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Robert Fellner
Director of Policy
Robert Fellner is NPRI’s policy director and joined the Institute in December 2013. Robert has written extensively on the issue of transparency in government. He has also conducted legal research and assisted in crafting legal arguments for numerous public records-related lawsuits, including one which prevailed at the Nevada Supreme Court, resulting in a landmark decision that protected and expanded Nevadans’ rights to access and inspect government records.An expert on government compensation and its impact on taxes, Robert has authored multiple studies on public pay and pensions. He has been published in Business Insider, Forbes.com, the Las Vegas Review Journal, the Los Angeles Times, RealClearPolicy.com, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, ZeroHedge.com and elsewhere.
Robert has lived in Las Vegas since 2005 when he moved to Nevada to become a professional poker player. Robert has had a remarkably successfully poker career including two top 10 World Series of Poker finishes and being ranked #1 in the world at 10/20 Pot-Limit Omaha cash games.
Additionally, his economic analysis on the minimum wage won first place in a 2011 George Mason University essay contest. He also independently organized a successful grassroots media and fundraising effort for a 2012 presidential candidate, before joining the campaign in an official capacity.
Lobbyist’s false testimony crucial in moving anti-transparency bill forward
To justify the “PERS secrecy” bill, lobbyist Marlene Lockard relied almost entirely on known falsehoods in her official testimony to lawmakers. Because state law makes it a crime to knowingly misrepresent…
SB135 Testimony (Collective Bargaining)
Testimony in Opposition re: Senate Bill 135 – Senate Government Affairs Committee Thursday, April 4th, 2019 6:30 pm My name is Robert Fellner and I…
SB475: Protecting the education establishment, at the expense of student learning
A new bill would make it harder for schools to dismiss underperforming teachers, while also reducing the importance of student learning in teacher evaluations — which is just the latest…
Support for prevailing wage undermines Dem opposition to Opportunity Scholarships
Many lawmakers have argued that the more than $20 million spent on the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program for low-income students should, instead, go toward traditional public education. That argument, however,…
Falsehoods, misinformation dominate PERS Secrecy Bill hearing
Last Friday, the Senate Government Affairs Committee held a hearing for the PERS Secrecy Bill (SB224). The bill would overturn existing Nevada law by making secret the names of those who…
SB224 Testimony (PERS Secrecy)
SB224 Testimony – Senate Government Affairs Committee March 1, 2019 1:00 pm My name is Robert Fellner, and I am the policy director for the Nevada Policy…
Sisolak latest to be enveloped by Nevada’s pension fog
In 2015, the Legislature slashed PERS benefits for all new hires, leaving these workers paying the highest rates in the nation, while receiving the lowest benefits in modern Nevada…
The political push for state-worker collective bargaining
Extending the ability to collectively bargain to Nevada state government workers will increase state spending by approximately $500 million annually — a price that will be paid by taxpayers via…
The average Nevada teacher is losing nearly $7,700 a year to pay for other people’s retirement
Beginning this July, contribution rates to the state Public Employees’ Retirement System will increase to 29.25 percent of salary, an all-time high. This means that for every $10,000 spent on…