Monday night, Governor Joe Lombardo laid out plans for his term in his first State of the State address in Carson City at the State Capitol. He included plans for saving for a potential economic downturn, cutting gas taxes as well as payroll taxes, increasing K-12 school spending, and increasing funding for school choice programs which were all issues he had campaigned on.
As he addressed the members of the Nevada Assembly and Senate, he called for a rollback of sorts on the universal vote by mail. “It is important to verify the identity of voters. We require people to have a valid form of ID to get on a plane, to operate a motor vehicle, or to purchase alcohol and cigarettes, but not to cast a vote in an election, this is illogical,” he stated at one point in the speech. He also added: “The right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights in American society. It is not only important that the process itself has integrity but also that the people of Nevada have confidence that the process is free and fair.”
Lombardo spoke about the “Nevada Way,” highlighting Nevadans’ history of perseverance, and “exciting opportunities within our grasp” because of an “unprecedented budget surplus.” “On one hand we have exciting opportunities within our grasp,” he said. “But on the other, we must not allow ourselves to give way to the temptation to overspend.” He also addressed crime in Nevada: “I will be introducing legislation that makes it harder, not easier, to commit a crime in the state of Nevada.”
Governor Lombardo said he will work to strengthen habitual offender and domestic battery laws, among other proposals to give judges and parole officers more power.
On cutting taxes, including a one-year suspension of the state gas tax, he said: “We must always remain mindful that our financial surplus comes from the pockets of our constituents. We will not stop searching for additional ways to return money to the taxpayers.”
An important part of his campaign last year was the topic of school choice. Lombardo also pledged a record $50 million in funding for the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program, a tax credit-funded program designed to fund scholarships for certain students at private K-12 institutions. The program is currently funded at about $7 million a year. Concerning the $2 billion to public K-12 he said: “I will be imposing a new 5-year rule: Schools have five years to improve literacy scores and to ensure that students who are not proficient in reading do not advance beyond third grade until they are brought up to grade level.”
On the business front, Lombardo said the main push in his economic and business plan is recentering Nevada as a pro-business, pro-development state. As part of that, he said he would join Elon Musk and the team at Tesla on Tuesday for an unveiling of plans to build a $3.5 billion manufacturing facility in Northern Nevada for the company’s all-electric semi-trucks.
Finally, after the speech, Lombardo was approached by Las Vegas reporter David Charns who asked what the governor was most looking forward to. The answer: “getting s&*t done!”
Newly elected Assemblyman Greg Koenig (R-D38) responded to Lombaro’s speech saying it was a great honor sitting on the floor of the Nevada State Assembly listening to the State of the State speech.
“It was nice to have a conservative at the helm again. I think he gave us a blueprint on how to get back to the “Nevada Way.” One of the highlights was suspending gas taxes for a year saving Nevadans $250 million dollars this year. His plan included pumping $2 billion dollars into education, raising per pupil funding by 22%. As expected from a former sheriff, he will be tougher on crime. Governor Lombardo wants to tackle much needed election reform. Including making the mail-in ballot deadline the time of the polls closing, getting rid of universal mail-in ballots, requiring identification to vote, and to get rid of ballot harvesting. All these proposals were met with resounding applause from the Republicans. Our colleagues from across the aisle, clapped at the beginning of his remarks, but by the end sat on their hands. Usually with a budget deficit, the battle is where to cut, now with a budget surplus the battle is just as fierce where to spend. With the democrats not having enough votes to override vetos, and the Governor not having enough vote to accomplish his agenda, we could be in for a long session. Or we could work together to try to do what’s best for Nevada. Only time will tell.”
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