KUNR held its second Pints and Purple Politics event on Wednesday at IMBĪB Custom Brews in Sparks. Purple Politics Nevada host Lucia Starbuck moderated the conversation with three state lawmakers who represent the Reno-Sparks area: Republican State Senator Heidi Seevers Gansert, Republican Assemblyman Rich DeLong, and Democratic Assemblywoman Selena La Rue Hatch. This week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada highlights what everyone had to say.
Click here for a transcript of the audio story.
Episode Overview
The goal of KUNR’s second Pints and Purple Politics event was to give listeners the opportunity to hear directly from local elected officials. The legislature passed a major deadline on Tuesday for bills to pass out of their house of origin; otherwise, they’re dead unless they’re exempt. There are roughly 700 bills still in play.
Veering away from her party last week, Seevers Gansert voted for two contentious health care bills. The Senate minority leader was one of two Republican senators to vote for a bill that would prohibit the state from issuing an arrest warrant for someone who’s been charged in another state for providing or receiving reproductive health care. And she was the only Republican “yes” vote for a bill that would allow minors to access services that prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) without a parent’s consent.
“Minors can get medication for STDs after they’re infected, but they can’t get them before, so it made a lot of sense to me that we allow them to get that,” Seevers Gansert said. “It’s actually birth control, too, because we have a lot of legislation around reproductive rights and abortion; [if] birth control is readily available, then we’re not gonna have those issues or we’ll lessen those issues.”
This week, DeLong showed his support for a bipartisan legislation urging Congress to deschedule cannabis. Federally, cannabis is listed as a Schedule I substance — alongside heroin — meaning it has no medical value. In Nevada, cannabis is legal both medically and recreationally. A handful of Republicans, including DeLong, co-signed the bill and voted it off the Assembly floor, but the five “no” votes came from other Republicans.
"The primary reason I signed onto it is in Nevada, we’ve got businesses that are trying to function but, because marijuana is Schedule I, the banking system is not really interested in working with those businesses, and so they’re operating as cash businesses. That’s dangerous," Delong said.
Outside of the legislature, La Rue Hatch is a high school social studies teacher. She wants to change the curriculum through one of her bills that would require freshmen to take geography.
“Our kids need to be prepared for success in a global economy. Now you might think geography is just maps, but I promise you it is not,” La Rue Hatch said. “Geography is global supply chains. It’s international trade agreements; it’s immigration; it’s movement of peoples; it’s cultures. That’s important for our kids so that every single kid in the room gets to see their culture positively reflected in the curriculum, which doesn’t always happen.”
Listen to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada with Lucia Starbuck to hear more highlights from these three elected officials about bills to improve the lives of Nevadans. This is the second of three Pints and Purple Politics events tied to the 2023 Nevada Legislative Session, with the third planned for mid-June.
Transcript
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)
LUCIA STARBUCK, HOST: Welcome to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada. I’m your host, Lucia Starbuck. The name reflects the fact that Nevada isn’t red or blue — it’s both.
KUNR held its second Pints and Purple Politics event earlier this week. I moderated the discussion with three state lawmakers who represent the Reno-Sparks area: Republican State Senator Heidi Seevers Gansert, Republican Assemblyman Rich DeLong, and Democratic Assemblywoman Selena La Rue Hatch. If you missed it, we have you covered – here are some highlights.
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STARBUCK: Senator Seevers Gansert, you veered away from your party a little bit last week. You voted in support for legislation that would allow minors to access preventative services for STDs without a parent’s permission.
HEIDI SEEVERS GANSERT: I did, and what I think is kind of crazy is that minors can get medication for STDs after they’re infected, but they can’t get them before. And so it made a lot of sense to me that we allow them to get that. It’s actually birth control, too, because we have a lot of legislation around reproductive rights and abortion; [if] birth control is readily available, then we’re not gonna have those issues or we’ll lessen those issues.
STARBUCK: Another bill that you supported last week – and you were one of two Republican senators – it would prohibit the state from issuing an arrest warrant for someone providing or accessing reproductive health care like an abortion. Why did you support this bill?
SEEVERS GANSERT: With the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court pushed the decision down to the state level, as far as abortion rights, and in Nevada, there was an act that was passed in 1990 that allows a woman to have an abortion up to 24 weeks. And whether or not you agree with that, that’s actually what our law is, and it’s a firm statute, so that’s something that cannot change unless there’s another vote of the people. There’s restrictions in other states that are becoming tighter, and some women may be coming to Nevada, and I didn’t want them to be arrested because they had something that was legal in our state. I actually am pro-life, but I also don’t wanna throw women in jail for a very, very difficult decision that they may make.
STARBUCK: Assemblyman DeLong, one bill that you’d sign onto, it urges Congress to deschedule cannabis. Can you walk us through what that classification means and how it conflicts with Nevada’s law?
RICH DELONG: Marijuana is currently, under the federal regulations, is a Schedule I substance, which means it has no medical use that’s been identified and it’s considered highly harmful. That’s very inconsistent with quite a few states, including Nevada; it’s legal for both recreational as well as medical uses. There is documented medical use of marijuana. Though the primary reason I signed onto it is in Nevada, we’ve got businesses that are trying to function but, because marijuana is Schedule I, the banking system is not really interested in working with those businesses, and so they’re operating as cash businesses. That’s dangerous.
STARBUCK: You’ve also signed onto a bill that would make existing rural hospitals, it would make it easier for them to get reimbursed by Medicaid.
DELONG: Nevada has very limited hospital facilities outside Washoe and Clark counties. And a good example is Tonopah used to have a hospital; it closed down. With this bill, we’re redefining those facilities in the rural areas as rural emergency hospitals so that they are able to collect Medicaid funds for the services they provide, which will help their financial viability.
STARBUCK: Assemblywoman La Rue Hatch, outside of the legislature, you are a high school social studies teacher. You’re looking to change some curriculum to require freshmen to take geography.
SELENA LA RUE HATCH: Our kids don’t take any social studies freshman year in high school. And then, sophomore year, they come in, and they take world history, and we expect them to learn the entire history of the world in one year, which is a challenge. And then, they go on to U.S. history their junior year, and then their senior year, they take one semester of U.S. government and one semester of U.S. economics. That’s a whole lot of U.S. focus and not a whole lot of focus on the rest of the world. Our kids need to be prepared for success in a global economy. Now you might think geography is just maps, but I promise you it is not. Geography is global supply chains. It’s international trade agreements; it’s immigration; it’s movement of peoples; it’s cultures. That is important for our kids so that every single kid in the room gets to see their culture positively reflected in the curriculum, which doesn’t always happen.
STARBUCK: You’ve signed onto a bill that would limit how much rent can be increased per year.
LA RUE HATCH: It is almost impossible to afford rent in Reno right now. A lot of my students are low income and they are struggling. If we want them to be successful in school, they need to have a place to live. It caps rent increases to keep up with inflation. It’s not saying, “This is the arbitrary number and you can’t go past it.” It is simply saying, “rent needs to be reasonable.” If a landlord can prove that they had to invest a bunch of money to upgrade an apartment, they can get an exemption. I don’t think that it is undue burden on our landlords, but I do think we need to get people relief.
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STARBUCK: That was Assemblywoman La Rue Hatch, Assemblyman DeLong, and Senator Seevers Gansert at KUNR’s second Pints and Purple Politics event at IMBĪB Custom Brews in Sparks. We’ll have a third event tied to the legislative session in June. I’m Lucia Starbuck, and you’ve been listening to Purple Politics Nevada.
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)
The theme song, “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, is licensed under Creative Commons and was edited for this episode.
