The House finally picked a new speaker this week, meaning the chamber can finally begin to pick up spending bills with the next government shutdown date 20 days away.

Meanwhile, Reno received a designation from President Joe Biden’s administration that positions the area for federal investment, and Nevada’s two senators split on a few key amendment votes. 

Biden admin selects Reno as Tech Hub

The Biden administration named Reno one of its 31 Tech Hubs Monday, making the city eligible for federal investment amid Northern Nevada’s transformation into the nucleus of the lithium battery supply chain.

The Tech Hubs program was created by the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, a bill boosting U.S. investment in semiconductor manufacturing, a globally competitive industry. Designated Tech Hubs, selected based on the presence of key industries and geographic diversity, will receive extra support and resources from the Economic Development Administration and will be eligible for $10 billion in grants over the next five years.

Reno was selected from among 370 applicants under the banner of “strengthening our critical minerals supply chain,” one of just two designees in that category along with south-central Missouri. The application was led by UNR and outlined plans to continue building a self-sustaining lithium battery life cycle industry, from manufacturing to recycling.

The Reno-Sparks area has become a major beneficiary of Biden’s industrial and climate policies — lithium batteries are used in electric vehicles, the production and sales of which were incentivized in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Northern Nevada is the largest source of lithium in North America and home to several companies that mine, process and recycle lithium batteries.

The designation was met with praise from Nevada’s senators, who both voted for the CHIPS and Science Act, Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) and UNR president Brian Sandoval.

Dick Bartholet, UNR’s regional innovation officer for the Tech Hub, said the federal program’s goal is to spur not just research and development, but also to provide wraparound services that the industry’s growth will necessitate.

“A lot of the industry involves rural Nevada,” Bartholet said in an interview. “[So] you have to have housing. You have to have infrastructure, education, health care and so forth.”

He said UNR’s consortium, which came together to apply for the program, includes the regional development authority, local Native American tribes, labor unions and nearby colleges. While the Tech Hub is headquartered in Reno, the application included all of Nevada outside Clark County, making projects throughout the state eligible for funding.

Now, the consortium is working on its application for the second phase of funding. The EDA will select five to 10 Tech Hubs for implementation funds, with a total of $40 million to $70 million per hub for between three and eight projects. That application is due at the end of February.

Rosen, CCM split on mask mandates

As the Senate moves forward with consideration of a “minibus” — a legislative package combining three spending bills — Nevada’s two Democratic senators split on three amendments, a rare phenomenon.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who is up for re-election this cycle, broke with Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) to support a Republican-introduced amendment restricting criminal background checks for veterans seeking to buy a gun, and another Republican provision to require Congress to stay in session seven days a week until an appropriations package is passed if the fiscal year ends without a new funding deal. 

Both of those provisions failed to clear 60 votes; in each case, Rosen was joined by other vulnerable Democratic senators up for re-election next year.

But an amendment from Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) targeting mask mandates did pass. Vance’s amendment would prohibit the Department of Transportation from enforcing any mask mandates with federal funds on flights, trains or public transportation in the next fiscal year.

The amendment passed with the support of all 48 voting Republicans and 10 Democrats — Rosen, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT). 

Of those senators, seven (including Rosen) are running in 2024, many in highly competitive races.

In a statement, Rosen said the pandemic is “behind us.” 

“Anyone who chooses to wear a mask still has that option, but we’ve reached a point where a federal mask mandate is no longer necessary for travel,” she said.

Nevada delegation takes on retail crime

Cortez Masto, Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) participated in a press conference Thursday morning to discuss efforts to fight organized retail crime — a focus area for law enforcement in Las Vegas.

All three are sponsors of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, a bipartisan and bicameral effort to create an office within the Department of Justice to develop a coordinated law enforcement strategy on the issue.

At the press conference, held with the National Retail Federation for Fight Retail Crime Day, Cortez Masto cited statistics and her own experience with rising retail crime rates.

“I cannot walk out into my community, into a retail establishment, without hearing from somebody — whether it’s a friend or family or somebody that works there — that has experienced this,” she said. “It is a crime, and people are taking advantage of the retail establishments.”

Titus described being in a Walgreens and seeing someone steal eyelashes and learning from an employee that management was concerned about attempting to stop them for fear of escalating the situation. She added that retail crime has cost over $80 million in Nevada in lost tax revenue in 2020, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Lee added that both parties realize that individual police departments cannot solve such a transnational problem by themselves.

Around the Capitol

• At Wednesday night’s “Brew Across America” event, where members of Congress created their own beers, Lee and Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) won the people’s choice award for their concoction, “ErieLee Good Beer.”
• Cortez Masto is partnering with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) to retaliate against Russian tax aggression toward American businesses, arguing it’s time to suspend a 1994 tax treaty between the two countries.
• A bill Rosen co-sponsored to require federal agencies to provide reports to Congress if projects are majorly delayed or over budget passed out of committee.
• The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program announced $15.2 million in grant funding for Nevada to offset the costs of energy services for low-income households in advance of rising winter heating costs.
• Titus and Lee signed on to a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken asking him to demand the Turkish government designate Hamas as a terrorist group, after President Tayyip Erdogan, a NATO ally, called it an “organization of liberation.”
• Cortez Masto co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) to increase joint operation centers on the southern border, where federal and local law enforcement officers can collaborate.
• Following her call for the Department of Defense to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome stock, Rosen announced Friday the department will transfer two batteries.
• Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) relaunched the Congressional Labor Caucus with three fellow Democratic co-chairs.
• Titus congratulated the Las Vegas Aces on their WNBA championship on the House floor.

Notable and Quotable:

“He’s not a babe in the woods.”

— Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), on new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) in an interview Wednesday

Legislative Tracker

CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO

Legislation sponsored:

S.3104 — Advanced Border Coordination Act of 2023

S.3134 — A bill to amend the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area Act to adjust the boundary of the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, to amend the Apex Project, Nevada Land Transfer and Authorization Act of 1989 to include the city of North Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Apex Industrial Park Owners Association, to clarify the authority of the Department of Defense to conduct certain military activities at the Nevada Test and Training Range, to designate the Southern Paiute Wilderness in the state of Nevada, and for other purposes.

Legislation co-sponsored:

S.3105 — Safe Schools Improvement Act

S.Res.431 — A resolution recognizing the month of October 2023 as "National Women's Small Business Month."

S.3128 — A bill to streamline the reporting of violations against immigrant children in federal custody, to provide protections for unaccompanied immigrant children, and to ensure safe release to sponsors, and for other purposes.

JACKY ROSEN

Legislation co-sponsored:

S.Res.431 — A resolution recognizing the month of October 2023 as "National Women's Small Business Month."

S.3134 — A bill to amend the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area Act to adjust the boundary of the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, to amend the Apex Project, Nevada Land Transfer and Authorization Act of 1989 to include the city of North Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Apex Industrial Park Owners Association, to clarify the authority of the Department of Defense to conduct certain military activities at the Nevada Test and Training Range, to designate the Southern Paiute Wilderness in the state of Nevada, and for other purposes.

DINA TITUS

Legislation co-sponsored:

H.R.6030 — To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide an option for first responders age 50 to 64 who are separated from service due to retirement or disability to buy into Medicare.

H.R.6049 — To award payments to employees of Air America who provided support to the United States from 1950 to 1976, and for other purposes.

H.R.6054 — To ensure that the United States diplomatic workforce at all levels reflects the diverse composition of the United States, and for other purposes.

H.R.6063 — To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the Social Security Act to provide that an individual engaged in a labor dispute may receive unemployment benefits.

SUSIE LEE

Legislation sponsored:

H.R.6056 — To direct the secretary of Defense to submit to the committees on armed services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on at-home child care programs of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes.

Legislation co-sponsored:

H.R.6033 — To require the secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a task force to improve access to health care information technology for non-English speakers.

H.R.6049 — To award payments to employees of Air America who provided support to the United States from 1950 to 1976, and for other purposes.