Three weeks after the chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education leveled serious allegations against the top two members of the Board of Regents, little has changed. 

Administrators, officials and lobbyists in the orbit of Nevada’s higher education system shared a common refrain coming out of this year’s legislative session: It could have been worse.

Buck is one of four freshmen in the Senate, and the only Republican elected in a competitive district. She said she hoped to put her head down and focus on passing her priority bills, but wasn’t concerned if her proposals were held up or blocked for overtly political reasons.

Welcome to the second edition of Behind the Bar, which digs into why lobbyists aren’t having to register so far this session, the return of Joyce Woodhouse, a push for environmental justice and COVID vaccine for Department of Corrections staff and inmates. We’re also sharing remembrances of former Assembly Sergeant at Arms Robin Bates, who passed away from COVID-19 complications this week.

Nevada, of course, mattered to both campaigns this election cycle. It’s why the Trump campaign focused on building out its Nevada operation long before there was even a Democratic presidential nominee. It’s why Joe Biden’s campaign doubled down on its voter outreach this summer when it felt like the contest was narrowing.

Nevadans for a Higher Quality Education, a pro-Question 1 super PAC with ties to the business community, reported raising $470,500 in the third quarter, setting the stage for a final campaign push to pass a ballot measure that would remove the Board of Regents from the state Constitution.

It’s unlikely Republicans will gain a majority in the Senate without a major wave that gives them victory over essentially all seats in play and a fifth seat that’s considered generally out of reach. Democrats enjoy a 13-8 advantage in the Senate, and Republicans are aiming to both pick up seats and defend potentially vulnerable districts to ensure that Democrats don’t obtain a supermajority.

It’s the latest development in an acrimonious political divorce between state Democrats and the LVPPA, which broke from the ranks of most organized labor organizations to endorse President Donald Trump and a mix of other Republicans on the 2020 ballot, including congressional and state Senate Republican hopefuls.

The Indy breaks down arguments for and against Question 1, a constitutional amendment that seeks to take the Board of Regents out of the state Constitution.

According to campaign finance records, the Cannizzaro-led PAC — “Battle Born and Raised Leadership” — transferred campaign dollars to a secondary PAC (registered to another state senator), which in turn made contributions to state Senate candidates Roberta Lange and Kristee Watson that, in total, exceed the maximum $10,000 per cycle limit on contributions.

The law is also specific on making donations to PACs as a way to get around contribution limits, stating that it’s an illegal practice to “make a contribution to a committee for political action with the knowledge and intent that the (PAC) will contribute that money to a specific candidate which, in combination with the total contributions already made by the person for the same election, would violate the limitations on contributions.”

But unlike federal candidates, who are required to disclose their donors and political spending ahead of primary and general elections, no such requirement was made in Nevada law for statewide or legislative candidates — leaving voters and the public in the dark on the last two months of fundraising before the state’s primary election.

Though the winners won’t have to deal with the most direct tough calls from the pandemic, whoever is elected as regent will make vital decisions about budget cuts and leadership appointments of the seven higher education institutions and Desert Research Institute over their six-year term as they determine how to jump back on the upward pre-pandemic stride.

The Interim Finance Committee will take up the topic during a scheduled meeting on Wednesday, May 13 — the first step in transferring funds from the “Rainy Day” fund to battered state agency budget accounts that have seen precipitous drops in tax revenues over the last two months. The news was first reported by KLAS 8 News Now.

During the reporting period, which ran from Jan. 1 to the end of March, legislative candidates reported raising just over $1.5 million, spent $1.26 million and reported holding just over $5.12 million in cash on hand.

Even though state lawmakers in 2019 approved a mandatory paid leave bill — making Nevada just the 12th state to require paid time off for workers — adoption of a federal paid leave policy could still have a sizable effect on the state.

A new political action committee is looking to push for the passage of AJR 5, a proposed constitutional amendment that would remove the Board of Regents from the Constitution and place them under the purview of the legislature.

Good morning, and welcome to Indy 2020, a biweekly newsletter focused on the 2020 presidential election in Nevada. A reminder that email subscribers get early access to this newsletter, so be sure to subscribe and tell your friends. It’ll be peachy.

Details from the 2019 contribution and expenses reports, due on Jan. 15, detailed how much legislative incumbents and candidates raised over the last calendar year and painted a more hopeful picture for Republicans in several “swing” Assembly races, with a more mixed view in competitive state Senate seats.

For more than 155 years, Nevada’s elected Board of Regents have been enshrined as part of the state Constitution, core to the exercise of authority over the state’s higher education system. But that could all change come election day, 2020.