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On the Record: Nevada Republican treasurer candidate Michele Fiore

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On the Record: Nevada Republican treasurer candidate Michele Fiore


That is an installment in a collection of “On the File” items highlighting the coverage stances of candidates operating for main workplaces within the 2022 Nevada election. Examine again within the coming days and weeks for extra protection. You could find our protection of Fiore’s opponent, Zach Conine, right here.

Las Vegas Metropolis Councilwoman Michele Fiore described herself as a “workaholic” throughout a Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce candidate forum final month.

She touted her many years of entrepreneurship — having been CEO of a development agency, a house well being care firm, a consulting firm, and a publishing agency — and expertise as a former state legislator, from 2012 to 2016, and Ward 6 councilwoman for Las Vegas since 2017.

Fiore, a Republican, initially launched a marketing campaign for governor final yr however withdrew and switched races to problem incumbent Democratic Treasurer Zach Conine in his run for re-election.

Her relationship with rancher Cliven Bundy and the Bundy household helped finish a 2016 FBI standoff at Malheur Nationwide Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in opposition to an anti-government militia group led by Bundy’s son Ammon Bundy. In 2014, she had been concerned in Cliven Bundy’s standoff with the BLM in Bunkerville.

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Fiore is at the moment going through a marketing campaign finance probe by the FBI, which raided her dwelling final yr.

Treasurers serve four-year phrases with limits to 2 phrases. The elected statewide officer is accountable for investing the state’s cash, financing neighborhood belongings and amenities, processing funds for public businesses and managing quite a few scholarship packages.

On the candidate discussion board in Pahrump, she stated her prime points are transparency (particularly making the treasurer’s web site extra consumer pleasant) and auditing “every part that is happening.”

“When I’ve a billion {dollars} of a portfolio to speculate our taxpayer {dollars} in, you want to have the ability to get on the web site, take a look at it, take a look at the place our cash is, and see the place it is going,” she stated. “And you then’re gonna know precisely what’s taking place together with your cash and what is going on on in that treasurer’s workplace.”

Fiore’s marketing campaign didn’t reply to a number of requests for an interview for the Indy’s “On the File” collection. A abstract of her coverage positions, taken from public statements and media appearances, is included under.

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Economic system

On Twitter, Fiore has blamed inflation on present Democratic management. She stated they must be changed, and she or he known as for “deliver[ing] again widespread sense fiscal conservatism to repair the financial system.”

A lot of her marketing campaign messaging focuses on criticizing federal spending, together with packages such because the Inflation Discount Act, which she stated is worsening inflation.

Most financial specialists say rising inflation comes from a mix of sources, such because the pandemic stimulus and aid help, lowered rates of interest, and demand and provide (unable to maintain up).

In relation to diversifying Nevada’s financial system, Fiore urged in a tweet that sure occupations, corresponding to barbers and inside designers, shouldn’t require a license as a result of it “prevents Nevadans from getting jobs doing issues that should not have a barrier to entry.”

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She has additionally stated that reducing regulations within the mining and e-sports industries would assist financial diversification efforts.

Whereas Conine has led the cost in Nevada to divest from assault weapon producers and sellers, Fiore stated she would reasonably put money into these corporations that might have a excessive return due to the big gun proprietor inhabitants within the state. An estimated 47 % of Nevada adults have weapons of their properties.

“As your subsequent state treasurer, I’m seeking to make investments, to not divest … We do not choose and select politics on the businesses we put money into. We choose and select what’s greatest for you and this state,” she stated to the Pahrump viewers.

Fiore has additionally claimed on Twitter that the state’s multi-billion greenback price range is in a deficit, though the Nevada Structure requires the state to have a balanced price range — revenues should equal expenditures.

Throughout the candidate discussion board, Fiore boasted about her expertise engaged on the state’s price range as an assemblywoman and the Metropolis of Las Vegas price range as a councilwoman.

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“And I will inform you, there’s a variety of wasteful spending, a variety of wasteful spending,” Fiore stated. “I am a line merchandise by line merchandise lady. And I will be questioning every part. And we’ll be ensuring everyone seems to be held accountable.”

Tax points

Fiore’s historical past of economic points dates again many years.

In late 2014, reviews that the IRS had filed lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} price of liens (costs for neglecting or failing to pay a tax debt) in opposition to her and her dwelling well being care enterprise resulted in her being changed as majority chief within the Meeting and faraway from the taxation committee.

In Might, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported that Fiore’s marketing campaign stated she has paid her money owed to the federal authorities however didn’t present any documentation.

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For the reason that begin of her political profession, Fiore by no means listed any of her money owed to the IRS in her marketing campaign monetary disclosure types, which candidates and elected officers are required to do.

Increased training

Fiore has been vital of the Biden administration’s federal scholar mortgage forgiveness plan for not addressing “predatory loans,” and stated that it might lead to schools charging college students extra.

The worth tag of scholar mortgage forgiveness, estimated at $24 billion a yr or about $240 billion over a decade, would contribute to inflation, she stated in a tweet.

The treasurer’s workplace administers faculty financial savings plans, together with what are known as 529 packages, made up of the Nevada Pay as you go Tuition Program that permits dad and mom to lock within the present in-state faculty tuition charges and make month-to-month installments into the fund. The workplace additionally oversees 5 packages administered by means of faculty financial savings plan companions, wherein account holders can deposit after-tax cash for future faculty financial savings.

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Moreover, the workplace manages the Nevada Faculty Kickstart initiative that awards each public faculty kindergartener a free $50 scholarship to encourage dad and mom to begin saving for the scholar’s future training, and the Governor Guinn Millennium Scholarship that awards as much as $10,000 in tuition to in-state college students who attend a Nevada college or faculty.

Fiore stated the state also needs to put money into older adults getting a better training or going again to highschool.

“Innovation is one thing actually vital … In addition to specializing in our youngsters, we have to give attention to adults going again to varsity,” she stated, recounting the expertise of a UNLV graduate who earned her diploma in psychology to begin her personal counseling enterprise at 72 years previous.

Fiore has additionally called for an audit of the state’s Okay-12 price range, in addition to elevated dad or mum involvement in curriculum and college spending.

This story was used with permission of The Nevada Unbiased. Go right here for updates to this and different tales.

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President Joe Biden to visit Nevada, Arizona, Texas this week

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President Joe Biden to visit Nevada, Arizona, Texas this week


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is embarking on a three-day campaign swing aimed at shoring up his standing in the Sun Belt as part of an aggressive play to reenergize vital parts of his 2020 electoral coalition.

Much of Biden’s time on this trip this week, which includes stops in Nevada, Arizona and Texas, will be geared toward courting the Latino voters who helped power his coalition in 2020 and to emphasizing his pro-union, pro-abortion rights message.

The Democratic president’s first stop Tuesday is in Reno, Nevada, where he will meet with local officials and campaign volunteers in Washoe County before heading to Las Vegas to promote his administration’s housing policies.

Next he’ll travel to Phoenix for another campaign stop in a critical swing county paired with an event talking up what he has done to bolster the computer chip manufacturing sector.

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Biden’s push with Latino voters this week, which includes the formal launch of the Latinos con Biden-Harris (Spanish for Latinos with Biden-Harris) initiative on Tuesday, is also part of the campaign’s broader efforts to put in place the infrastructure to re-engage various constituencies that will be critical to the president’s reelection. That effort is all the more crucial as key parts of Biden’s base, such as Black and Hispanic adults, have become increasingly disenchanted with the president’s performance in office.

In an AP-NORC poll conducted in February, 38% of U.S. adults approved of how Biden was handling his job. Nearly 6 in 10 Black adults (58%) approved, compared to 36% of Hispanic adults. Black adults are more likely than white and Hispanic adults to approve of Biden, but that approval has dropped in the three years since Biden took office.

Biden’s reelection campaign, along with allied Democratic groups, has opened offices in Washoe County and in specific areas of Las Vegas that aides said will help the campaign to target Black, Latino and Asian American voters.

Bilingual campaign organizers are already in place in Arizona, and the campaign has opened an office in Maryvale, a major Latino community in Phoenix. The campaign has hired more than 40 staffers in Nevada and Arizona.

Campaign officials believe that tuned-out voters are starting to pay attention to the reality of a rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump now that the two candidates have clinched their respective nominations. They’re trying to boost coalition-building efforts in battleground states now that the matchup is set, using the energy coming out of Biden’s State of the Union earlier this month to jolt their campaign momentum.

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That includes, for example, ensuring that chapters are in place across college campuses so that students have a place to organize and that campaign offices are open and stocked with yard signs, campaign literature and other materials. Democrats are hoping that Trump and the GOP will struggle to catch up in key states.

The campaign has already established Women for Biden-Harris, an effort led by first lady Jill Biden to mobilize female voters who were a vital part of Biden’s winning coalition in 2020, as well as Students for Biden-Harris, which will focus on getting young voters organized and active. Latinos con Biden-Harris will formally launch at Biden’s Phoenix stop on Tuesday and include other campaign events, such as volunteer trainings and house parties, in other battleground states including Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Wisconsin later this week.

“This isn’t stuff that you can just stand up. This is stuff that requires work,” Quentin Fulks, principal deputy campaign manager for the Biden campaign, said in an interview. “It does require training. It does require making sure that your volunteers and supporters have what they need on the ground.”

Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee dismissed dozens of staffers after new leaders closely aligned with Trump took over last week. Those let go include people who worked at the party’s community centers that helped build relationships with minority groups in some Democratic-leaning areas. The committee’s new leadership has since insisted that those centers will remain open.

The RNC, already strapped for cash, is also trying to bat away assumptions that it’ll pay for Trump’s ever-escalating legal bills as he faces multiple criminal cases.

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Still, the Biden campaign and the broader Democratic Party are confronting their own struggles, despite their cash and organizational advantages. On top of Biden’s weaker job performance numbers, Democrats are seeing less support from key voting blocs come election time: While Biden won 63% of Hispanic voters in 2020, that percentage shrunk to 57% for Democratic candidates in the 2022 midterms, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of the national electorate.

Despite the waning approval numbers, campaign officials say they are confident that once the contrast between the president’s agenda and Trump’s plans for a second term are presented to disillusioned members of Biden’s coalition, they will ultimately back the president.

“I can say this as a Latina, we always come late to the party. We like to make a grand entrance,” said Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. “I think that’s what you will see again because when it comes down to people making a real decision that is consequential to their future, the future of their children, the future of their communities, it’s not some random phone call from an anonymous pollster — I think that the Democratic coalition will come home.”

Alongside the campaign stops, the administration is pairing official White House events on matters that have particular significance in the two states. In Arizona, Biden will continue talking up a law he signed encouraging domestic manufacturing of computer chips, which has already spurred significant private investment in the state, especially in Phoenix.

And in Nevada, Biden will continue promoting a new housing proposal that would offer a mortgage relief credit for first-time homebuyers and a seller’s tax credit to encourage homeowners to offload their starter homes. The issue of housing is sure to resonate in Nevada, where home prices have nearly doubled since early 2016, according to Zillow, the online real estate marketplace.

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“As the president has said, the bottom line is, we have to build, build, build,” said Lael Brainard, the director of the White House National Economic Council.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., stressed that Democrats cannot take the state — which has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 2004 — for granted, even as she dismissed some polling that shows Trump with an edge in Nevada.

“You got to be there talking to voters, particularly in Nevada,” Cortez Masto said. “It’s still small enough, it’s 3 million people, they expect you to show up, right? It’s a swing state. It’s very diverse. And people just expect that type of engagement, so they can decide for themselves.”

Biden’s three-day trip will wrap up in Texas, where he will host a trio of fundraisers in Dallas and Houston.

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Nevada County ramping up investments in wildfire mitigation: Qualified vendors encouraged to apply

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Nevada County ramping up investments in wildfire mitigation: Qualified vendors encouraged to apply


With over 90% of Nevada County identified by CAL FIRE as being within a high or very high fire hazard severity zone, it is no surprise that wildfire mitigation is a top priority for Nevada County.

Emergency Preparedness has been a Board Objective for over a decade, and the Office of Emergency Services (OES) has taken a proactive approach under the Ready Nevada County initiative, securing investment for projects at the individual, community, and landscape level. In 2024, OES is working to prevent wildfires with 12 hazardous fuels reduction projects totaling over $13.5 million in funding from five different state and federal agencies. These projects will treat over 5,000 acres and 300 road miles thanks to funding support from CAL FIRE, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), United States Forest Service (USFS), Sierra Nevada Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Board, and others.



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Report shows how A's plan to give back to Las Vegas community 

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Report shows how A's plan to give back to Las Vegas community 


LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — With the Oakland A’s set to move to Las Vegas ahead of the 2028 Major League Baseball season, we now know a little more about how the team plans to invest in the Southern Nevada community.

According to a proposed community benefits agreement — released ahead of Thursday’s Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board meeting — the team has a number of areas it plans to address.

That includes a grant program to benefit local organizations that provide assistance to veterans, a small business fund, and monies for improvement and restoration of community ball fields.

MORE: Nevada Supreme Court sets hearing date for A’s funding lawsuit

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On Monday, the A’s also announced that they have already provided $200,000 to more than 70 leagues across Nevada in support of youth sports.

“We’re proud to provide a donation to every youth baseball and softball league across the state of Nevada,” said A’s President Dave Kaval in a news release. “We are eager to continue engaging with the Nevada community and expand our commitment to supporting youth baseball and softball, education and civil engagement.”

The community benefits agreement is tied to the $380 million in public funding that the Nevada Legislature approved during a special session last year for a planned new $1.5 billion A’s ballpark on the Strip.

The stadium is set to go up at the current site of the Tropicana Las Vegas, which is scheduled to close for good April 2.

After that, the facility will be demolished to make way for the ballpark, and an adjacent Bally’s Corporation casino resort (Bally’s owns the Tropicana).

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A’s assistant general manager and director of player personnel Billy Owens says giving back is something the team has always been interested in.

“You gotta truly invest in a community,” Owens said during a Zoom interview with Channel 13 on Monday. “Whether it’s education forums, athletic forums, really in all avenues, it’s huge to be invested.”

Also as part of the proposed community benefits agreement, the team says it plans to offer a stadium suite for community use during each home game at the new ballpark, which is scheduled to be ready for play in early 2028.





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