Susie Lee
Wednesday, April 17, 2019 | 6:25 p.m.
Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., addressed members of the Nevada Legislature on Wednesday.
Lee touted her efforts in Washington and talked up measures that Carson City lawmakers have tackled or will tackle this legislative session.
Lee pushed her efforts to improve schools, including the Rebuild America’s Schools Act, which would allocate $100 billion in grants and tax credits toward school infrastructure, and the Keep our PACT Act, which would call for full federal funding of Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. She also thanked Gov. Steve Sisolak for including a teacher raise in his budget.
“Let’s address the critical digital and physical infrastructure needs in schools across the country, ensure every teacher has the proper materials in their classrooms so they can stop dipping into their own pockets and invest in every child, not just those who live in the right ZIP codes,” she said.
She called for further money for apprenticeships and programs like the Millennium and Promise Scholarships, which provide tuition help and community college financial aid, respectively.
She also criticized the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository, bringing up her work with other members of the delegation bringing forward the Jobs, Not Waste Act, which would stall further work on Yucca Mountain.
“It’s time for the Department of Energy to take their waste and secret plutonium shipments to another state,” she said. “We don’t want it. We want good-paying jobs, and that’s what that bill is all about.”
She also called for further work on infrastructure such as rural broadband and renewable energy, and supported a minimum wage increase and collective bargaining measures working through the Legislature.
“It’s going to take time, but in a few short months, this state has already found real solutions to some of Nevada’s problems. There’s more to do, but let’s keep moving, let’s keep talking and listening to each other,” she said. “Let’s keep finding that common ground. We can do this as long as we work together as a team.”
