Politics and Policy

The U.S. Congress is putting together another stimulus package — its fourth — in an effort to lighten the heavy effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Catherine Cortez Masto is one of Nevada’s senators. She spoke with KUNR’s Bree Zender about what’s in the works.

Nevada lawmakers have approved a plan to spend $8.2 million in state money to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Senate is negotiating how a House novel coronavirus relief package will be distributed to the public. KUNR's Bree Zender spoke with Nevada's 2nd District Congressman Mark Amodei about this pending legislation and what economic hurdles Nevada is now facing due to the pandemic.

As many Nevadans face hardships ahead due to restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus, some are looking to the government for relief. Nevada U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto has been involved in some of the decision-making regarding these federal relief packages. She spoke Friday with KUNR's Bree Zender.

We’ve heard a lot about the presidential election this year, but it won’t be the only race on the ballot in November. Dozens of seats across the state are up for grabs in 2020 and as of Friday — the end of the candidate filing period — hundreds of people are vying for those positions. To help us break down that long list ahead of the June primary is KUNR’s Senior Political Reporter Paul Boger.

The Nevada Supreme Court recently overturned a lower court’s ruling on a defamation case filed by a biologist who works for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, or NDOW. The suit was filed against the manager of a Facebook page that’s critical of NDOW’s policies regarding the treatment of bears in the Eastern Sierra. The state supreme court struck down the biologist’s defamation case, so now it’s headed back to Washoe County Second Judicial District Court.

The Truckee Meadows Public Land Management Act, formerly known as the Washoe County Lands Bill, is back before Congress. It would allow federal land in Nevada to be sold to local government for development and conservation projects. The proposal has received support from the cities of Reno and Sparks, as well as Washoe County, but it has also faced public criticism.

Caucus... you've probably heard that word a lot this year. For some, it's a time-honored tradition that allows communities to come together to select a political candidate that best represents them. For others, it’s an overly complicated and outdated way of voting. So now that the Nevada Caucuses are firmly behind us, KUNR's Paul Boger decided to take a look at the Silver State’s caucus system and how it may evolve ahead of the next presidential election.

It'll be days before final tallies are released, but Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is the projected winner of the California Primary. Polling ahead of yesterday's election showed Sanders with a comfortable lead among voters in the Golden State, but that was before more moderate candidates like Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the race and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden. So we sent KUNR's Paul Boger across the state line to get a sense of how the shake-up may have affected voters in California. 

California is the single biggest prize in the Democratic presidential nomination process. 415 delegates are up for grabs in Tuesday's primary. To get the latest about how the race is shaping up in the Golden State, KUNR's Paul Boger spoke with Scott Shafer, KQED's politics editor.