Patrick Semansky / AP
President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington.
Thursday, March 7, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Las Vegas electrician Melenie Zavala has always enjoyed being part of a larger movement. That’s what brought her to the building trades in the first place.
Honored in 2022 as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers apprentice of the year, Zavala has worked on projects ranging from solar developments to Las Vegas resorts. Part of the appeal of the job, Zavala said, is that no two days are exactly alike and she can make a personal connection on each of the projects.
“It’s always changing and engaging, and you’re constantly being challenged,” Zavala said. “It gets you to think, physically move, and it’s a way to be part of something that’s going to be there long after I’m gone.”
Zavala, who is also involved with IBEW Local 357’s political organizing efforts, was selected to join U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address today, highlighting the importance of organized labor to the Democratic coalition in a swing state during a hotly contested presidential election year.
“I’m proud to have Melenie Zavala as my guest for this week’s speech to celebrate the thousands of good-paying, union jobs coming to Nevada and highlight the life-changing opportunities our unions provide,” Cortez Masto said in a statement. “I come from a strong union family, and I’ll always stand up for organized labor. Over the past four years, we’ve delivered historic investments for clean energy and infrastructure in Nevada and this is just the beginning.”
The State of the Union is any president’s most high-profile annual address, giving them an opportunity to highlight accomplishments and detail the coming legislative agenda. For Biden, it’s also a chance to show would-be voters viewing at home that he’s ready for another term.
He’ll likely touch on women’s reproductive rights, the war in Ukraine, the war between Israel and Hamas, the immigration crisis and continued infrastructure enhancements brought on by the $1 trillion bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is the domestic spending bill Biden championed and has been critical in rebuilding the nation since COVID-19 stalled the global economy.
Biden has declared himself the “most pro-union” president in history and has focused much of his 2024 reelection campaign courting organized labor groups across the country.
Biden last year made history as the first sitting president to join a picket line when he stood in solidarity with striking United Auto Workers outside a General Motors factory in Michigan, and some of his most signature first-term legislative accomplishments contain provisions requiring some union labor for federally funded projects. Those include the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act.
“He’s pushed more for labor than any other president ever has,” Zavala said of Biden. “He’s been true to his word from the start.”
Cortez Masto’s office said more than 42,000 workers in Nevada are employed in the clean energy sector, though that number will double by 2034 thanks to federal investments made by the Biden administration, they said.
Among those is the proposed Brightline West high-speed rail which is scheduled to open in 2028 and is aiming to make a Las Vegas-to-Los Angeles commute possible in less than three hours. The project, which is estimated to bring 35,000 union jobs, in December received a $3 billion boost from the federal government using infrastructure funds.
For Zavala, Thursday’s State of the Union will be a full-circle moment. She spent much of 2022 volunteering on behalf of Cortez Masto’s campaign in what was a narrow win over Republican and former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt.
And getting to see a major political moment unfold in real time will make for a lifelong memory, Zavala said.
“I watch every year,” Zavala said. “So, to actually be one of the few that go on to attend, I was in disbelief.”
Others’ guests
Nevada’s other senator, Democrat Jacky Rosen, in a show of bipartisanship, announced Wednesday she would bring former Republican Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval as her guest to Thursday’s speech. In a statement, Rosen said the choice to bring Sandoval, who served as governor from 2011 to 2019 and is the current president of UNR, was to celebrate the university’s selection as designated hub under the CHIPS Act to study the lithium supply chain. Lithium is a metal essential in the production of electric vehicle batteries, and could provide ample space for Nevada’s economic growth in the coming years, Rosen said.
“President Brian Sandoval has spearheaded efforts to make (UNR) a global leader in innovation, bolstering critical industries in our stand and creating good-paying jobs,” Rosen said in a release Wednesday. “I was proud to work with him to help establish the university’s Lithium Loop Tech Hub and ensure Northern Nevada becomes a world-class destination for lithium battery and electric vehicle technology.”
Not to be outdone, the Las Vegas congressional contingent also is bringing guests to Biden’s speech. Las Vegas Democratic Rep. Dina Titus is hosting UNLV President Keith Whitfield as her guest.
“Three months ago, the UNLV community faced a horrific tragedy when three professors were killed and one individual was seriously injured in a campus shooting. President Whitfield’s steady and reliable leadership to guide students, faculty and staff through the recovery from this incident has helped the community find strength and begin to heal,” Titus said in an announcement Wednesday. “As professor emeritus at the university, I would like to recognize President Whitfield as a champion of public education and a leader in Las Vegas.”
Las Vegas Democratic Rep. Susie Lee will have UNLV senior Hoffman Madzou as her guest at the Capitol tonight. Hoffman and his destitute family fled their native Congo for Bennin when he was 5. They moved to Las Vegas in 2008 after being selected through a refugee program, and the moved changed their lives. Lee said that although Hoffman’s family did not have much growing up, through his perseverance and his mother’s constant encouragement to work hard, he has positioned himself, his classmates and youth across the community for success.
Hoffman founded the Colored Business Association at UNLV to connect and place students with jobs and internships in corporate spaces. He has facilitated partnerships with KPMG, Credit One Bank, RSM, UBS, Amazon, St. Jude’s Hospital, and Light & Wonder. Hoffman has successfully helped place CBA students with jobs and internships. He is also president of 100 Black Men at UNLV and volunteers his time teaching elementary and middle-school students about investing and personal finance, Lee’s office said.
Las Vegas Democrat Rep. Steve Horsford he has invited Kelly Maxwell, CEO and executive director of Baby’s Bounty, as his guest.
“As CEO and Executive Director of Baby’s Bounty, Kelly Maxwell works daily to support and remove barriers to Las Vegas-area parents struggling in poverty, from essentials like diapers to improving access to quality childcare,” Horsford said in a statement.
