| Focus | Nevada public policy |
|---|---|
| President | John Tsarpalas |
| Chair | Ranson Webster |
| Budget | Revenue: $1.1 million Expenses: $916,906 (FYE December 2021) [1] |
| Formerly called | Nevada Policy Research Institute |
| Website | npri |
Nevada Policy, formerly the Nevada Policy Research Institute, is a private non-profit, free-market and limited-government policy research organization based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nevada Policy seeks to promote private, rather than government, solutions to issues facing Nevada and the western region of the United States.
In 1990, Judy Cresanta supported Soviet pro-democracy leaders, educating them in the principles of the free market economy and free elections. The next year, she founded the Nevada Policy Research Institute, [2] which addresses public problems through solutions that foster freedom and introduce new ways of problem solving in fields such as government spending, taxation, the restriction of union powers, federal ownership of state owned land, energy policy, and education policy.
Since 2013, Nevada Policy's "Solutions" publication for lawmakers has been published every two years. Nevada Policy supports lawmakers in an advisory capacity and through assessment of legislation. Their staff is often asked to give evidence before legislative committees. The national press relies on their advice and evaluations on breaking news and reports on their research, campaigns and litigation attempts.
Nevada Policy works towards increased transparency in government publishing records of government employee compensation and retirement data on TransparentNevada.com [3] and has successfully campaigned for public-sector workers and school district employees to make use of their opt-out rights of their union membership. This led to the inauguration of the National Employee Freedom Week, [4] establishing priority of workers' rights over the preferences of unions. Nevada Policy forged an alliance with more than 100 national and state-based organizations, including the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the Buckeye Institute, and The Heritage Foundation. [5]
Nevada Policy researches education, tax and fiscal policy, and labor issues related to Nevada public policy.
Nevada Policy opposes efforts to halt the opening of new charter schools and favors expanding charter school options, tuition tax credits, school voucher programs, and merit pay for teachers. [6] [7]
Nevada Policy has been critical of the Nevada System of Higher Education, specifically the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the University of Nevada, Reno for low graduation rates, despite spending above average per full-time student on education and education related higher education expenditures. [8] [9] [10]
Nevada Policy supports a balanced budget with controlled growth in government spending, such as a TABOR's or TASC amendment. Nevada Policy claims Nevada's 2008-2009 budget deficit was the result of excessive growth in government spending. [11]
Nevada Policy has also argued that Nevada's history as a low-tax state has been slowly eroded by a growing number of fees on Nevada's residents. [12]
Nevada Policy opposes tax hikes on individual taxpayers and corporations within Nevada, including a tax hike on the gaming industry. [13]
Nevada Policy supports protecting secret ballot boxes and paycheck protection and opposes defined benefit plans for union and government workers. [14]
On November 30, 2008, the Las Vegas Review Journal published an article regarding some investigative journalism conducted by Nevada Policy on the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. According to Nevada Policy's investigation, it appears the LVCVA has an inappropriate relationship with a private marketing firm, R&R, that has overbilled the LVCVA but the LVCVA has never attempted to recoup these losses. [15]
Through public records request Nevada Policy found that the LVCVA not only knew about these irregularities but literally gave R&R the rubber stamp to approve expenditures above $5,000 without any oversight from the LVCVA. [16]
According to Nevada Policy's vice president, "In the days following the release of this project, multiple private investigators visited the institute's offices requesting our financial statements and claiming to be working for "the other side." Some of our board members have been approached with broad hints about retaliation if the institute's look into convention authority financing proceeds." [17]
Nevada is the only U.S. state where prostitution is legally permitted in some form. Prostitution is legal in 10 of Nevada's 17 counties, although only six allow it in every municipality. Seven counties have at least one active brothel, which mainly operate in isolated, rural areas. The state's most populated counties, Clark and Washoe, are among those that do not permit prostitution. It is also illegal in Nevada's capital, Carson City, an independent city.
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The 332-acre (134 ha) campus is about 1.6 mi (2.6 km) east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the Shadow Lane Campus, just east of the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, which houses both School of Medicine and School of Dental Medicine. UNLV's law school, the William S. Boyd School of Law, is the only law school in the state.
Within the budgetary process, deficit spending is the amount by which spending exceeds revenue over a particular period of time, also called simply deficit, or budget deficit; the opposite of budget surplus. The term may be applied to the budget of a government, private company, or individual. Government deficit spending was first identified as a necessary economic tool by John Maynard Keynes in the wake of the Great Depression. It is a central point of controversy in economics, as discussed below.
James Arthur Gibbons is an American attorney, aviator, geologist, hydrologist and politician who was the 28th Governor of Nevada from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the U.S. representative for Nevada's 2nd congressional district from 1997 to 2006.
Kenneth Carroll Guinn, was an American businessman, academic administrator, and politician who served as the 27th Governor of Nevada from 1999 to 2007. He previously served as interim president of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) from 1994 until 1995. Originally a Democrat, he joined the Republican Party before running for governor.
Brian Edward Sandoval is an American politician, academic administrator, and former federal judge who served as the 29th Governor of Nevada from 2011 to 2019.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority(LVCVA) is a government agency and the official destination marketing organization for Southern Nevada. It was founded by the Nevada Legislature in 1955. The LVCVA owns and operates the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) and is responsible for the advertising campaigns for the Clark County, Nevada area. The LVCVA also owns the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop, the Las Vegas Monorail, and the Las Vegas News Bureau. The LVCVA previously operated the Cashman Center complex; however the City of Las Vegas took control at the end of 2017 and is evaluating possibilities for the facility's future.
Fiscal conservatism or economic conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, and laissez-faire economics. Fiscal conservatives advocate tax cuts, reduced government spending, free markets, deregulation, privatization, free trade, and minimal government debt. Fiscal conservatism follows the same philosophical outlook of classical liberalism. This concept is derived from economic liberalism.
R&R Partners is an American advertising, marketing, public relations, and public affairs firm based in Las Vegas, Nevada. They are known for creating the ad campaign "What Happens Here, Stays Here," for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). R&R maintains domestic and international clients through its headquarters in Las Vegas, and eight locations in ; Mexico. In 2013, Adweek named R&R Partners the top marketing agency in the state of Nevada. It was also named one of the best places to work in marketing and media by Advertising Age.
The Show-Me Institute, or SMI, is an American think tank based in St. Louis, Missouri that promotes public policies that advance free market principles. Founded in 2005, the organization focuses on economic and good governance issues in the state of Missouri. The stated mission of the Show-Me Institute is "improving the quality of life for all citizens of Missouri by advancing sensible, well-researched solutions to state and local policy issues." The Institute opened a branch office in Kansas City in 2014.
Joseph John Heck is an American physician and politician who served as the United States representative for Nevada's 3rd congressional district from 2011 to 2017. Heck is a United States Army major general and a board-certified physician who previously served as a Nevada state senator from 2004 to 2008. He ran for the United States Senate in 2016, losing to Catherine Cortez Masto.
The 2008 budget crisis in Nevada was a fiscal crisis in which the state faced a budget shortfall of at least US$1.2 billion out of a $6.8 billion budget. The budget crisis was a result of the larger subprime mortgage crisis and the late-2000s recession.
"Downtown Las Vegas Area" is the name assigned by the Nevada Gaming Control Board NGCB which includes the Downtown Las Vegas area casinos and the Stratosphere Tower which is located 2 miles (3.2 km) from Fremont Street. The city of Las Vegas uses the term Downtown Gaming for the casinos near the Fremont Street Experience. The land is part of the 110 acres (45 ha) that were auctioned on May 15, 1905 when the city was founded.
The Buckeye Institute is a 501(c)(3) right-wing, free-market public policy think tank. The organization, based in Columbus, Ohio, says its mission is "to advance free-market public policy in the states."
The United Kingdom government austerity programme is a fiscal policy that was adopted for a period in the early 21st century following the Great Recession. The term was used by the Coalition and Conservative governments in office from 2010 to 2019, and again during the 2021–present cost of living crisis. The two periods are separated by a stint of interventionist, Keynesian spending during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Heidi Seevers Gansert is an American politician, businessperson, and engineer from the state of Nevada serving in the Nevada Senate, representing the 15th district since 2016. She served in the Nevada Assembly from 2004 through 2010, including as Republican leader, and as chief of staff to Governor Brian Sandoval from 2011 through 2012. She is a Republican.
Daniel Mark Schwartz is an American businessman who served as Nevada State Treasurer from January 2015 to January 2019. An international businessman, attorney and Republican, Schwartz defeated his Democratic opponent, former Nevada State Controller Kim Wallin, in 2014.
Nevada's 5th Senate district is one of 21 districts in the Nevada Senate. It has been represented by Republican Carrie Buck since 2020, succeeding Democrat Joyce Woodhouse.
The Nevada Judiciary is the judicial branch of the Government of Nevada, which is responsible for applying the Constitution and law of Nevada. It consists of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, district courts, justice courts, and municipal courts. The Supreme Court oversees the administration of the judiciary.
Thomas “Thom” Reilly is an American academic, higher education chancellor, and public administrator. He is a professor in the School of Public Affairs and co-director for the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University. He is the former chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, chief executive officer/county manager for Clark County, Nevada, which includes the Las Vegas Valley. and head of the child-welfare system for Nevada.
