A New Direction for Nevada
Over the last few years, the people of Nevada and Reno have had a lot to deal with. The construction boom was followed by the housing bust, and the current state of our national economy means fewer people than ever are visiting our state.
There can be no question in anyone's mind that Nevada faces serious challenges in the coming years, and that we will need serious, committed, and talented representatives in Carson City to steer the state back to prosperity and excellence. Our success or failure will be determined in the next few legislative sessions, and will depend on our willingness to address our education system, the economy, the environment, and the well-being of our current and future seniors.
Education
I am committed to working full time to rebuild our education system, from Pre-K through Ph.D. If Nevada hopes to escape its boom-and-bust cycle, we must provide excellent education at every level to our residents to help them remain competitive and qualified for a broad range of employment.
The statistics in Nevada are disturbing. Almost half of our children do not graduate from high school in four years, and those that do often find themselves ill-equipped to find reasonable employment.
I believe that a public school system can, and should, prepare all kinds of students for success in the "real world" – both as participants in the economy and as participants in our democracy. At the university level, we must provide programs that attract not only excellent students, but also investment and business to the state.
Economy, Employment, and the Environment
We must create the climate in Nevada to promote attractive jobs – including those in green energy fields – for our students and for the future of Nevada. Our universities have been well positioned to take on more of a role in growing our state's economic base by providing quality degrees in the sciences. We must continue this history of excellence.
We must also provide the kinds of communities that will attract top business to our state, with art, culture, excellent schools and libraries, and an eye toward protecting our natural resources. Even with a favorable tax structure, Nevada communities must be places people want to live in order to attract those opportunities.
Nevada's aging population
We must plan now to deal with the growing percentage of our population above retirement age. Within the next twenty years, Nevada will find itself getting older, along with the rest of the nation. With more and more people relying on services to seniors, I will work tirelessly to find ways to fund state programs consistently and economically, and to find new ways to help Nevada's seniors live self-sufficiently.