be going through the state system, that eliminates the fiscal component that had initially sent SB 221 into exile in the Senate Finance Committee.

So what happens next? That's a good question. The Nevada Legislature may finally take a step in the direction of gun violence prevention for a chance. Or maybe Congress will get its act together soon. But whatever the case, this issue won't be going away any time soon.

Will Republican Civil War Harm Immigration Reform?

It was likely bound to happen. Last week, we saw a slew of excuses as the "tea party" revved up its campaign to kill comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) this Congress. Various Republican Congresscritters have mentioned everything from "TER'RIS!!!" to "TEH GAYZZZ!!!" to "BROWN PPLZ R STEEL'IN OUR JOBZ!!!" as excuses to weasel out of whatever commitment they made earlier to at least consider CIR.

And now, we have a new excuse in the making. The (Whose?) Heritage Foundation has released a new set of excuses for the G-O-TEA to oppose any & all CIR. Oh, yes. That's right. They're fucking up fudging the numbers in order to decry the Gang of 8 CIR bill as "TAX-N-SPND LIB'RULZZZ!!!" (Wonkblog debunked the number soup of Heritage's report earlier today.)

Yet in doing this, Heritage (of the "Tea Party") is making some surprising new enemies.

Within hours of Monday’s press conference, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s immigration group, which includes former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour (R) and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, condemned Heritage’s report as “fundamentally flawed.”

“Newly legalized immigrants would further expand the economy and our tax base, particularly after earning full access to the institutions that helped make America the world’s greatest mobilizer of human potential,” the group’s members, who have yet to release their own immigration proposal, said in a statement.

The conservative American Action Forum last month released a report by former CBO director Douglas Holtz-Eakin claiming that a comprehensive immigration overhaul would reduce the deficit by $2.5 trillion thanks to increased economic growth. The libertarian CATO Institute also published a lengthy critique of Rector’s 2007 methodology, claiming it “produced a grossly exaggerated cost to federal taxpayers of legalizing unauthorized immigrants while undercounting or discounting their positive tax and economic contributions.”

Critics also noted that Heritage released a background report in 2006 by Tim Kane and Kirk A. Johnson that asserted “[t]he argument that immigrants harm the American economy should be dismissed out of hand,” including low-skilled migrant workers identified as a massive drain by [Robert] Rector. Derrick Morgan, Heritage’s vice president for domestic and economic policy, told reporters Monday that its findings came “during a time of boom” and should be reconsidered in light of the 2008 financial collapse.

The gaping chasm between Heritage’s findings and those of other right-leaning experts reflects how much immigration has divided conservatives who are typically on the same side of fiscal issues. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), for example, has a long relationship with DeMint and recorded a video introduction to Heritage’s Spanish-language site just last year. But these days he’s posting debunkers of their findings on his website and criticizing their methodology in TV interviews.

Steve Benen so far has characterized this as "Heritage versus the GOP". While I typically agree with Benen on these kinds of matters, we must part ways on this. Sure, some Republican leaders are eager to get CIR done in hopes of fixing their party's "Hispanic Problem". However, I suspect TPM's Benjy Sarlin was more accurate in describing this as "sparking a conservative civil war".

Why? I can't help but think of last Wednesday's May Day rally in Downtown Las Vegas. While a small handful of Republican operatives joined with the crowd and proudly displayed their Brian Sandoval (R-Flip-flop) stickers, the base of their own party could occasionally be heard as they were trying to heckle Senator Harry Reid (D-Searchlight Strong) as he was making the case for reform. Last Wednesday, we could clearly see a house divided against itself in the Nevada GOP.

And it's not just here. Even Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Kill Medicare) has been falling out of favor with the very "tea party" that propelled him to national political stardom because he's willing to consider CIR! And the local DC gossip rag even mentioned various "tea party" darlings as possibilities for killing reform this year.

And that leads us to what Greg Sargent said earlier today. Long story short: Republicans are at a crossroads.

Ultimately, the prospects for immigration reform have always turned on whether enough Republicans are willing to swallow hard, cross the citizenship Rubicon, and accept the consequences for the right. This [Heritage] report doesn’t change that basic dynamic. It will give an army of talk show hosts and bloggers opposed to reform plenty of ammunition to kick up a whole lot of noise against the proposal, to be sure.

But it’s just as true today as it was last week that reform is only going to happen if enough Republicans ignore all that ["tea party"] noise and decide that short term pain from the base is well worth dealing with in order to give the party a chance to at least begin repairing relations with Latinos, at a time when demographic realities are looking extremely daunting over the long term. And make no mistake — it’s only the far right who opposes a path to citizenship; polls show solid majorities overall, and even substantial numbers of Republicans.

If far right Republicans in the House kill reform, that would be the worst possible political outcome for the GOP. The noise from the far right may have just gotten a bit louder, but the consequences for Republicans of allowing the noise to kill reform haven’t changed at all.

And if far right Senate Republicans kill immigration reform there like they did with gun safety reform, then their party will really have hell to pay going forward. But then again, we're talking about the general electorate. Right now, many House and Senate Republicans are most worried about a "tea party" primary challenge. And that's why CIR is facing a new round of trouble on Capitol Hill.

The local DC gossip rag also posted today the Gang of 8's plan to secure a supermajority of Senators for their CIR bill. And guess who's on top of their target list? Yep, Senator Dean Heller (R-46%) is there. So now, it's just a matter of whether he sides with good policy and long-term smart politics... Or if he continues running scared of Sharron Angle.

The Rude Awakening for #NVLeg

Last Monday, we were warning everyone not to get too caught up in all the pomp & circumstance of the latest rumors of sweeping tax reform to hit Carson City. After all, the bulk of the tax plans floating around the Nevada Legislature don't even come close to fixing the major holes in our public infrastructure and social safety net. Nevada now faces potential law suits for mental health patient dumping.

Just yesterday, The Sacramento Bee released interviews with former Rawson-Neal who opened up on the origins of "Greyhound Therapy".

Though the employees offered different perspectives on the wisdom of sending psychiatric patients alone on bus trips across state lines, most described increased pressure in recent years to move patients out. And budget cuts, they said, were a driving factor.

"There is so much pressure now to get people out as soon as possible," said one longtime Rawson-Neal nurse, who requested anonymity for fear of losing her job.

"The administration has a meeting every week to talk about length of stay," she said. "Doctors are told, 'You need to get these patients out of the hospital.' " [...]

Nevada cut mental health spending 28 percent between 2009 and 2012, cuts that brought furlough days, staffing shortages and widespread reductions in outpatient services and housing for the mentally ill, according to employees and area social services workers. [...]

Bryan Peralta worked as a mental health technician at Rawson-Neal for eight months, ending in November of last year. One of the reasons he left the hospital was its discharge of patients "who were not ready" to be released, he said.

Peralta recalled one young woman who was sent to the Greyhound station while "she was still foaming" at the mouth and talking to herself. She had a ticket to California, but was sent back to Rawson-Neal by a bus driver before she crossed the state border, he said.

Yep, that's really been the state of mental health care here in Nevada. And no, sweeping this under the rug won't make it go away. And neither will dumping it onto a Greyhound bus.

But wait, there's more. Nevada is also facing potential law suits over K-12 public education. Here too, schools are being shortchanged. And the shortchanging is especially horrific in Clark County, where 72% of the population resides and the student body is far more diverse. For years, the Clark County School District (CCSD) has suffered overcrowded classroom and lack of programs students need. Now, CCSD and the Clark County Education Association (CCEA) have released a $1.2 billion plan to address overcrowding.

In total, the district and union's plan calls for hiring 4,115 new teachers, for a total of $271.7 million. The average teacher's salary with benefits is $66,000.

The additional teachers would be on top of an estimated 2,000 new educators being hired for next school year as a result of the School District's arbitration win against the Clark County Education Association in February. If all goes according to plan, the School District could have upward of 23,000 teachers by 2017.

That would lower average class sizes significantly in kindergarten, and fourth and fifth grades. Average class sizes in kindergarten would drop to 16 students. Fourth and fifth grades would see a drop to 26 students.

To accommodate the 6,000 new teachers and a growing student enrollment, the district also would have to build 37 new schools at a cost of $931.7 million. The average elementary school costs $25 million to construct.

In total, the new teachers and schools would cost the district $1.2 billion.

OK, that sounds nice. But wait, where will the funding come from? Right now, that's the key $1.2 billion question.

We know Governor Brian Sandoval's (R-Denial) oh so "sunny" budget fails to shine enough resources for public schools or mental health care. And while Senator Michael Roberson's (R-Lone Wolf) proposed IP 1 mining tax alternative initiative raises half of what CCSD is now requesting, it's still unclear whether "The Senate GOP Mod Squad" gambit is actually legally and/or politically viable.

So where does that leave us? Take it away, (Assembly) Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick (D-Seriously?).

Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick this morning informed folks that her long-awaited admissions tax is finally drafted, setting a rate of 8 percent for all major venues.

The current Live Entertainment Tax has a two-tiered rate, with some venues taxed at 10 percent and others at 5 percent, depending on capacity. I'm told the bill draft exempts only small venues under 50 seats, nonprofits and some government sites.

The Live Entertainment Tax would go away and be replaced by the Nevada Entertainment and Admissions Tax.

Well, I guess something is better than nothing. And this does look preferable to the revenue-neutral regressive sales tax clusterf**k she and Republican leaders were considering earlier this session. But ultimately, this only offers a few drops in the bucket when we need that bucket as full as possible to take care of our own people.

It often seems like many politicians and pundits in Carson City don't understand why We the People decided to take tax reform into our own hands with The Education Initiative. Well, this is why! Nevadans are looking for solutions. And if the Governor and Legislature can't agree on a real solution by June, then We the People will have to provide it for them next year.

We can't take any more of the status quo. It's already costing us dearly. Something must change. And if we don't see that change coming out of Carson City soon, then it will be facing a very rude awakening come November 2014.

SB 252 & The Big Picture (of the Green Economy)

Back in February, we saw lines drawn into the sand. US Senator Harry Reid (D) delivered a mean, green ultimatum to the Nevada Legislature. He demanded an end to NV Energy misusing loopholes in Nevada's renewable energy standard to buy hydroelectric power produced in Utah and use that (and occasional light bulb handouts) as "renewable energy produced".

Fast forward to April. NV Energy suddenly announced its plan to shut down the remaining coal fired power plant in Southern Nevada while investing more in renewable energy. Oh, and the plan also calls for more natural gas power plants (which has led to new questions on fracking in Nevada). NV Energy ultimately took possession of SB 123 with NVision, and the possessed bill is moving its way through the Nevada Legislature.

So whatever happened to fixing renewable energy standards? It turns out there's another bill floating in Carson City: SB 252. And believe it or not, it's moving in Carson City.

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval has said he has a goal of making Nevada an “epicenter of renewable energy,” and Senate Bill 252 passed the Senate on a unanimous vote.

“Closing these loopholes will strengthen the law and send a powerful signal that Nevada remains committed to kicking our dependence on out-of-state fossil fuels,” Reid told legislators in a speech in February.

He said the utility should not get credit for buying hydroelectric power from Utah or “allow them to meet the portfolio standard by handing out energy-efficient light bulbs at Home Depot.” [...]

The bill would make NV Energy spend the credits it has carried over by exceeding the standard during past years. It would also do away with a multiplier effect that allows for the generating capacity of solar panels to count for 2.4 times the actual generating capacity. [...]

Finally, the bill would ratchet down over time the amount of energy efficiency measures that NV Energy can use to meet the renewable energy law.

All changes to the Renewable Portfolio Standard are aimed at spurring renewable energy construction.

SB 252 and SB 123 were originally supposed to be complementary. But now that SB 123 has become NV Energy's proposed rubber stamp energy plan, SB 252 now stands alone as an actual corrective measure to fix Nevada's renewable energy standard.

Of course, the usual "Tea Party, Inc." suspects are screaming about "REGULATIONS!!!" Never mind that even utility companies now see renewable energy standards as good for business. And for all the talk of this being "job killing regulations", solar powered jobs are growing exponentially nationwide. Ultimately, the smart money is being bet on renewable energy. So why shouldn't Nevada be smart?

Fossil fuel cheerleaders take note: Renewable energy ain’t going nowhere —and it may prove to be the better bet in the long run.

By 2030, renewables will account for 70 percent of new power supply worldwide, according to projections released today from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Bloomberg analysts examined gas prices, carbon prices, the dwindling price of green energy technology, and overall energy demand (which, in the US at least, is on a massive decline), and found solar and wind beating fossil fuels like coal and natural gas by 2030.

The chart below shows annual installations of new power sources, in gigawatts; over time, more and more of the new energy supply being built each year comes from renewable sources (like wind turbines and solar panels), by 2030 representing $630 billion worth of investment, while new fossil fuel sources (like coal- or gas-burning power plants) become increasingly rare.

The effect of this projected growth, BNEF CEO Michael Liebreich told Climate Desk at a gathering of clean energy investors today in New York, is that damage to the climate from the electricity sector is likely to taper off even as worldwide electricity use grows. “I believe we’re in a phase of change where renewables are going to take the sting out of growth in energy demand,” he said.

Signs of this transformation are already appearing: Solar power workers now outnumber coal miners nationwide, wind power was the United States’ leading source of new power in 2012, and financial analysts warn that fossil fuel investments are poised to become a very bad bet.

And then, there's the reality of climate change. Yes, believe it or not,climate change remains the serious crisis at our doorstep. We simply can't afford any more flirting with carbon emitting fossil fuels. We're seeing the consequences of this as extended drought is leading to extended wildfire season out here in The Western US.

So in examining the big picture, SB 252 is looking awfully necessary now. Isn't it?

The Deep Hole in Carson City

We've seen this so many times before. Gun safety reform fell because of it. Comprehensive immigration reform is now on shaky ground due to it. And of course, austerity and manufactured crises are all the rage on Capitol Hill thanks to it. Thanks to "tea party" obstructionism, it's incredibly difficult to pass anything in Congress now.

Yet like our new state slogan, Nevada seems to be "A World Away, A State Apart". After all, several Republican legislators in Carson City have come forward and offered to break the logjam on tax policy. In fact, some "tea party" faithful there are frustrated.

[Assembly Member Jim] Wheeler [R-Gardnerville] admits he’s in the minority in Carson City. He laments what he sees as the leftward shift of the Republican Party in response to recent trouncing at the polls.

“Republicans seem to be trying to come to the middle,” Wheeler said. “But people won’t vote for that. People don’t vote for a party that changes its ways. People vote the person who sticks to what they say.

“Now, we have to cater to minorities? Cater to gay marriage? Because the world is changing? That’s true. But American values are not changing.”

No, American values are not changing. However, our understanding of those values clearly has. And funny enough, a Republican has stepped forward to confirm this.

“I try to do what is best for the state of Nevada,” Kieckhefer said on Nevada Newsmakers Thursday morning. “I don’t try to pander to a party of a part or edge of a party.”

Kieckhefer defended his marriage equality vote as a vote “of my conscience.” [...]

“I have a strongly Republican district but there are a lot of families in the district and it may not be as conservative as you are painting it to be,” Kieckhefer said. “It is a strong Republican district but with the bandwidth of conservatism. I’m not sure that it’s the most conservative district in the state.”

State Senator Ben Kieckhefer (R-Reno) has been making news lately for staking positions (like support for marriage equality) that challenge contemporary G-O-TEA orthodoxy. But then again, that's just it. G-O-TEA orthodoxy is still quite powerful. (And Richard Ziser is threatening to primary Senator Kieckhefer.)

After all, look at the "TEA" fueled revolt against Senator Michael Roberson's (R-Henderson) IP 1 alternative mining tax. And remember, he proposed it to try to fend off IP 1/The Education Initiative! But now, he can't even get the Governor and Assembly Caucus from his own party to consider his plan.

And then, there's Governor Brian Sandoval (R). He offered another serving of "The Sunset Taxes" to fend off any and all kind of serious tax reform (even Senator Roberson's). Yet even with that, the "tea party" balks.

And then, there's the scope of Nevada's tattered public infrastructure. We're facing law suits over chronic underfunding of K-12 public education and mental health care. And that's only just the beginning of the consequences we're starting to feel for not setting up a proper social safety net so we can truly care for our own. Sandoval's "Sunset Solution" only essentially drops a few extra pennies in that deep bucket. And while Roberson's proposal offers more, it's legally questionable and mired in troublesome "triangulation" politics.

So may we finally seeing some Republicans break free from "G-O-TEA" orthodoxy? Perhaps so. That's why the state may be able to pass a workable budget in June while Congress is still stuck in a stalemate. Yet with that being said, Nevada's fiscal and social problems run far deeper than a few extra million dollars that Governor Sandoval wants to toss into the state budget. We still have a very deep hole to crawl out of. The hole in Carson City may not seem as scary as the one in Washington, yet it nonetheless causes us trouble.

Costly Denial

What else can be said? We told them so. Nevada has been rocked by the mental health patient dumping scandal for the past month. And so far, it only looks to be worsening.

Just moments ago, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera tweeted this.



Yikes. Is anyone here not thinking San Francisco is not gearing up to sue Nevada? Oh, and by the way, Los Angeles is considering suing as well.

Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital has been under fire since last month, after a Sacramento Bee investigative series reported that hospital staff gave as many as 1,500 patients one-way Greyhound bus tickets from Las Vegas to California and 46 other states over the past five years.

"If the conduct is true as alleged, it's no less than human trafficking," Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich told Reuters, adding he was working with San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who last month opened an investigation into the practice.

"We have to find the individuals who were dumped. We're working on it. It's like finding a needle in a haystack," Trutanich said.

Oh, yes. That's right. They're going there. And Nevada is facing even more legal trouble over Rawson-Neal's now infamous patient dumping habit.

But wait, there's more. For the first time since The Sacramento Bee originally uncovered his harrowing true tale of "Greyhound Therapy", James Flavy Coy Brown just began telling his own side of the story. Brown explained to ABC News today how he landed at a Sacramento homeless shelter confused and suicidal. Brown also recently spoke with KSNV/News 3 (Las Vegas).

"I said, 'I don't want to leave Nevada,'" Brown told ABC News. "[His doctor at Rawson-Neal] said, 'California sounds like a really nice state. I think you'll be happy there.'"

Although Brown had never been to Sacramento, he says he was told he would get better mental health care there. Brown was driven to a Greyhound bus station with a $306 one-way bus ticket, six Ensure nutrition shake bottles and just a three-day supply of psychiatric medications. [...]

After a 16-hour overnight Greyhound bus trip, James arrived in Sacramento, but he didn't call 911. So instead, a confused Brown walked to a nearby police station- the police took him to a homeless shelter. By then, he was feeling the symptoms of medication withdrawal: a headache, profuse sweating and confusion.

He had no Social Security card, no food stamp card and no Medicaid card.

The Sacramento Bee first broke Brown's story last month, finding Nevada has purchased nearly 1,500 bus tickets since 2008, sending patients by bus to every state in the continental United States, mostly California.

With Brown's permission, ABC News obtained and reviewed his entire Rawson-Neal medical record. Documentation in the medical record shows his most clear wish regarding his discharge from Rawson-Neal was to go to a local group home.

At that Sacramento homeless shelter, Brown nearly killed himself. He soon had to be taken to the emergency room at UC Davis Medical Center. After three days in the ER, he was found temporary housing. And eventually, authorities there were able to reach Brown's daughter in North Carolina. And he's now staying with her there.

This is the kind of help Rawson-Neal should have provided. Instead, he, Orange County Monica, and possibly many more were unceremoniously tossed onto Greyhound buses and dumped into other states. Most were dumped into California, and local health agencies there were then forced to figure out what to do with these patients.

And now, those local governments want payback. While the separate federal investigation of Rawson-Neal continues, the Sacramento City Attorney is also considering legal action against Nevada. And on top of that, Alameda & Santa Clara Counties (in the SF Bay Area) are in the mix as well.

Meanwhile, Sacramento City Attorney James Sanchez has joined legal authorities in Los Angeles and the Bay Area in pressing for details about the cases of hundreds of mentally ill patients from Rawson-Neal who were given one-way Greyhound tickets to cities in California over the past five years.

"From our standpoint, this apparently was not a single instance of someone being bused somewhere without services," said Sanchez. "We feel it could be a significant number of cases, but we won't know for sure until we get into the files." [...]

The cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles have launched criminal probes to determine whether Nevada was systematically dumping indigent patients across state lines. The hospital's practices are also under scrutiny by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees federal funding for health facilities, and the Joint Commission.

Elizabeth Eaken Zhani, spokeswoman for the Joint Commission, confirmed that the agency sent surveyors to the hospital Thursday. Their inspection was a response to possible violations of standards that cover "provision of care" as well as "rights and responsibilities" of patients, Zhani said. [...]

The survey played out as the Sacramento city attorney, along with city attorneys from San Francisco and Los Angeles, and county counsels representing Alameda and Santa Clara, waited for a response to their request for a joint meeting with Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to discuss Rawson-Neal's discharge practices.

In a letter dated Monday, the attorneys said they also want to find out "how Nevada may best assist us" in identifying patients who were dispatched to their jurisdictions "so we may ensure that they receive necessary medical care or medications."

Ouch. Even more California municipalities are expressing outrage over #DumpGate. And while Governor Brian Sandoval (R-Denial) has been doing some damage control lately, he still seems to be in denial of the larger problem.

But at this point, Nevada can no longer afford denial. While Governor Sandoval and his political consultants continue to present to us their "sunny" spin, reality is crashing down on us. Because of the EPIC FAIL of our mental health system (that is, what little we have to offer and slap with this label), this happened. Because we've chronically underfunded our social safety net and public infrastructure for so many decades, we're now just starting to feel the consequences.

We truly can't afford any more denial. Something must change. And legislators must recognize reality, even if a certain someone else in Carson City continues to deny it.

The Real Reason for Las Excusas

Early this morning, we saw some good news. Last month, national unemployment fell to 7.5% as the economy added 165,000 jobs in April. In addition, the jobs reports for February and March were also revised upward. If it weren't for continued austerity (private sector jobs rose by 176k, but public sector jobs dropped by 11k), our economy would be in a strong recovery by now.

Remember this: Austerity is challenging our economic recovery. Immigration, on the other hand, is not. If anything, our economy relies on immigration.

Here's how immigrants make our economy work:

1. Immigration improves technological innovation. High-skilled immigrant workers boost innovation and in turn increase the productivity and utility of their surrounding workforce. Silicon Valley would be throwing its support behind immigration reform, and rightfully so: Over half of all new start-ups have been started by foreign-born founders, and 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children, even though foreign-born individuals only make up an eighth of America’s population.

Currently, there are far more applicants for H-1B high-skilled visas than are available. The Senate bill would create a new visa for entrepreneur engineers who have secured funding to create startups, set a higher quota set for H-1B visas, and make a merit-based green card system that attracts immigrants with advanced degrees.

2. Immigrants increase workers’ wages. A Center for American Progress study found that U.S. gross domestic product would grow by $1.4 trillion between 2013 and 2022 if legalization were conferred to the undocumented population this year. Another study, conducted by Brookings in 2010 found that “immigrants raise the overall standard of living of American workers by boosting wages and lowering prices.” Immigrants and American workers do not compete for the same jobs, but actually have complementary jobs. In that way, immigrants help to increase the productivity —and wages —of native populations.

3. Immigrants shore up Social Security. According to Stephen Gross, chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, undocumented workers paid $15 billion into Social Security “with no intention of ever collecting benefits.” Without the estimated 3.1 million undocumented immigrants paying into the system, “Social Security would have ‘entered persistent shortfall of tax revenue to cover payouts starting in 2009.” Additionally a 2007 study concluded that a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants would bring $57 billion to Social Security funds by 2017, while another study predicts that immigrants will add $611 billion to the Social Security system over the next 75 years.

4. Immigrants feed America. The U.S. food system largely depends on immigrant farm workers. According to a 2010 Philip Marin and Linda Calvin study, over half the hired farm workers are not authorized to work in the United States. As a result, immigrants are often exploited with depressed wages and harsh working conditions. However, in a move in the right direction that protects immigrant laborers, states like California are finally proposing legislation that seeks to allow farm workers the ability to report abuse.

Still don't believe me and ThinkProgress? Believe Geoconda Arguello Kline. She immigrated to the US from Nicaragua in 1979. She arrived in Las Vegas in 1983, began working as a guest room attendant at Fitzgerald's... And now, serves as Secretary-Treasurer of Culinary 226.

So she knows firsthand how immigrants contribute to our economy and our community.



So do these fine people.



At Wednesday's May Day rally for comprehensive immigration reform (CIR), we saw many examples of how immigrants contribute to our economy. They work up and down The Strip. And really, they keep The Strip humming.

In addition, immigrants work in our homes. And they work in our restaurants. And they serve in our military. And they attend our colleges. And they keep our health care system running from top to bottom. And they keep our technology sector healthy.

And so on, and so forth...

Long story short: Our economy depends on immigrants. So why is CIR so controversial? American born and immigrant workers benefit from reform, along with businesses. And among the American people, CIR is actually quite popular!

So what gives? Cone on, do you really need me to tell you? Just take a look at the "tea party" to your far, far, far right.

As we've discussed before, teabaggers are exerting pressure on Republican Members of Congress to oppose CIR regardless of what the final bill looks like. And already, it's causing at least some of them to walk away from the negotiating table. They've been using (their hatred of) LGBTQ families as an excuse. They've also been using (their craven exploitation of) terrorism as an excuse. And now, they're topping it off with bogus process excuses (that are actually centered on their hatred of President Obama).

The policy case for comprehensive immigration reform is actually quite strong. So don't listen to pundits claiming policy as the reason CIR faces trouble in Congress. Rather, the reasons for CIR's immense hurdles in Congress involve ideology and politics. Or more specifically, "tea party" obstructionism is now threatening what's supposed to be "The Great Bipartisan Achievement of 2013" (since austerity keeps looking less like an achievement and more like an EPIC FAIL with each passing day).

Oh, and we're still waiting for Senator Dean Heller (R-"TEA" Curious) to say something.

Writing on the Wall

Yesterday, Governor Brian Sandoval (R-Denial) received some good news. The Nevada Economic Forum projected $5.85 billion in revenue for the next biennium. Add in the nearly $600 million that Governor Sandoval wants to squeeze out of the Sunset Taxes (again), and the "GovRec" budget is about $44 million under the new projection.

So this is good news... Right?

“It shows we are not recovered,” Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden, said. “We are not doing great.”

“Its peanuts, really,” said Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, referring to the $44 million more that Wednesday’s projections produced. [...]

“The only way we are going to get more for education is to raise revenue,” said Sen. Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, and the chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee. “It is clear that our current situation is not going to do it.

“The speculation and comments that we have heard, that we will grow our way out (of the recession) so we can better fund education really doesn’t appear to be the case,” Smith said. “So we have to take a hard look about where we are.”

Democrats were expected to propose a new tax package that could include removal of many loopholes in the Live Entertainment tax and tweaking the Modified Business Tax.

“We were kind of treading water until we saw what happened today,” said Smith, speaking of the Forum. “We wanted to see what the extra revenue looked like.”

While they won't publicly admit it, it's starting to look like legislators are realizing that Nevada is indeed in great trouble. The state may soon be slapped with a law suit over inadequate public education funding. In addition, the state is already mired in hot water over the burgeoning mental health patient dumping scandal. Long story short: We're in deep s**t, and $44 million isn't nearly enough to fix decades of chronic underfunding of our public infrastructure.

Yet while the State of Nevada is still struggling, The Strip increasingly looks like Easy Street. Just today, MGM Resorts posted its first overall net profit since 2008. And Wynn Resorts continues to post strong earnings while looking for expansion opportunities.

Yet yesterday, Steve Wynn actually tried to cry poor in Carson City. No, really. See this.



So of course, Wynn won't allow for any gaming tax hike. But of course, that was never really being considered. I guess he's just so paranoid concerned about it that he wants to prematurely kill it by having legislators consider mining tax reform instead. At least on this, his wish is being granted today.

Feeling increasingly cornered, mining industry lobbyists are lashing out in Carson City today. They're decrying "economic populism". And they're claiming SJR 15 will destroy the world if enacted. And of course, reality continues to chime in and suggest otherwise.



Mining industry lobbyists have been working for a long time to quell any possibility of mining tax reform. But when even other parts of the previously united business lobby are breaking away and pointing fingers at mining, we have to notice that writing on the wall. And of course, when Nevada has its back against the wall in struggling to keep up with glaring needs, that writing on the wall becomes even clearer.

Something has to give. Something must change. The state needs more revenue. And the mining industry can certainly afford to pay its fair share.

Of course, this is still far from over. Mining lobbyists continue to fight like help to stop any & all mining tax reform. And the IP 1 "Mod Squad" clusterf**k threatens to complicate what should be a clear cut issue.


Yet with that being said, there's now an opening. The writing on the wall clearly points to it. Will legislators finally take it?

Consequences

Over the past month, we've been digging deep into Nevada's burgeoning mental health patient dumping scandal. Initially, Governor Brian Sandoval (R-Denial) and Nevada mental health officials denied any widespread wrongdoing. But as cases continued piling up, they eventually began to promise solutions. Yet even with Sandoval and the Nevada Department of Health & Human Services claiming responsibility for 10 cases of patient dumping and promising that it will never happen again, several elected leaders in California are still calling for further investigation.



Oh, yes. That's right. 21 of California's Members of Congress are sending a letter to US Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and US Attorney General Eric Holder demanding federal action.

The letter, initiated by Rep. Ami Bera, an Elk Grove Democrat, states that "if this practice of shipping patients with a history of mental illness to other states, known colloquially as 'Greyhound Therapy,' is occurring, it would not only be unethical and disgraceful, but would also be an illegal attempt by Nevada to evict members of the state's most vulnerable population to benefit its bottom line."

The letter cites a Bee investigation that found that Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada's primary hospital for the mentally ill, has bused about 1,500 patients out of southern Nevada since 2008, sending people to every state in the continental United States. [...]

The congressional letter says busing patients to other states may violate several laws, including federal requirements that hospitals must stabilize patients before discharging them and requirements that hospitals meet certain conditions before receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding.

The letter also states that involuntary placement of a psychiatric patient on a bus to another state "may constitute interstate kidnapping."

The letter asks Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder to report any investigative findings to Congress within 30 days.

"Federal investigation is warranted here, particularly in light of admissions from Nevada officials that their own investigation found 'no pattern of misconduct,' " the letter says.

And that's not all. Late last month, we noted San Francisco's launch of a probe into Nevada patient dumping. A day later, Los Angeles followed suit in launching its own probe. Now, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera is poring through documents he just received from Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto (D).

Late last week, Nevada's Attorney General Catherine Cortex Masto responded to Herrera's public records requests with a trove of documents, including nearly 400 pages of Greyhound Bus invoices and scores more detailing potentially improper discharges dating back to July 2008.

The documents cover five general areas:

The records provided to the Sacramento Bee,which first broke the story about Nevada's practice of "patient dumping." The documents related to "challenged" discharges, "specifically any discharges challenged on the basis of inadequate discharge planning." Copies of licenses for Nevada's mental health facilities. Copies of citations levied against the Nevada's mental health facilities. Documents showing the sources of funding for Nevada's mental health services. Hererra's investigation seeks to discover the extent of Nevada's patient dumping. The Bee's investigation found that Rawson-Neal bought bus tickets for more than 1,500 mentally ill patients over the past five years. Around one-third of those buses went to California, including 36 to San Francisco. But Nevada officials have maintained that nearly all of those discharges were appropriate --Sandoval admits to only one confirmed improper discharge, [then 5, then 10?] for which two hospital employees were fired. [...]

And, as Reuters reported last week, "San Francisco health director Barbara Garcia said outreach workers in the past year identified two psychiatric patients who arrived in the city on buses after being discharged from Rawson-Neal with neither relatives nor treatment plans awaiting them in San Francisco."

Herrera's public records query also included requests for documents showing that California approved to accept any of Nevada's mental health patients or agreed to exchange any patients with Nevada. Masto's response noted that none of those documents existed.

Ouch. Remember, shortly after the harrowing true tale of James Flavy Coy Brown began making headlines in California and Nevada, Governor Sandoval denied any widespread patient dumping. It wasn't until roughly the time when Orange County Supervisors began asking their mental health officials about Monica, just as even more cases were emerging here in Southern Nevada, when Sandoval began backtracking on his earlier blanket denials.

Already, this scandal is proving to be costly. The state is scrambling to head off threats of federal funding cutoffs. The state is also scrambling in a desperate attempt to avoid California law suits. And now, on top of all that, Clark County hospitals are now feeling the strain of Rawson-Neal bursting at the seams in the wake of #DumpGate.

Reports of improper discharges at the Rawson-Neal psychiatric hospital is affecting other local medical facilities.

The “Review-Journal” reports University Medical Center closed its emergency room to adults for 12 hours on Monday, after mentally ill patients filled nearly half of the hospital’s ER beds.

The Southern Nevada Health District says nearly 200 psychiatric patients are currently being held at local hospitals.

Jeez. And UMC was already swirling in controversy before Rawson-Neal fell deep into scandal!

Again, no one can't say we weren't sounding the alarms. We were. The state's social safety net has been woefully inadequate for some time. And in case that wasn't enough, we slashed and burned even more in recent years. And mental health care has especially been hit hard by recent state budget cuts.

And now, it's all coming back to bite us. This is what happens when Nevada won't take care of its own. Think about it.

Remember the DREAM.

Yesterday, we saw something amazing. We saw thousands of people filling Downtown Las Vegas and demanding comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). Even while some Republicans in Congress are trying to kill the bipartisan Gang of 8 CIR bill, protesters in Las Vegas and elsewhere were cautioning Congress against watering down the key principles of CIR.

There were probably somewhere around 5,000 demonstrators in Downtown Las Vegas last night. Don't believe me? Look at the crowd.





And then, listen to Ricardo. He's served in the military. He's been doing well in Congress. Yet for so long, nine numbers have been holding him back. And now, one sheet of paper continues to hold him back.





Blanca from DREAM Big Vegas also made the stage. She was a star student at UNLV. She led a sorority, and her "sisters" loved her. She wants to accomplish so much, but those same nine numbers have been holding her back. And she's been in America since she was an infant.

Senator Harry Reid (D-Si Se Puede) spoke up for Blanca, Ricardo, and all other DREAMers last night when he addressed the crowd. We're a nation of immigrants. Immigrants made this nation what it is today. And the time is now to give these people a chance, just like our ancestors were given a chance.







While Senator Reid was speaking, a tiny handful of "tea party" hecklers were trying to interrupt him. As you can see above, he figured out a way to handle them. Now, we all await Senator Dean Heller's (R-46%) response. Will he side with the rage and xenophobia fueled few? Or will he actually step across that aisle and give people like Blanca & Ricardo a chance to fulfill their dreams?

#NVMayDay #TimeIsNow #cir Liveblog

3:27 PM:

We're here in Fabulous Downtown Las Vegas for all the festivities. Especially since comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) is back in the headlines this week, May Day is the perfect day for a CIR rally. We stopped at PLAN headquarters early to check out last minute preparations.





And now, we're going outside. Stay tuned here and @atdleft on Twitter for updates tonight. This should be fun!

4:03 PM:





We're catching the early arrivals... Including Metro Police. We just passed 4:00 PM, and already the commons by Lloyd George are filling up. I'm spotting a SEIU shuttle bus, plenty of AFSCME t-shirts, OFA volunteers, DREAM Big & PLAN activists, and just folks from the community who are ready to come out into the open & make their voices heard.

Get ready for some action tonight!

4:32 PM:







The event is about to officially begin. A crowd is forming along Las Vegas Boulevard. Everyone from union organizers to Republican operatives (!!!) to LGBTQ equality activists has been spotted.

It's a very diverse and quickly growing crowd here in Las Vegas. I know Senator Harry Reid (D) will take it all in soon. Will Senator Dean Heller (R) notice?

4:50 PM:





Just minutes ago, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas) greeted activists just below the main stage. Just beyond the steps to Lloyd George in Downtown Las Vegas are many thousands of #cir activists. We've been seeing even more LGBTQ equality activists here, along with union activists, Latin@ & Asian-American community activists, faith/social justice activists, and more.

The crowd is now chanting, "¡Sí Se Puede!" Mariachi music is blasting. The crowd is bursting with energy. And the program is supposed to start shortly.

Excusas, Excusas...

This spring, we've been keeping close tabs on Congress to see what happens on comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). We've seen a budding bipartisan consensus develop on this issue. Yet at the same time, we've also seen a growing "tea party" campaign to kill the bill.

Long story short: It's complicated. Fortunately, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Courage) and community organizer superstar Astrid Silva went on "Ralston Reports" to sort it out.



They will both be part of today's May Day rally in Downtown Las Vegas, along with Senator Harry Reid (D-Searchlight, B****) himself. So far, hopes have been high for CIR. But again, the G-O-TEA is quickly causing problems.

But in Washington, uncertainty hangs over the immigration debate. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who helped craft a bipartisan bill on comprehensive reform, said the Gang of Eight proposal "probably can't pass the House." Appearing on a conservative radio show, the senator added that his bill "will have to be adjusted," which may come as a surprise to some of his colleagues, who've been cautiously optimistic about the legislation's chances.

Complicating matters further, Roll Call reports that a House working group tackling immigration policy "is mulling a proposal that involves 'self-deportation' as part of a strategy to make a comprehensive overhaul acceptable to conservatives." [...]

By all accounts, House Republicans hope to win the immigration debate by stretching it out as long as possible. If the Senate passes a comprehensive, bipartisan bill, the lower chamber won't just kill it immediately, but rather, will prolong the process. GOP officials think they can keep this going for months -- holding a series of hearings, sending it to a variety of committees, considering elements of the proposal piecemeal, etc.

But party leaders are acutely aware of the dangers of delays -- the more time elapses, the more Republican lawmakers and activists are able to say offensive things that defeats the purpose of the underlying work.

This is not speculative; we already have ample evidence. One House Republican recently argued that al Qaeda is training its members to go to Mexico, immigrate to the U.S., and "act like Hispanic [sic] when they are radical Islamists." Another House Republican recently used the word "wetback," and had no idea why anyone would consider his choice of words problematic.

No, really. They're going there. And on top of that, they've found a new objection. And of course, it involves "TEH GAYZZZ!!!!!!111111!!!!!!!1111111!"

Oh, joy.

Sen. Jeff Flake [R-Arizona] — a Republican member ofthe Gang of Eight who also is on the Judiciary Committee — put the issue front and centerin a statement provided to BuzzFeed. "There's a reason that thislanguage wasn't included in the Gang of Eight's bill — it's a deal breaker for most Republicans. Finding consensus on immigration legislation is tough enough without opening the bill up to social issues," Flake said in the statement.

Ifthe provision ends up being added into the bill, Republicans could be given an attempt to remove the provision on the floor, but it almost definitely would fail. At that point, the question would be whether Senate Republicans otherwise inclined to vote for the bill would be willing to give up those political gains in order to eliminate the potential for a gay-rights gain in the immigration reform bill.

Even if included in the Senate bill, the measure likely would not find its way into any House version ofimmigration reform, which would either lead to a conference committee ora situation similar to that faced by the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization, when House Republicans balked at a more inclusive Senate version in the last session of Congress but relented and passed the Senate version earlier this year.

But [Senator Richard] Blumenthal [D-Connecticut] dismissed that notion that the same-sex provisions could end up being a deal breaker. "There's no justification for that result. My hope is that Republicans who may be talking about this provision being a deal breaker will reconsider," Blumenthal said.

Various Republicans are now huffing and puffing over Senator Patrick Leahy's (D-Vermont) decision to introduce the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) as an amendment to the Gang of 8 CIR bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Why put TEH GAYZZZ in our immigration bill?! Ewww, gay cooties!!!"

Never mind that a Republican former Member of Congress has pleaded for UAFA's inclusion in CIR legislation. And never mind that Senator Leahy already has a Republican co-sponsor in Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine)! No, because a few other Senate Republicans catch the vapors whenever the words "gay", "lesbian", "transgender", and/or "bisexual" are uttered, entire families must suffer continued unnecessary hardship. Oh yes, this makes plenty of sense. (/snark)

Let's face it: Several Republicans who had been showing openness to CIR are now looking for excuses to join the "tea party" "KILL THE BILL!!!" campaign. So they're talking about "TER'RIS!" And they're screaming over "TEH GAYZZZ!!!" And they'll probably soon nitpick over the cost... Despite the fact that their border security demands are the reason for the very costs of the bill!

I've said this before. And I'll say it again now. Watch Senator Dean Heller (R-46%). Watch him very closely. As goes Heller, likely so goes the fate of CIR this Congress. Will he (again) find an excuse to join the "tea party"? Or will he finally do the right thing?

The Coming #nved Reality Check

Over the course of the last month, we've been looking at the intersection of health care and budget policy, and how that's played into the mental health patient dumping scandal that's rocking the state. It's forced attention onto the woeful state of Nevada's mental health care system, and to Nevada's overall lack of an adequate social safety net. And now, we may very well have a new scandal waiting in the wings, one that may soon highlight another failing of the state's public infrastructure.

We've known for some time that Nevada schools are woefully underfunded. K-12 schools in Clark County are especially hurting, since they've been subjected to the deepest budget cuts and years of chronic underfunding. Public education advocates are getting sick and tired of empty promises from Carson City, so they're now considering suing the state.

The potential case centers around the state's poor graduation rates, its consistently low level of funding for English-language learners [ELL] and inequities in educational outcomes for minority students. [...]

Nevada ranks third in states that have the most English-language learners, but Nevada's support for those students pales in comparison to the support afforded other ELL students around the country, according to a UNLV Lincy Institute study published earlier this year.

For example, Broward County in Florida provides $121 million in ELL funding for its 25,112 students, or $4,837 per student. In Clark County, $6.7 million in federal money is directed toward ELL programs for 55,818 students -- an average of $119 per student.

So the group is turning its attention to the state's judicial branch in hopes that the courts will declare the state's support for education inadequate under the state constitution and mandate the Legislature to adequately fund education in Nevada.

It's a tactic that advocates in other states have adopted. The ACLU of Southern California is suing California in what it alleges are inadequacies in the way that state funds its ELL system. Judges in Colorado recently ruled in favor of a group of advocates, saying that "the state's school finance system is unconstitutional because it is inadequate and not rationally related to the constitutional mandate of a thorough and uniform system of free public education," according to that state's attorney general's office.

Clark County students are not receiving the resources they need to learn in K-12 schools here. It's especially evident in minority heavy neighborhoods in Southern Nevada, as ELL programs are nearly nonexistent. We may no longer just be looking at a policy failure here. This may also be a civil rights violation. And if courts start agreeing, then Nevada is in huge trouble.

As usual, Governor Brian Sandoval (R-Denial) has been acting as if there is no problem. He's used budgetary gimmicks to dress up his proposed education budget. And he's been using "sunny" rhetoric to try to spin away the bleak reality of shortchanged schools.

He may finally be approaching the point where he can no longer deny reality. This is actually a reason why we've seen more legislators show willingness to discuss "The T Word". Of course, we still don't know yet if they will actually accomplish anything. But hey, that's why The Education Initiative will be on our ballots next year.

Today may be the start of another brutal reality check. Who in Carson City is paying attention?