Government must work for people

GUEST OPINION By WILL PREGMAN Community Organizer with Battle Born Progress

During the holidays, our federal government ground to a halt amidst the President’s refusal to work with Congress to pass a new budget. This is distressing for countless federal workers in Nevada who have worked without pay or have been furloughed altogether. Thankfully, Nevada’s Representatives & Senators are hard at work to support our federal workers and reopen the government.

We in Nevada are lucky to have fresh leadership at the top of our Executive branch and a team of legislators prepared to work hard to better the lives of Nevadans. Beginning February 4th, lawmakers representing the state have just 120 days to pass a new budget and revise laws to improve Nevada. With Governor Sisolak as Nevada’s first Democratic Governor in two decades and two Democratic majorities in the state legislature as well as the first women-majority legislature in the country, there is plenty of opportunity to move our state forward. But that won’t happen without sustained grassroots engagement.

Battle Born Progress stands ready to spearhead several of the priorities that Governor Sisolak laid out in his address. First, regarding gun violence prevention, we are eager to ensure background checks are implemented for all firearm sales. Nevada voters supported this law in 2016, and it will be a relief to finally have it implemented.

Second, the Governor spoke about clean energy development that will support our communities with new jobs and a solution to climate change. Battle Born Progress will be working with legislators and stakeholders to implement community solar, pass progressive electric vehicle policy, and secure the voter approved rise of the RPS to 50% by 2030. I was also elated to hear Governor Sisolak make a special mention of protecting Nevada’s public lands. Battle Born Progress continually ensures our public lands are always a priority for our elected officials.

Third, Governor Sisolak devoted much of his speech to talk about improving Nevada’s education system. He focused on raising pay and school supply stipends for teachers, as well as continuing Governor Sandoval’s programs to rescue at-risk schools. We plan to work with the Senate Finance committee to ensure a new school funding formula that diverts resources into the underprivileged schools who need that funding most.

Finally, we are thrilled to get to work on implementing automatic voter registration, something Governor Sisolak mentioned as key point of collaboration between his own office and the Secretary of State. But Governor Sisolak went above and beyond by announcing his support for same-day voter registration as well. Both measures will go far in ensuring all Nevadans’ voices are counted at the polls going forward.

While this list gives progressives much to be excited about, none of it will happen without the support of everyday Nevadans. We’re asking community members to join us and travel to Carson City for Grassroots Lobby Day on March 31st through April 1st. You can sign up to get involved by visiting: