In case you missed it…
Education Savings Accounts:
The Nevada Supreme Court finally released its opinion on the state’s sweeping educational choice program, Education Savings Accounts. The Court ruled that ESAs are, in fact, constitutional, but took issue with how they were funded — saying the steps the legislature followed did not meet constitutional specs. Unfortunately, the ruling means the program will remain on hold until the legislature addresses the funding issue. Parents and lawmakers have already started pressuring Gov. Brian Sandoval to include the ESA issue on the agenda for the upcoming special session. (Read more)
Cronyism:
The Silver State is not what it used to be. Once considered a relatively strong example of limited government, Nevada has been steadily increasing government largess, all the while cutting deals for crony companies and industries. Its freedom ranking has fallen from 5th to 11th in the nation, and politicians have been increasingly eager to hand out taxpayer dollars to politically connected billionaires. (Read more)
Healthcare:
Harken Health Insurance, a brand new insurance startup that focused on offering low-cost health plans through the Obamacare exchanges, is leaving the marketplace. Despite having launched less than a year ago, the company was unable to continue to offer insurance through Obamacare after suffering unsustainable financial losses. (Read more)
Federal overreach:
Updates to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) that change federal rules dictating when employers must pay overtime wages, are only the most recent in hundreds of regulations added by executive agencies during Obama’s presidency. The most recent updates now mean human-resources administrators all across the country must change their organizations’ personnel policies to reflect new Obama administration regulations. Moreover, they must try to do so without compromising their organizations’ ability to perform their missions. (Read more)
Transparency:
Las Vegas Metro will soon have more body cameras for its police officers — but the negotiations leading to the decision were far from easy. From the beginning, the police union refused to budge on its opposition to body cameras until Metro conceded to the union’s demand for additional salary increases. (Read more)
Public Employee Retirement System:
Nevada isn’t the only state struggling with a pension crisis. Nationally, stories about unfunded liabilities and excessive public employee pensions seem almost commonplace. (Read more)