Expert: Nevada Dems will reintroduce vetoed bills

Expect Democrats to reintroduce many of the bills vetoed by outgoing Gov. Brian Sandoval when the 2019 Nevada Legislature opens, one of the state’s leading political/business consultants said recently on Nevada Newsmakers.

“All those bills that Brian Sandoval vetoed, I think there were 41 of them, they are all going to come back,” said Sig Rogich, president of Rogich Communications and longtime adviser to presidents and governors.

Rogich suggested the Democrats, who also hold the governor’s mansion with incoming Gov. Steve Sisolak, could be subject to “political overreach” in their 2019 legislative agenda. Democrats hold a veto-proof super majority in the Assembly and are just one vote short of a super-majority in the state Senate.

“You do have a problem with overreach, if they have that kind of majority,” Rogich told host Sam Shad.

In 2017, Democrats pushed to pass bills that would have required sex education in public schools, boost the minimum wage and offer a Medicaid-type health insurance to all citizens. All were vetoed by Sandoval, R-Reno, who left office at the end of December due to term limits.

Many of those vetoed bills will be again be at the forefront of the Legislature in 2019, Rogich said.

“When you talk about issues of the minimum wage, that will come up and probably pass,” he said. “They are going to start to fool around with right-to-work . I am not sure the state will accept that but they will work on it.

“You are going to have a call for sanctuary state, is that going to happen here?” Rogich said. “When those kind of things happen, those can be overreach and that could cause some problems.”

Not only did Democrats win the governor’s race and most races in the Legislature, the party also won three of four congressional seats, a U.S. Senate seat and a near sweep of Nevada’s constitutional offices.

Rogich credits the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 for the Democrats’ success. He said that if Nevada is not a blue state, “it is right on the cusp.”

He added: “This election cycle is transformational in Nevada history and as long as the Culinary Union is as active as they are, and support the Democrats as much as they do, it will be very tough to overcome.

“I give them a lot of credit,” Rogich added. “When you have 6,000 or 7,000 or 8,000 people walking door-to-door, it makes a big difference.”

Perceptions about Republicans in general hurt GOP candidates across Nevada, Rogich said.

“Perceptions are reality and there is a perception here, going on, that Republicans are anti-women for some reason and nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.

“There are a lot of factors that got in here,” Rogich continued. “The primary reason, in my opinion, is that we had problems down here (in Las Vegas) because of the voter turnout models, that were put together by the Culinary Union, the trade unions down here made the difference. They just got their people to the polls. We had extraordinary turnouts and you’re going to see a lot more of that.”

Sisolak “is a smart guy, a deal maker. He likes to put things together. He likes to see results,” Rogich said.

Sisolak’s experience with the Clark County bureaucracy will help him at the state level, Rogich said.

“He understands bureaucracy because Clark County is loaded with it. The Public Works is probably one of the most bureaucratic operations ever and I think he is going to have to understand that state governments have a lot of those ‘Public Works’ operations.”

Ray Hagar is a journalist for “Nevada Newsmakers.” More information on the public affairs broadcast program, podcast and website are available nevadanewsmakers.com