NCG Recognized by Media for Education Organizing in Nevada
NCG leaders are additionally pressing on the Nevada state legislature to fund the weighted student funding formula.
CCSD and Fremont Middle School Start to Communicate on Potential School Closure, Downtown News
Parents Pursue Alternatives as Fremont School Faces Closure in Las Vegas, Las Vegas Review- Journal
Education Topics Will Tug Hard on Nevada Purse Strings When Legislature Convenes, Las Vegas Review Journal
Indy Explains: Southern Nevada Education Groups, Nevada Independent
'Nevadans for the Common Good' Fights Funding of Stadium
Naming "seven hidden risks" that public funding of a new Adelson-backed Raiders' stadium would bring to taxpayers, leaders of Nevadans for the Common Good publicly voiced their opposition to the plan with a well-attended press conference. Read below for full coverage:
Opponents of Adelson-Backed Stadium Get Little Attention in Adelson-Owned Newspaper, Las Vegas Tribune
Politicians Place a Bet on a Stadium, and Vegas Pays For It, New York Times
Group Against Stadium Proposal Because It 'Contains Unacceptable Level of Risk for Residents,' Las Vegas Sun
Seven Hidden Risks in the Stadium Plan, Nevadans for the Common Good
Group Has Concerns About Funding for New NFL Stadium, CBS Channel 8
Critics Outline Raiders' Stadium Objection, Las Vegas Review Journal
Two Nevada Groups Announce Opposition to Proposed Raiders Stadium in Las Vegas, Las Vegas Review Journal
Pair of County Commissioners, Uneasy About Stadium Plan, Las Vegas Sun
NCG Continues Push for Transparency in Medicaid Privatization & Greater Focus on Teacher Shortage Crisis
At a 300-person assembly of 'Nevadans for the Common Good,' state legislators publicly supported NCG goals to address the state's teacher shortage and to ensure that a plan to privatize some medicaid services in Nevada is transparent and includes meaningful public participation.
State legislators Senator Michael Robertson and Assemblymen Paul Anderson and John Hambrick listened as Marsha Rodriguez told her story about the fragility of independence as a senior. 72 years old, Rodriguez described waiting 6 months to get into a Nevada Medicaid waiver program, the Home and Community Based Waiver, which helps pay for non-medical services that are essential for some aging seniors to continue living at home. After seven years of receiving non-medical care, she fears that privatization of Medicaid services would reduce access to those services and push her into a nursing home. NCG leader Barbara Paulsen noted that the cost of at-home services for six or seven people is about equal with the cost of covering one person in a nursing home.
When pressed by NCG leaders on whether he would ask the State Department of Health and Human Services to fold stakeholders into planning meetings, Anderson -- the chairman of the Interim Finance Committee, said yes. He also responded that he "recognize the need for these services. How they they are provided must be to the benefit of those receiving care."
Regarding the state's teacher shortage, Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson and Senator Joyce Woodhouse committed to making the shortage crisis a top priority and working with NCG to address the issue. The organization is calling on State officials to include the teacher shortage in a special session of the legislature, as well as raising the issue with the Clark County School Board.
1,400 on Waiting List for Nevada's Independent Living Program, Las Vegas Review Journal
Potential Medicaid Privatization Affecting Elderly, Disabled Worries Advocates, Las Vegas Sun
Parents, Teachers Meet with Lawmakers to Talk Clark County Teacher Shortage, ABC News 13
NCG Fights Off Push for Medicaid Privatization in Nevada
Las Vegas, NV - Leaders of Nevadans for the Common Good cried 'foul' when a dead bill proposing to privatize the provision of Medicaid services was kept alive through unnatural means. Though voted down, it remained in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee through an exemption sparing it from normal deadlines. That same language was then grafted onto a separate bill (SB 514) and approved by the legislature the day before it adjourned.
"We are just concerned about transparency," said Barbara Paulsen, whose church in Boulder City is a member of NCG. The proposed change could impact 54,000 people statewide. ""If there's a transition, it needs to be carefully planned," Paulsen said Wednesday. "It's a major decision and people need to be aware of it and need to have an understanding of the steps being taken and the rationale and ability to comment on them."
Section 37 of the bill enables the state to consider the possibility of privatizing long-term care and services provided to the blind, elderly and disabled -- but only after submitting a an analysis of fiscal impact. Leaders argue that there should be an analysis of the impact on the people receiving those services as well.
Bill Proposes Privatizing Provision of Medicaid Services, Las Vegas Review Journal
Possible Privatization of Medicaid Services Raises Concerns, Las Vegas Review Journal
Nevadans for the Common Good Celebrates 2nd Anniversary
More than 1,500 leaders from across Nevada convened at the packed Cashman Theatre in Las Vegas to celebrate the passage of anti-sex trafficking legislation last year to and issue challenges to a broad range of public officials around multiple issues. The organization obtained solid commitments from public officials after sharing stories about elder abuse in unlicensed group homes, public transportation problems for wounded veterans and disabled, and the need for immigration reform and respite care for caregivers. The organization has grown over the last two years to include 33 member institutions. [Photo Credit: L.E. Baskow, Las Vegas Sun)
Building Off Legislative Success, Interfaith Group Eyes New Set of Social Concerns, Las Vegas Sun
Photo Gallery 1, Las Vegas Sun
Photo Gallery 2, Democratic Faith