After a record-breaking State of the Union — timewise — Nevada officials reacted to President Donald Trump’s speech in which he declared that “This is the golden age of America.”

It was Trump’s last such joint-session speech before the upcoming midterm elections that can shake up the power structure in Washington, D.C.

Four of five Nevada’s Congressional Democrats attended and later criticized Trump’s economic agenda in statements. A wave of their Democratic colleagues boycotted the address, including Rep. Dina Titus.

Titus noted a loss of hospitality jobs, and cuts to to federal health insurance programs and food stamps over the past year.

“All of us are struggling with the higher cost of food, energy, and other necessities,” she said. “Buying a home is out of reach for young families. These are the economic realities that Donald Trump conveniently omitted tonight.”

‘Political theater’

Sen. Jacky Rosen described the speech as political theater.

“Nevadans and all Americans deserve better — they deserve lower costs, access to affordable health care, and a president who actually fights for them,” said Rosen, D-Nev.

Asked if she’d considered skipping the speech, the senator told reporters earlier Tuesday that she respects the office of the presidency regardless of political disagreements or what party holds it. Rosen said she felt it’s her job to attend.

Looking ahead, Nevada’s lone Congressional Republican, Rep. Mark Amodei, said the State of the Union would give Trump an opportunity to speak directly to the American people and chart the course ahead as the U.S. prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday.

In a statement, he said he wanted the president to build on his commitment to lowering costs and capitalize on the success of the Working Families Tax Cut.

“I also expect him to point to his success in securing the border, strengthening peace and stability abroad, reining in wasteful government spending, cutting burdensome red tape, and championing American energy dominance, and to contrast that record with the previous administration and serial federal shutdowns which achieve nothing,” Amodei said.

Longest State of the Union on record

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said the address provided no respite to working families.

“At a time when Americans across the country are asking for relief from this Administration’s policies, the President used his State of the Union Address to offer empty promises and spread lies,” she said.

Trump spoke for 107 minutes, making it the longest State of the Union in recorded history.

Rep. Steven Horsford noted the speech’s length.

“What families needed were real answers. Because here’s the truth: if the economy were working for everyday people, folks wouldn’t still be struggling with higher grocery bills, rising rent, and squeezed paychecks,” he said. “When costs go up and wages don’t keep pace, no amount of applause changes that.”

There were no specific mentions of Nevada, although the president highlighted his “no tax on tips” policy which was born during a Las Vegas campaign trip.

And Vegas Golden Knights players Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin were there as Trump honored the U.S. hockey team that recently won an Olympic gold medal.

Nevada governor’s race

Before the address, the Nevada Democratic Party tied Trump’s agenda to Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.

“After helping Trump get elected and embracing his endorsement, Joe Lombardo still refuses to defend Nevadans against Trump’s cost-raising agenda and even said families need to ‘feel a little pain’ from his illegal tariffs,” party Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno said in a statement.

Lombardo said he was encouraged by Trump’s commitment to growing the economy.

“In Nevada, we share those priorities, and I will continue working with the President to strengthen our economy, expand good-paying job opportunities, and ensure every Nevadan has the opportunity to achieve the American Dream right here at home,” he said.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat running for governor in 2026, also responded in a statement.

“The President promised to lower costs on day one and he has done the opposite,” he said. “Donald Trump and Joe Lombardo can claim that things are fine all they want but Nevadans know the truth because they’re living it every single day: Families are stretched thin, living paycheck to paycheck, and struggling to afford rent, mortgages, groceries, and gas.”

The Nevada Republican Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.

In partnership with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO), NaphCare, a leading correctional healthcare company, has launched the THRIVE Jail-Based Competency Treatment (JBCT) program at the Washoe County Detention Facility — the first program of its kind in Nevada.

The JBCT program delivers full competency restoration services within the detention facility to individuals whom the court has found incompetent to stand trial. By providing treatment on-site, the program prevents delays in the restoration process and reduces reliance on limited state forensic hospital beds.

The program builds on the facility’s innovative THRIVE Jail-Based Treatment Program (JBTP), which launched in September 2024 to begin intensive mental health treatment for individuals awaiting restoration at the state-operated forensic hospital. As a fully implemented JBCT program, THRIVE now provides comprehensive competency restoration services directly within the jail — something previously not permitted in Nevada. This advancement allows detained individuals to receive targeted treatment and evaluations needed to restore competency and move their legal cases forward.

“The THRIVE Jail-Based Competency Treatment program represents years of work by the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office to rethink how detention facilities respond to mental health,” said Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam. “This program reflects what can happen when public safety, healthcare professionals, and community partners come together with a shared goal. By expanding mental health treatment inside our facility, we’re helping individuals move forward in the legal process while supporting safer outcomes for our staff, our community, and those in our care suffering from mental health issues.”

THRIVE operates within a dedicated Jail-Based Mental Health Unit designed to increase patient participation, promote wellness, and maintain safety and security. Specially trained WCSO deputies assigned to the unit collaborate daily with NaphCare’s clinical team to create a structured, therapeutic environment focused on restoration and recovery.

Across the country, correctional facilities are experiencing a surge in court-ordered competency evaluations and restoration needs, driven by increasing numbers of individuals living with mental illness and disabilities in jail settings.

“The competency crisis has grown within correctional facilities nationwide as more justice-involved individuals are waiting for the specialized services they need to advance through the justice system,” said Dr. Caroline Parrott, NaphCare’s Vice President of Forensic Mental Health Programs and a clinical forensic psychologist.

Delays in restoration prolong detention, increase costs to taxpayers, and raise due process concerns, including the right to a speedy trial. The longer individuals wait for treatment, the longer it can take to restore competency — and in some cases, the likelihood of restoration decreases. Extended delays can also result in case dismissals, impacting victims and the broader justice system.

The JBCT program is the culmination of years of partnership and progress between NaphCare and WCSO. In March 2023, NaphCare partnered with WCSO to address lengthy delays in competency evaluations for detained individuals. With support from the Washoe County Competency Court, NaphCare began delivering high-quality, timely competency-to-stand-trial evaluations for all defendants housed at the Washoe County Detention Facility, eliminating unnecessary delays at the front end of the process.

Building on that success, NaphCare worked closely with WCSO and local and statewide stakeholders to develop and implement the THRIVE jail-based treatment model. In July 2025, Assembly Bill 467 amended Nevada Revised Statutes to authorize competency restoration treatment within jail settings for certain detained individuals, making the full JBCT program possible.

“Thanks to the efforts of Nevada’s legislators, the Governor’s office, and the support of key community and state stakeholders such as the Division of Public and Behavioral Health and WCSO,” said Dr. Parrott, “THRIVE is able to provide targeted competency restoration treatment so we can directly address barriers to competency head on. The result is faster rates of restoration without burdening the state system unnecessarily. This program is a valuable step forward for our patients and for the legal process in Washoe County.”

Individuals in the THRIVE JBCT program receive individualized mental health and medical treatment alongside specialized forensic services provided by a multidisciplinary team. In addition to the JBCT program, NaphCare continues to provide the Washoe County Forensic Evaluation Program for pre-commitment competency evaluations and specialized adult mental health evaluations, as well as comprehensive medical, mental health, dental, and pharmaceutical services, including Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) and Opioid Treatment Programs (OTP).

The Washoe County Detention Facility is accredited by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) and was a 2024 recipient of the NCCHC Pinnacle Award, the highest distinction in correctional healthcare, recognizing accreditation across jail health services, mental health services, and opioid treatment programs.

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — If you’ve ever wanted to make a suggestion for a new law, now just might be your chance.

The Southern Nevada Forum held its initial meeting on Monday, with the goal of coming up with a dozen new ideas to fix problems faced by residents of the Las Vegas Valley.

Steve Sebelius outlines some of the top issues and potential solutions:

Southern Nevada Forum plans tomorrow’s laws today

The 13-year-old organization — created by the Vegas Chamber, the City of Las Vegas, Brookings Mountain West and former Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick in 2013 — brings together lawmakers and community leaders to brainstorm ideas.

The group has racked up some successes over the years, too. A website dashboard that shows student performance data, funds for medical school residencies, the authority to create inland ports and an extension of fuel tax revenue indexing were all ideas that came out of the forum, current Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager said Monday.

It works like this:

Four committees — covering education, transportation, economic development and health care — meet regularly for a few months, boiling down ideas to three concrete suggestions each.

Those suggestions are later turned into legislation in Carson City.

The panels are led by a bipartisan group of lawmakers who have the ability to introduce legislation, said Yeager, who himself won’t be returning to Carson City, having decided not to seek a sixth and final term in office.

The meetings are open to anyone, although the schedule of times, dates and locations wasn’t available Monday. You can express your interest in being on a committee by filling out a form at this link.

For the 2026 session of the forum, the committees and their leaders are:

• Economic Development and Governance: Democrats state Sen. Julie Pazina and Assemblyman Duy Nguyen, and Republicans state Sen. John Steinbeck and Assemblyman Brian Hibbetts
• Education: Democrats state Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop and Assemblywoman Erica Mosca, and Republican Assemblywoman Melissa Hardy
• Health care: Democrats state Sen. Roberta Lange and Assemblywoman Tracy Brown May, and Republican Assemblyman Greg Hafen
• Transportation and Infrastructure: Democrats state Sen. Rochelle Nguyen and Assemblyman Max Carter, and Republican Assemblywoman Lisa Cole

On Monday, people at the transportation committee meeting tossed out ideas such as funding for transit projects, including light rail, fees for electric vehicles that use the roads but don’t pay the state’s gasoline tax, cracking down on unregistered cars and people who don’t carry car insurance, and greater protections for pedestrians.

On the economic development committee, suggestions included extending the life of tax abatements to give new businesses time to grow, making more land available for commercial use, not just housing, putting non-profit funding into the regular budget, rather than just awarding grants at the end of the process and making it easier to get permits and licenses regardless of where in the valley you open your business.

Before the groups met, however, they heard from UNLV political science professor David Damore, the executive director of Brookings Mountain West, who warned them that Nevada faces some serious headwinds.

Damore said revenue doesn’t keep up with the state’s brisk growth, leaving Nevada behind the curve.

“We already have a revenue structure unable to keep pace with growth; we need to address some revenue issues here,” he said. “And remember, the people coming here now, they’re not coming to build our economy, they’re coming to avoid paying taxes in their home state, while putting demands on our services and on our healthcare.”

Damore traced some of the problem to a limitation on government growth devised at the end of the 1970s, which artificially constrains budget increases and leaves money on the table.

“We put this in place in 1979, using 1974 as a baseline — the idea being that the general fund would grow to keep pace at 1974 levels, adjusting for inflation and population growth,” he said. “Well, guess what? We don’t have a tax structure that can even generate that much revenue. For this biennium, we’re about $900 million below that.”

Damore said tax exemptions cost state coffers plenty of income, and the entire revenue system needs a serious look.

“$9 billion in tax exemptions that we have in this state. So, a state that goes through the couch cushions to fund mental health, well, maybe we want to revisit some of this stuff here,” Damore said. “Obviously, no one wants to raise taxes; I get that. But we need to have a serious discussion about revenue.”

If you have a question, concern or story idea about politics and government in Nevada, reach out to Steve Sebelius and “Ask Steve.“