Progressive groups tell lawmakers not to rest on November's laurels
Democratic control of state government doesn’t automatically ensure progressive policy, Nevada groups said Thursday, so they intend to lobby harder than ever during the upcoming legislative session.
Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada held a “Progressive State of the State” to highlight their legislative priorities and call on legislators to make good on the progressive platforms many of them ran on in last year’s elections. Delivered in English by PLAN Executive Director Laura Martin and in Spanish by Make The Road Organizer Audrey Peral, the speech covered the gamut of progressive politics, from economic justice through earned sick leave and a higher minimum wage, to criminal justice issues like cash bail, to environmental issues such as renewable energy.
Despite broad support among progressives and Democratic voters for many of those priorities, legislative specifics are thus far few and far between, and the policy goals are all but guaranteed to face opposition from powerful business interests and their army of lobbyists during the session, which begins Monday. To combat that influence, groups including PLAN, Make It Work, Make the Road, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Moms Demand Action and Human Rights Campaign are organizing a variety of lobby days and planning on busing or flying supporters from Southern Nevada to Carson City.
Martin began the speech by praising Nevada for becoming the first state with a female-majority legislature, and for electing its first African American attorney general in Aaron Ford.
Read more: https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2019/02/01/progressive-groups-tell-lawmakers-not-to-rest-on-novembers-laurels/