Las Vegas think tank seeks to breach left-right divide

Nevada Policy Research Institute President Andy Matthews visited Pahrump on Friday to gain a clearer understanding of issues of importance to local taxpayers.

The Las Vegas-based organization characterizes itself as a free-market, think tank that promotes public policy ideas that are consistent with the principles of limited government, individual liberty and free enterprise.

Matthews told taxpayers that the fundamental divide in politics is not Republican versus Democrat, or right versus left. “The divide is between political class,” he said. “Those that think that to be in government means to rule, instead of serve.”

Advocating for reform is not enough, Matthews said. NPRI opened a Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation in 2010 to sue government entities where there is a violation of the state constitution or individual rights. Matthews said NPRI has three pending lawsuits against government entities.

Matthews said lawsuits are one way to get the attention of the political class. NPRI has done just that in filing a lawsuit on behalf of Victor and Annette Fuentes for a federal taking of the couple’s water rights on their private property within the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

Amargosa Valley Town Board member John Bosta urged NPRI to focus on water issues. He opined that water issues are more important than land issues. Bosta said 75 percent of surface water in Nye County has disappeared since 1850 and now the federal government is encroaching on subsurface or ground water.

“The federal government does not have water rights and that is their prime objective,” Bosta said.

Matthews said one way to loosen the government’s stranglehold on water and land rights is through public engagement. He told those gathered that the federal hold on state land is through an “error in history” via the Enabling Act. Nevada’s Enabling Act mirrors Nebraska’s, he said. Though Nebraska was able to get their Act corrected, he said, Nevada continues to suffer from “A wrong that has never been righted.”

Nye County Commissioner Frank Carbone said land use and control issues were of utmost concern to the entire commission. He targeted the Bureau of Land Management. Speaking on behalf of the commission, Carbone said, “We definitely don’t want BLM here any longer. We want our land back and we want to be able to prosper from that land.”

Matthews said an appropriate topic regarding BLM-managed lands, is the potential economic benefits the state would have if the federal government were to release those lands.

In addition to water and land issues, Matthews said NPRI is tackling state tax, labor and education policies. Matthews encouraged residents to contact NPRI at www.npri.org to enlist the support of the organization in advocating against the government on their behalf. If NPRI is unable to be a lead organization on a particular issue, Matthews said, they will provide “intellectual ammo.”