Which is better: tax breaks for an A's baseball stadium or for the Hollywood movie machine?
And are abortion services in Nevada safe after Arizona's Supreme Court just ruled that all abortions in that state are illegal?
For our open mic show, State of Nevada host Joe Schoenmann talked with listeners and guest, Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, about those issues and more.
Abortion
After the high-court decision in Arizona, Cannizzaro was asked if doctors who perform, and women who get abortions would remain safe from law enforcement in Nevada. And what if the U.S. Supreme Court, which struck down Roe v. Wade two years ago, decides to negate abortion rights nationwide?
The senate majority leader said the best way to protect those rights is to pass a ballot question this fall. A consortium that includes Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice Nevada and the ACLU of Nevada are trying to collect 103,000 signatures from registered voters by June 26th to get a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot in November. If it passes, it would need to be approved by voters again in 2026.
If the question ever came before the U.S. Supreme Court, Cannizzaro said they would likely do it "in a way that preserves states' rights, and the best way to (protect Nevada) is with a constitutional amendment."
Doggie Doo-Doo
A listener called to decry the laziness of dog owners who don't pick up their pet's excrement, leaving it on sidewalks, streets or yards.
"If you have a pet, or taking a long walk, don't leave that on someone's lawn, don't leave that for someone to step in, or their dog to get into or a child to step in. Bring your own bags, and they even have little clips that you can clip on your leash."
Tax Incentives For Businesses
The senator said lawmakers talk often about these incentives, and for the need to balance the need to diversify the state's economy while maintaining enough funding to improve the state's education funding.
"Public education starts with having a qualified teacher and staff in every single class ... so when we look at things like the stadium, or the film tax credits, I don't think we should have that conversation without recognizing investments in education.
"We have to make sure we are funding education and investing in a real way but also supporting Medicaid and investing in health and human services ... those have to be our first pieces to look at. Are we doing what we have to do as a state, then recognizing there's absolutely a place to ... promote economic diversification, where we are promoting jobs for people. What do those jobs look like? Are they actually going to Nevadans?"
Guest: Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas
