Then-state assembly candidate Andy Matthews talks with reporters following a Make America Great Again Meet-up at the Omelet House in Summerlin Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020. Now, Matthews, Nevada’s controller in the Lombardo administration, has joined financial officers from 22 other states, seeking answers on the potential fallout should the federal government default after failing to raise the debt ceiling this week.
Thursday, June 1, 2023 | 2 a.m.
CARSON CITY — Nevada Controller Andy Matthews joined a letter along with financial officers from 22 states to U.S. Secretary Treasury Janet Yellen to seek clarity on the potential fallout if federal officials fail to raise the debt ceiling.
Yellen’s office warns the nation may be unable to pay outstanding debts if a deal isn’t reached by June 5, though it's looking increasingly likely that the crisis will be averted after the U.S. House passed a bill Wednesday to avert default all but certain to get President Joe Biden's signature.
In a statement, Matthews said he was concerned over Yellen’s “lack of specificity regarding how the U.S. Treasury will prioritize payments” if no debt ceiling deal is reached. “What we’ve heard from the (Biden) administration thus far presents a false choice between a debt-ceiling extension and a default,” Matthews, a Republican, said. “In reality, the Treasury has an array of options available in terms of payment prioritization. Secretary Yellen owes the American people more candor and clarity as to the Treasury’s plan to ensure there is no default on debt.”
The letter asks Yellen what the Treasury’s plan is to prevent a government default on debt regardless if it cannot satisfy the nation’s debt obligations and also asks for “all relevant data” to explain the date Treasury expects extraordinary measures to prevent default to expire.
Republicans sue to restore caucus
The Nevada Republican Party filed a lawsuit in the First Judicial District Court in Carson City against the state to return Nevada to a caucus nominating process for president, instead of a primary method adopted by the Legislature in 2021.
“Due to the inability of Nevada Democrats to execute a smooth, efficient caucus, they want to use unaccountable dark money in an attempt to force Republicans to change the way we choose our Presidential nominee, and allow out-of-state interests to interfere in the Nevada GOP nominating process,” the statement read. “The first four early states continue to stand together to maintain our historic role in the Presidential naming process.”
Lawmakers ditched the caucus during the previous legislative session in favor of a closed primary.
The Nevada primary is scheduled to take place Feb. 6, 2024, with early voting to begin Jan. 27, putting the state second overall in the GOP’s nominating conventions.
The Nevada State Democratic Party in a statement called the legal filing “bogus.”
“This is the GOP playbook at work — restrict voting access to limit as many voices as possible and change the rules if they don’t serve their interests,” spokeswoman Mallory Payne said in an email. “Democrats moved from a caucus to a presidential preference primary to simplify the process and make voting easier and more accessible.”
False confessions bill heads to governor
A bill seeking to eliminate false confessions from juveniles is headed to Lombardo’s desk after the Senate last week approved the measure.
Assembly Bill 193 prohibits peace officers from knowingly making “materially” false statements about evidence to a child who is the subject of an interrogation. The bill also bars law enforcement officials from making implied promises of leniency to juvenile subjects of interrogation.
The bill passed 26-14 along party lines in the Assembly and 15-5 in the Senate, with Sens. Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, and Lisa Krasner, R-Reno. Lombardo’s office has not indicated whether he will sign the bill.
