Nevadans argue for state aid
Lawmakers note gaming shutdowns as Congress crafts deal
WASHINGTON — While the White House and congressional Democrats bickered over parameters of a sweeping coronavirus relief package, Nevada lawmakers joined governors and mayors seeking federal aid for states and cities facing dire budget shortfalls.
Nevada Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto took to the Senate floor this week to argue that money for states, cities and tribal governments should be included in a final compromise bill being hammered out between congressional leaders and Trump administration officials.
Reps. Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford say they will argue more aid is needed to help Nevada and cities like Las Vegas, Reno and Henderson — all hard hit because of shutdowns in the gaming and hospitality industries.
“We know that addressing state and local budget shortfalls puts Nevada, and our nation, on the quickest path to recovery,” Lee wrote in an op-ed published in the Review-journal in June.
“Now it’s a matter of Congress passing these common-sense solutions. Whether you lean to the left, to the right or somewhere in between, we all want to get back to the lives we knew,” Lee wrote.
Rosen and Cortez Masto, D-nev., stressed the urgency to act to help states, noting the recent special session called by Gov. Steve Sisolak to deal with a $1.2 billion shortfall in the state budget caused by the coronavirus business shutdowns.
“At kitchen tables all over the country, including Nevada, families are sitting down and they are pouring over their budgets,” Cortez Masto said. “Too many of them are trying to stretch that budget,” she added, noting that states, local and tribal governments “are trying to do the same thing.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY., said Wednesday he remains opposed to the “Democrats’ demand for $1 trillion more dollars to hand out to state and local governments even though they’ve only spent one-fourth of the money we sent them in March.”
Rosen said that with fighting the coronavirus, “Nevada now must also deal with an alarming budget shortfall, exacerbated by a struggling economy that relies on tourism, and a massive drop in tax revenue.”
“Many states across the country are in identical or similar situations. Red states and blue states are facing this very challenge, due to no fault of their own,” Rosen said.