Gov. Brian Sandoval did not get a one-on-one with President Donald Trump while visiting the White House this week, but he offered his two cents on marijuana, mining and nuclear waste to some of Trump’s top officials.
Sandoval discussed with cabinet members his plans to move forward with the state’s recreational marijuana and online gaming industries, his opposition to opening the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site, and also pushed for infrastructure funding for projects such as improving the Spaghetti Bowl in Reno and Project NEON in Las Vegas.
“I’ll give (the Trump administration) an A-plus in terms of how they work with Nevada. I mean that’s, for me, that’s what’s most important,” Sandoval said Friday.
Sandoval met with several cabinet members including U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke during a last-minute trip to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday and Wednesday.
He also witnessed Trump signing an executive order to cut back on federal involvement in the public education system alongside Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
“In terms of them working hard, I think they’re doing that. I’m really pleased with their response to the state of Nevada and their willingness to meet with us,” Sandoval said. Though Sandoval did not approve of the president’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, he applauded the administration’s approval this week of $5.6 million for fighting opioid addiction in-state and disaster relief for flooding in Northern Nevada.
“We’re not going to agree all the time, there’s no doubt about that. I made it very clear that I am going to stand up for my state,” he said.
Recreational marijuana
On Wednesday, Sandoval spoke with Sessions about Nevada’s recent legalization of recreational marijuana, but received no guidance from the attorney general about whether federal agencies might try to intervene considering that marijuana still is a federally prohibited drug.
“I can’t speak for the attorney general, but I advised him that it’s in our state law now,” Sandoval said. “We are moving forward.”
Sandoval budgeted $60 million in revenue from his proposed 10 percent retail tax on recreational marijuana, a tax that is moving through the current session of the Nevada Legislature.
While Sandoval opposes recreational marijuana use, he repeatedly noted that “Nevadans have spoken,” though he did not try using the states’ rights argument with the attorney general.
“I don’t think the attorney general needed an education, but I told him that it’s in our constitution and it’s going to be tightly regulated,” Sandoval said.
Nevada’s Assistant Senate Minority Leader Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, and Assembly Minority Leader Paul Anderson, R-Las Vegas, sent a letter earlier this month to Sessions asking for guidance on how the state should move forward with recreational marijuana policy, but there has been no response.
Environmental issues
Alongside Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, Sandoval spoke with Zinke about public lands, sage grouse and wild horses.
“We talked about the (Bureau of Land Management) and their interaction with the public. He wants people to see them more like park rangers, not as much as law enforcement,” Sandoval said.
Additionally, Sandoval encouraged Zinke not to designate the Anaconda Copper Mine a Superfund Site, which would mean government funds would go toward the hazardous waste cleanup of the site near Yerington.
The owner of the site has agreed to clean it up, which would prove far less costly and time-consuming, according to Sandoval, and likely would be completed far quicker.
One of Sandoval’s most passionate talking points was Yucca Mountain, the proposed nuclear waste repository outside of Las Vegas that the Trump administration is considering opening.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry, whom Sandoval befriended while Perry was a Texas governor, visited Yucca Mountain last month and indicated that it was in the administration’s best interest to revisit it.
“Whether we’re friends or not, we’re not friends on this,” Sandoval said. “You shouldn’t force it on a state that doesn’t want it. It is not a site that can safely, geologically store it.”
He will use all legal tools that are necessary to protect Nevadans, Sandoval said.
“There will be no mercy and no quarter when it comes to Yucca Mountain,” Sandoval said. “They’re going to do their job and I’ll do mine. I will do my job better.”
Sandoval also spoke with DJ Gribbin, special assistant to the president for infrastructure policy, who expressed interest in allocating funds to states that have been proactive in helping themselves by adopting measures such as fuel indexing.
Other projects that Sandoval advocated funding for were Interstate 11 linking Las Vegas and Phoenix and a train between Las Vegas and Southern California.
credit:rgj.com
