Posts By: gc_staff

by Tony S. Foresta As the driest state in the nation, Nevada has always faced challenges when managing its scarce water resources. But this fact is especially true in the desert landscape of Southern Nevada, where the average precipitation rate is just four inches per year. Further complicating matters, southern Nevada relies on a single… Read more

by Kenneth J. Retzl, Ph.D. Introduction Every year Education Week publishes Quality Counts, a ranking of the education systems in each of the 50 states and District of Columbia. In the 2018 report, Nevada ranked 51st. However, the methods to create this overall ranking are complicated, with Education Week aggregating 39 different variables that are… Read more

by Meredith A. Levine and Hannah Munro Nestled in a basin surrounded by snow-capped peaks, Lake Tahoe stuns sightseers with its kaleidoscopic colors, which fall on a spectrum of deep emerald to rich turquoise. Its extraordinary beauty and wide assortment of recreational options make Lake Tahoe an attractive tourist destination, with about three million visitors… Read more

by Meredith A. Levine Readiness, preparedness, and coordination are the hallmarks of a comprehensive, proactive disaster plan that anticipates the unthinkable and can be executed with urgency. As first responders—including law enforcement agencies and Emergency Medical Services (EMS), amongst others—deployed in the immediate aftermath of the shooting in Las Vegas at the Route 91 Harvest… Read more

By Meredith A. Levine Efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 have consumed a substantial portion of the legislative agenda of the 115th Congress (2017-2018). One recent proposal, Cassidy-Graham, which is co-sponsored by Nevada’s senior senator, Dean Heller, has garnered renewed interest in modifying the ACA this fall, after a… Read more

Earlier this month, WalletHub released its ranking of Best and Worst States for Health Care. Nevada ranked #42 out of 51 states and the District of Columbia, and behind all Intermountain West states (see Table 1). States were assessed along three measures: cost, access, and outcomes. Nevada ranked #47 in cost, #50 in access, and… Read more

Last month, Prosperity Now (formerly Corporation for Enterprise Development or CFED) released its annual Prosperity Now scorecard, as discussed in the companion report, On Track or Left Behind. Nevada’s cumulative rank was #46, based on scores in 5 policy areas: (1) Financial Assets and Income (rank #43), (2) Businesses and Jobs (rank #45), (3) Homeownership and Housing (rank… Read more

Congressional representatives in our nation’s capital continue to battle it out over health care and tax code reform, leaving some observers to call it the least productive session in recent memory following the election of a new government. In stark contrast, recent criminal justice reforms in half a dozen states – including Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada,… Read more