Getting down to business....well, another kind of business
- Thread starter Tony Shelton
- Start date
Tony Shelton
BS Detector, Esquire
Well, We're almost a month into a four month session.
The alarm is set for 5:30 am every morning. Most of the time we are up long before that because there is a stack of papers an inch high we fell asleep reading the night before.
We get to the Legislature building between 7 and 8am. Usually Shelly's first committee meeting is 8:30 and they last between 1 1/2-2 1/2 hrs long.
She has 2-3 of those per day plus an hour and a half of "floor session" where they take final votes.
At the end of almost every day there are events we have to go to that last till 7 or 8 pm put on by various companies, utilities, public services and/or lobbyists. We try to go to them to give everyone an ear whether they contributed or not.
After that we have to go home and start reading between 10-20 bills that will go before the senate and the house the next day. And it will only get worse. We have a total of around 1500 bills to consider in 4 months.
We are told that in May there will be many days when the actual day will end as late as 2am and start back up at 4am for more votes.
But it's all good because she gets paid the whopping salary of $150 per day! We are rolling in the dough now!! lol.
But for now we at least get the weekends off whenever we get tired of reading stuff.
This weekend we got to spend 5 hours at Lake Tahoe, which is only about 20 or so minutes away.
That little strip of land behind Fayth in the pic below is where Mark Twain found a boat after walking from Carson City in 1861 and paddled three miles with a friend to a beach where he made a lumber claim. He only lasted about a week there because he accidentally set a fire that burned down a big section of trees, so he high tailed it back to Carson City. His adventures in this area can be found in his book "Roughing it".
Tahoe is so clear, Twain said they called their paddling trips "balloon rides" because they would look over the side of the boat and see mountains rise from hundreds of feet below in the clear water and watch as it rises as they move over it. I'd say we've done a pretty good job of keeping it clean for more than 150 years. It's still crystal clear.
Shelly's office is open to everyone, contributors or non-contributors.
To give you an idea how far we will go to listen to both sides of everything we had everything from lobbyists promoting abortion to home owner association lawyers in her office this week so far. Everyone deserves an ear. This is public service. We may not agree, but we have to listen.
So we are usually going at it between at least 530am till midnight or later.
Republicans have an overwhelming majority........and the establishment Republicans are still acting like they are in the minority.
They pushed through one bill limiting construction defect litigation. Scumbag lawyers have been taking advantage of the laws and have made over 2 billion in judgments in the past few years. Construction defect cases were around 30 times higher than the national average here. They have continued this theft from construction companies over the years by paying for the campaigns of both Dems and Reps who keep them in business. It ends this year. The Governor signed it today.
We have tons of gun rights legislation this session. We are also working on reforming the Public retirement system that has every family in Nevada owing $40,000 towards future retirement of public workers. Some of whom retire making more than they made working - at the age of 40 or so - where they then open a business or take on a job that takes away a slot from anyone else trying to support their family. There is nothing that can be done about promises that are already made to current workers, but reform has to be made on future workers or one day there will be no money to pay ANY retirees. We'll see if the Republicans have the political guts to take this on and do something about it.
The establishment Republicans are already putting together half a$$ed bills with something the Dems want to go along with something the voters want. For example, we are working on obscene prevailing wage laws for public school construction that pays more than 3 times the average construction wage, but attached to that bill is the Dems rollover of bonds which sets the stage for huge future property tax increases. Then there's a great gun rights law, that also attaches the Dems prohibition of rights for anyone ever convicted of a Domestic Violence charge with no relief valve for those wrongly deprived of rights save a Governor's pardon.
It doesn't have to work this way. The Dems don't work this way. When they have control they steamroll everything they can through. That is what we should be doing now but few lack the political guts to do what has to be done.
On top of the daily committee meetings and floor sessions Shelly has appointments filling up the rest of her day with lobbyists.
We are still waiting for that ONE SINGLE representative of a public department to come to us and say "We were good stewards of the budget you gave us, here is our surplus". EVERY ONE OF THEM ASKS FOR MORE.
The only two I've lost my cool with were the police and fire union reps who told us that crap about how they "sacrifice" at $150-250k per year in salary and benefits. I compared them to the veterans sleeping in the streets and the active duty sleeping in 120 degrees making $30k and just about ran them out of the office. They aren't like most of you guys are used to in your smaller communities. They are WELL paid, some of the highest in the country, yet they have no shame in demanding MORE year after year to the point of THREATENING THE PUBLIC with reduced services. Last year the voters didn't give the police what they wanted so they STOPPED responding to traffic accidents that didn't have any injuries leaving people to deal with their own insurance agencies with no one to determine fault!!! This should be a FIRING offense for every officer who participated in it!! I also lost it a little with the companies complaining about "prevailing wage". They have built a false economy by doing public works at rates three times that of private contracts and are now complaining because we want to eliminate prevailing wage. Well......tough. You should have been smart and built your business spread out over public and private projects rather than sucking on the tit of overly bloated prevailing wage government work as your sole customer. Your poor decisions have put you out of business. Not your Legislators. (or the voters)
In spite of the fact that I am happy we are able to do some good, I feel like I'm getting old here. I can see bags under my eyes and I know I'm going to go gray. When we traveled across the country I mentioned James K Polk and posted the pictures of him that were only three years apart that looked like he aged 20 years. I feel like that after only a month!!
Polk was younger than me in this pic!!!
And Shelly is already being attacked by the Dems. Here is their latest.....I can only thank them for promoting the stances that got her elected:
http://meetthesweep.tumblr.com/post/110648696007/meet-gop-assembly-legislative-operations-and
I'm so proud of her.
She doesn't back down at all. It's hard for me to keep my mouth shut in meetings normally. But when I've got such a trustworthy, committed better half by my side....I know you might find this hard to believe, but I don't have to say much. She usually says it all.
I've been humbled so many ways by this process.
First, I was humbled as Shelly took on her opponent in court for his lying about his residence, representing herself. I was not much of a help in that matter and it was humbling. He has appealed and it is now in the Supreme Court. She is still representing herself and they are in new territory here because rarely does anyone represent themselves in the Supreme Court.
Next I was humbled by the principled candidates we met in the race. Running for office is HARD WORK!!!! It takes a tough skin. Shelly has amazed me. The other candidates have amazed me. I am in awe of all of them.
Then I'm humbled by the elected officials. They have so much to learn SO FAST. Then they have to have the patience to listen to EVERYONE. They are amazing people.
Finallly, I'm humbled by the support team. The LCB, or "Legislative Counsel Bureau" in Nevada, are the guys who work the legal department of the Legislature. They do everything from write bills in legalese, to re-writing speeches and letters to constituents. They have to work as long as Legislators are in the buliding. They are amazing at 7am and 10pm.
Then there are the Policy Directors and personal staff of the Legislators. I am Shelly's Policy Director. I'm recognized as that, and treated as such. I represent her in meetings and do everything short of casting a vote. Should I feel like I"m actually doing something here? Some would say yes......I'd say, I'm barely adequate. There are some Policy Directors who could dance around my IQ. They amaze me on a daily basis in their ability to have a command of EVERY single issue and EVERY bill by number. I feel like a grammar student next to these PHDs. Are they PHd's? No. Some didn't even go to college. But they are geniuses who remember everything and have a grasp on everything that is going on.
It is so humbing being among great men and women like this. Being around Ron is similar. So I'm used to it.
Anyway. I finished tomorrow's analysis for Shelly ans had an hour to spare before hitting the sack..
I hope this lets you guys know what something like this is like and inspires you to get involved in your own state!
Good night!
The alarm is set for 5:30 am every morning. Most of the time we are up long before that because there is a stack of papers an inch high we fell asleep reading the night before.
We get to the Legislature building between 7 and 8am. Usually Shelly's first committee meeting is 8:30 and they last between 1 1/2-2 1/2 hrs long.
She has 2-3 of those per day plus an hour and a half of "floor session" where they take final votes.
At the end of almost every day there are events we have to go to that last till 7 or 8 pm put on by various companies, utilities, public services and/or lobbyists. We try to go to them to give everyone an ear whether they contributed or not.
After that we have to go home and start reading between 10-20 bills that will go before the senate and the house the next day. And it will only get worse. We have a total of around 1500 bills to consider in 4 months.
We are told that in May there will be many days when the actual day will end as late as 2am and start back up at 4am for more votes.
But it's all good because she gets paid the whopping salary of $150 per day! We are rolling in the dough now!! lol.
But for now we at least get the weekends off whenever we get tired of reading stuff.
This weekend we got to spend 5 hours at Lake Tahoe, which is only about 20 or so minutes away.
That little strip of land behind Fayth in the pic below is where Mark Twain found a boat after walking from Carson City in 1861 and paddled three miles with a friend to a beach where he made a lumber claim. He only lasted about a week there because he accidentally set a fire that burned down a big section of trees, so he high tailed it back to Carson City. His adventures in this area can be found in his book "Roughing it".
Tahoe is so clear, Twain said they called their paddling trips "balloon rides" because they would look over the side of the boat and see mountains rise from hundreds of feet below in the clear water and watch as it rises as they move over it. I'd say we've done a pretty good job of keeping it clean for more than 150 years. It's still crystal clear.
Shelly's office is open to everyone, contributors or non-contributors.
To give you an idea how far we will go to listen to both sides of everything we had everything from lobbyists promoting abortion to home owner association lawyers in her office this week so far. Everyone deserves an ear. This is public service. We may not agree, but we have to listen.
So we are usually going at it between at least 530am till midnight or later.
Republicans have an overwhelming majority........and the establishment Republicans are still acting like they are in the minority.
They pushed through one bill limiting construction defect litigation. Scumbag lawyers have been taking advantage of the laws and have made over 2 billion in judgments in the past few years. Construction defect cases were around 30 times higher than the national average here. They have continued this theft from construction companies over the years by paying for the campaigns of both Dems and Reps who keep them in business. It ends this year. The Governor signed it today.
We have tons of gun rights legislation this session. We are also working on reforming the Public retirement system that has every family in Nevada owing $40,000 towards future retirement of public workers. Some of whom retire making more than they made working - at the age of 40 or so - where they then open a business or take on a job that takes away a slot from anyone else trying to support their family. There is nothing that can be done about promises that are already made to current workers, but reform has to be made on future workers or one day there will be no money to pay ANY retirees. We'll see if the Republicans have the political guts to take this on and do something about it.
The establishment Republicans are already putting together half a$$ed bills with something the Dems want to go along with something the voters want. For example, we are working on obscene prevailing wage laws for public school construction that pays more than 3 times the average construction wage, but attached to that bill is the Dems rollover of bonds which sets the stage for huge future property tax increases. Then there's a great gun rights law, that also attaches the Dems prohibition of rights for anyone ever convicted of a Domestic Violence charge with no relief valve for those wrongly deprived of rights save a Governor's pardon.
It doesn't have to work this way. The Dems don't work this way. When they have control they steamroll everything they can through. That is what we should be doing now but few lack the political guts to do what has to be done.
On top of the daily committee meetings and floor sessions Shelly has appointments filling up the rest of her day with lobbyists.
We are still waiting for that ONE SINGLE representative of a public department to come to us and say "We were good stewards of the budget you gave us, here is our surplus". EVERY ONE OF THEM ASKS FOR MORE.
The only two I've lost my cool with were the police and fire union reps who told us that crap about how they "sacrifice" at $150-250k per year in salary and benefits. I compared them to the veterans sleeping in the streets and the active duty sleeping in 120 degrees making $30k and just about ran them out of the office. They aren't like most of you guys are used to in your smaller communities. They are WELL paid, some of the highest in the country, yet they have no shame in demanding MORE year after year to the point of THREATENING THE PUBLIC with reduced services. Last year the voters didn't give the police what they wanted so they STOPPED responding to traffic accidents that didn't have any injuries leaving people to deal with their own insurance agencies with no one to determine fault!!! This should be a FIRING offense for every officer who participated in it!! I also lost it a little with the companies complaining about "prevailing wage". They have built a false economy by doing public works at rates three times that of private contracts and are now complaining because we want to eliminate prevailing wage. Well......tough. You should have been smart and built your business spread out over public and private projects rather than sucking on the tit of overly bloated prevailing wage government work as your sole customer. Your poor decisions have put you out of business. Not your Legislators. (or the voters)
In spite of the fact that I am happy we are able to do some good, I feel like I'm getting old here. I can see bags under my eyes and I know I'm going to go gray. When we traveled across the country I mentioned James K Polk and posted the pictures of him that were only three years apart that looked like he aged 20 years. I feel like that after only a month!!
Polk was younger than me in this pic!!!
And Shelly is already being attacked by the Dems. Here is their latest.....I can only thank them for promoting the stances that got her elected:
http://meetthesweep.tumblr.com/post/110648696007/meet-gop-assembly-legislative-operations-and
I'm so proud of her.
She doesn't back down at all. It's hard for me to keep my mouth shut in meetings normally. But when I've got such a trustworthy, committed better half by my side....I know you might find this hard to believe, but I don't have to say much. She usually says it all.
I've been humbled so many ways by this process.
First, I was humbled as Shelly took on her opponent in court for his lying about his residence, representing herself. I was not much of a help in that matter and it was humbling. He has appealed and it is now in the Supreme Court. She is still representing herself and they are in new territory here because rarely does anyone represent themselves in the Supreme Court.
Next I was humbled by the principled candidates we met in the race. Running for office is HARD WORK!!!! It takes a tough skin. Shelly has amazed me. The other candidates have amazed me. I am in awe of all of them.
Then I'm humbled by the elected officials. They have so much to learn SO FAST. Then they have to have the patience to listen to EVERYONE. They are amazing people.
Finallly, I'm humbled by the support team. The LCB, or "Legislative Counsel Bureau" in Nevada, are the guys who work the legal department of the Legislature. They do everything from write bills in legalese, to re-writing speeches and letters to constituents. They have to work as long as Legislators are in the buliding. They are amazing at 7am and 10pm.
Then there are the Policy Directors and personal staff of the Legislators. I am Shelly's Policy Director. I'm recognized as that, and treated as such. I represent her in meetings and do everything short of casting a vote. Should I feel like I"m actually doing something here? Some would say yes......I'd say, I'm barely adequate. There are some Policy Directors who could dance around my IQ. They amaze me on a daily basis in their ability to have a command of EVERY single issue and EVERY bill by number. I feel like a grammar student next to these PHDs. Are they PHd's? No. Some didn't even go to college. But they are geniuses who remember everything and have a grasp on everything that is going on.
It is so humbing being among great men and women like this. Being around Ron is similar. So I'm used to it.
Anyway. I finished tomorrow's analysis for Shelly ans had an hour to spare before hitting the sack..
I hope this lets you guys know what something like this is like and inspires you to get involved in your own state!
Good night!
Great to be up dated, sounds like your having fun while serving the people
Ron Musgraves
www.uamcc.org
"Sidewalk cleaning"
Ron Musgraves
www.uamcc.org
"Sidewalk cleaning"
Tony Shelton
BS Detector, Esquire
Chris is running Sonitx. Just finished a big month with two major equipment breakdowns and handled it like a champ. The only issue is attrition. I am not able to bring in new business.