Latest news with #NicoleCannizzaro
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘They were ready for change': Clark County GOP elects new chair Jill Douglass
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – In a Tuesday night vote, Clark County's Republican Party elected Jill Douglass as their new chair. Douglass garnered more than 250 votes against the incumbent of four years, Jesse Law. 'I'm excited for myself, but I'm more excited for the party,' Douglass told 8 News Now. 'The exciting thing about the results last night was it was a strong affirmation by the central committee that they were ready for change.' Douglass is a long-time Nevada Republican. She ran for State Senate in 2024, in hopes of representing District 6, covering parts of Summerlin, but she lost to democratic State Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro. In this race, she came out on top, defeating former Trump white house employee, Jesse Law, who was elected in 2021 and re-elected in 2023. Law holds a scandal-clad history, facing stalking charges in January when a tracker was found on an ex's vehicle. That case was resolved in March. A few months later, in April, he was arrested on suspicion of domestic battery with the same woman, but the district attorney's office did not pursue the charge. He was also charged with being a fake presidential elector, but that case was dismissed and is being appealed. 'We don't need that. We need people that are focused on our party,' said Lois Choate, a party member who voted last night for change. 'We should be the leaders, not the ones at the bottom, being embarrassed all the time because of stuff that gets in the way.'Choate told 8 News Now, she felt Law 'dismantled' the party. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo endorsed Law. However, Douglass, the new chair, said she's a big supporter of the Governor, regardless. She has campaigned for him and will continue to support his legislative agenda. In her immediate agenda, she says she plans to address her predecessor's shortfalls of not engaging enough with the Republican base. 'We have some really strong Republican women clubs, the Nevada Republican clubs, some conservative town halls, and yet there was no connection of any of that Republican base with the former chair,' the new Clark County Republican Party chair said. Her top priorities include reuniting her party and fundraising. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘I'm running,' Cannizzaro announces she will run for Nevada Attorney General's seat
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro announced on Tuesday that she is starting her campaign for the attorney general's office in 2026. She is the second major candidate to do so. 'Our leaders should be focused on making Nevada safer and stronger, but the Trump administration and Congress have continued their assault on ordinary Nevadans, cutting Medicaid and funding for our schools, attacking Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights, and raising the cost of energy, housing and groceries,' she said in a news release. Cannizzaro is a lifelong Nevadan, a former prosecutor, and the first woman to serve as Majority Leader of the Nevada State Senate. Her announcement also included a YouTube video. Cannizzaro will go up against state Treasurer Zach Conine in the democratic primary. The former attorney and consultant was the first major candidate when he announced in May that he would seek the attorney general's office. According to his campaign website, he is 'running to be Nevada's next Attorney General because Nevadans deserve someone who isn't afraid of rolling up their sleeves to take on big fights.' It also states, 'Whether it's protecting Nevadans from overreach by the federal government, leveling the playing field for workers, families, and small businesses, or delivering results for Nevadans who are struggling.' Current Attorney General Aaron Ford announced his plans to challenge Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nevada Legislature Approves State's First Open Enrollment System
An education reform package recently passed in the Nevada Legislature will launch the state's first open enrollment system for public school students. The legislation is a compromise between dueling education bills, one sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro and the other supported by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. It passed unanimously in the Senate on June 1 and with a 38-4 Assembly vote June 2. Lombardo said in a June 3 statement that the Legislature 'passed historic education choice and accountability, so that every Nevada student can graduate career or college ready.' The bill was sent to his desk June 6. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter More than 40 states allow interdistrict open enrollment, according to the nonprofit Education Commission of the States. Nevada's new system will let students transfer to schools outside their residential zone if there's room in their grade. It will also provide transportation subsidies for students trying to leave low-performing schools. Many states don't require transportation to be provided for open enrollment students, as it is for residents, according to Education Next. In New Hampshire, for example, lawmakers recently passed an open enrollment bill that places responsibility for transportation on parents. Families can drive their child to a bus stop on an existing route if they are attending a school outside their attendance zone, according to the bill. Related Multiple times a year, districts will be required to publish open enrollment data online, including school vacancy numbers and the total number of students who transferred in and out of their attendance zones. Nevada school boards will have to create a method, such as a lottery, to determine which open enrollment students are accepted into a grade that reaches capacity. Schools that deny a student's application will have to explain why. The bill prohibits districts from considering factors like disability, English learner status, athletic ability and residential address when evaluating applications. Schools will be required to create a priority lottery for students who have low academic scores. Related Students can be denied if they were expelled or suspended for 10 or more days during the previous school year. Parents can appeal a rejection to the district superintendent. The Nevada Department of Education will have to provide transportation for students who want to transfer from a low-performing school but have no way to get there. According to the bill, the department will award grant funds 'to the extent money is available' to local organizations that provide transportation. The bill will also create a statewide accountability system for districts and charter schools. The department could intervene in persistently low-performing districts by replacing leadership or assuming state control. 'We implemented open zoning so our children can attend the school that best fits their educational needs, and we provided resources to allow those children trapped in underperforming schools transportation to attend the school of their choice — regardless of their zip code,' Lombardo said in his statement. 'Simply put, we have instituted more educational accountability measures than during any legislative session in the history of Nevada.' Related
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
It's the last week of the legislative session. Here are 4 things to watch.
Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro watches as Governor Gov. Lombardo gave his state of the state address in January. (Photo: Richard Bednarski/Nevada Current) The Nevada State Constitution requires the Legislature pass the K-12 education budget bill before other budget bills. But that doesn't seem to stop lawmakers from bickering about education policy until the very end of each session. This year may prove no exception. Legislators must end the 120-day session — sine die, they call it — on Monday, June 2. In this final week, two major education bills backed by two major political players are still in play. Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, a Democrat from Las Vegas, is pushing Senate Bill 460. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo is pushing Assembly Bill 584. Both bills span more than 100 pages and cover myriad components of the education system, including oversight of school districts, charter schools, and the quasi-voucher program known as Opportunity Scholarships. Both bills have received hearings — in Senate Education and Assembly Ways and Means, respectively — but no action has been taken. That status isn't surprising given the partisanship of education policy. Amendments can almost be assumed. Meanwhile, as of late Tuesday, the status of the state's K-12 education budget was also unknown. Senate Bill 500 was passed by legislators and has been delivered to the governor. Lombardo had previously threatened to veto the bill over concerns about charter school teacher pay. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager's Assembly Bill 398, which attempts to address the concerns that prompted the veto threat, passed the full Assembly nearly unanimously last week. Democrat Natha Anderson cast the sole vote in opposition. One of the two bills proposing a massive expansion of the state's film tax credit program is administratively ready for a vote by the full Assembly, though whether the support is there is still unknown. Democratic Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui's Assembly Bill 238 was advanced out of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee over the weekend. Five of the 14 committee members opposed — Democrats Howard Watts, Natha Anderson and Selena Torres-Fossett, and Republicans Jill Dickman and Gregory Hafen. Several others disclosed that they would be voting to advance the bill but were reserving their right to oppose during the floor vote. Two days after that committee vote, The Nevada Independent reported that a study commissioned by the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development found that neither film tax credit expansion proposal is financially sustainable. AB 238 would provide $1.8 billion in tax breaks to the film industry over 15 years to support the build out and operation of a 31-acre film hub currently referred to as the Summerlin Production Studios Project. Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, and Howard Hughes Holdings are attached to the project. An economic analysis presented by a firm hired by the Sony Studios project developers acknowledged that the direct return on investment per tax credit is low — for every $1 in tax credits the state gives, the state would receive 20 cents in tax revenue. However, their analyses included much rosier projections about the indirect and induced impacts. Indirect financial impact includes things like the drycleaners and caterers used by productions, and induced impact includes things like the assumed household spending based on employee's labor income. Lombardo vetoed a record 75 bills during the 2023 session, including some bills that had received bipartisan support in the Legislature. How this year's session will compare remains to be seen. As of late Tuesday, the legislative website showed the governor as having vetoed only one bill: Assembly Bill 306. The bill would have expanded the number of ballot dropboxes in the state. In his veto message, Lombardo called the bill 'well intentioned' but said it fails 'to guarantee appropriate oversight of the proposed ballot boxes or the ballots cast.' He added that he believes election reforms should be considered 'as part of a larger effort to improve election security, integrity and allow Nevada to declare winners more quickly.' Nearly 200 bills are now listed as in the governor's office awaiting a signature or a veto. The governor has five days to sign or veto a bill, meaning some vetos may happen after the session ends. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager over the weekend introduced Assembly Bill 597, which would allow nonpartisan voters to participate in either a Democratic or a Republican primary without having to register to that political party. To do so, the voter would have to request from their county clerk a mail ballot for one of the major political parties. Or they would have to vote in person. Nevada voters last year rejected a proposal to open the state's closed political primaries and create a ranked choice voting system instead. Question 3 was approved by voters in 2022 but defeated in 2024. It needed to pass on the ballot twice because it involved amending the state constitution. Both major political parties opposed that ballot measure. Several party leaders suggested their problem with that proposal was with the ranked choice component, not the open primary. A third of all registered voters in the state are nonpartisan — if they were a political party they would be the state's largest — and those wanting election reform have long argued those voters are being disenfranchised because they cannot participate in the partisan primaries. Yeager's emergency bill is a big policy discussion to have with only a week left, but the Legislature can move quickly when it wants.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nevada Democrats unveil major education bill targeting CCSD, charter schools
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada Democrats pitched their education bill Monday, which would bring major changes to the state. Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D), Clark County – District 6, presented her bill before the Senate Education Committee for its first hearing. The proposal has language that allows local school boards of trustees to block charter schools from opening and gives the state Department of Education the power to remove a superintendent if 30% of schools don't experience 'academic growth.' Cannizzaro's bill takes aim at the Clark County School District. Her proposal would give the four appointed non-voting CCSD trustees voting power. However, her proposed reforms to charter schools have opposition. 'I rise in strong opposition to SB460 because it limits parental rights—the fundamental right of parents to choose the best learning environment for their children—at a time when Nevadans overwhelmingly support school choice,' Jill Douglas wrote in opposition to the bill. Based on enrollment, charter schools are the second-largest school system in Nevada, behind only CCSD. According to Cannizzaro's proposal, all charter school teachers would be required to have a license or an endorsement. As it currently stands, charter schools are only required to have 80% of their teachers with a license or an endorsement. Cannizzaro also seeks to reform the State Public Charter School Authority, which is the agency that oversees charter schools. Her proposal would reduce the agency's members from 11 to nine and change the criteria for appointment. 'I want to stress that I believe charter schools are an important part of our educational system,' Cannizzaro said. 'I do believe that when we talk about accountability, we can actually talk about accountability for all schools that are public schools and publicly funded, and that's why there are provisions in here that addresses some of those changes.' These charter school amendments potentially place her bill in peril as Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo could veto it. 'I've received plenty of emails for and against a bill, and I think there's concerns of the requirements we're putting forward for private and charter schools as to whether or not it's fair,' St. Sen. Fabian Doñate, D-Clark County, said at Monday's hearing. He stated he is a supporter of more accountability for the state's charter schools. Cannizzaro's proposal would also give the governor the authority to declare a state of emergency at a school district if its schools don't improve academically. Lombardo's bill would go in the opposite direction, including transforming nonperforming public schools into charter schools. His bill has its first hearing scheduled for Tuesday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
