ASSEMBLYWOMAN MICHELE NEWSLETTER 05/29/2013

Friends, You amaze me. Yesterday the Assembly Committee on Judiciary heard one of the most contentious bills this session, Senate Bill 221, which would institute background checks on all private party gun sales. There was standing room only in our hearing room, packed full of passionate Nevadans who wanted their voices heard. I do not support SB221 for many reasons; however, I'm proud to live in a nation that encourages public involvement and debate in our legislative process. This is what the legislative process is about. Your legislators spend four months every other year in Carson City working on legislation for you, and when we have this many people attending the hearing, it reminds me that every vote we cast will effect the people of Nevada. If you haven't yet shared your opinions with the Legislature, there are still a few days and several important bills left. I urge you to submit your opinions or email your legislator. Here are some of the bills that have received the most comments this session.

ASSEMBLYWOMAN MICHELE FIORE NEWSLETTER 05/24/2013

Friends, I cannot believe our 77th Session of the Nevada Legislature will be coming to a close in just over a week, and I'm so proud of the many pieces of good, bi-partisan legislation we worked together to pass for Nevadans. Here is a summary of a few of my favorites. Senate Bill 165 would provide tax credits that would bring movies to Nevada. This is a perfect example of legislation that will create jobs and bring new industries to our state. Even Nicholas Cage visited the Legislature to meet with legislators and voice his support of the bill. Michele with Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and Nicholas Cage I am a primary sponsor of this bill because I know first hand the challenges of making a movie in Nevada, and I would like to see this industry grow.

ASSEMBLYWOMAN MICHELE FIORE NEWSLETTER 04/10/2013

Friends, Thank you for your overwhelming support of Assembly Bill 143, my legislation that would allow law-abiding adults to carry their concealed firearm on our Nevada System of Higher Education properties. We had a great hearing last Wednesday, and we can't let off the momentum. Please continue to contact the Assembly Judiciary Committee and ask them to support AB143 for a work session before Friday. The hearing on AB143 was incredibly emotional, and Amanda Collin's testimony is always powerful. If you have never heard the story of her rape at the University of Nevada, Reno, you can watch a video here. While I expected a lot of strong opinions about this bill, I was not prepared for some of the comments that were given, even after I had proposed amendments that would have fixed some of the concerns that were presented. Wednesday was a great opportunity to have a dialogue; instead the opposition told us that concealed guns are more distracting than a rapist who has assaulted more than one student, which is incredibly offensive to me.

ASSEMBLYWOMAN MICHELE FIORE NEWSLETTER 04/01/2013

Friends, Campus Carry is scheduled for a hearing - Wednesday, April 3rd at 8:00am in Assembly Judiciary. Please plan to attend and voice your support. If you can't attend, you can click here to make sure your support of AB143 is on the record. The committee needs to hear from as many of the Nevadans who support this bill as possible.         Assembly Bill 143 would allow law-abiding, trained adults to carry their concealed firearm on our Nevada System of Higher Education properties, and when I first announced I would be reintroducing this legislation, I knew there would be a lot of feedback. I never imagined there would be this much support and media coverage! I am a strong supporter of our 2nd Amendment Rights, and I introduced this bill because I have two beautiful daughters who attend the College of Southern Nevada. I worry about their safety, and I want them to have the ability to protect themselves if needed.   After introducing AB143, I was given the privilege of meeting a young woman who believes this legislation would have allowed her to take charge of her own safety the night she was raped at the University of Nevada, Reno. I'm hoping Amanda will join us on Wednesday to tell her story and share her support of this bill.

ASSEMBLYWOMAN MICHELE FIORE NEWSLETTER 03/13/2013

Friends, Last week I shared some highlights from the Donkey/Elephant basketball game because I wanted to show you that our legislators in Carson City are working together. I so strongly believe that while we need to stay true to our principles, we have an obligation to work together to pass meaningful legislation that will help all Nevadans. Today I introduced Assembly bill 248 with the support of 57 of my peers which would change some traffic infractions from criminal to civil. I have suggested this change because taxpayers don't need to pay to incarcerate someone who may simply have some outstanding parking tickets. Click here to see a list of Legislators who have signed in support of AB248 I introduced this bill after hearing a story from one of our neighbors. This person was pulled over by the police for a missing turn signal, and when the officer discovered an unpaid speeding ticket, the driver was arrested and taken to jail. The driver had believed the ticket to have been paid, and would have corrected the problem immediately had he not been arrested on the spot. Instead taxpayers had to pay for his incarceration.

ASSEMBLYWOMAN MICHELE FIORE Newsletter 02/20/2013

Friends, Every single day I am amazed by the amount of information being presented to us in Carson City, and one of the issues that I have found most interesting is our mental health system. I strongly believe that we have the money for these programs; we need to cut the waste and restructure existing budgets to get the mentally ill the appropriate medical treatment they need. Over the last couple of weeks the Assembly Judiciary Committee has heard testimony from various state departments regarding mental health, and I have to tell you that I'm concerned with what I've heard. On February 7th Greg Cox, the Director of the Nevada Department of Corrections, shared with us that there was a movement away from mental health facilities in the 1980s that has caused our prison system to take on many individuals who would be better served in a facility with better mental care.

ASSEMBLYWOMAN (4) MICHELE FIORE NEWSLETTER 12/18/2012

Friends, I want to start by saying thank you for all of your heartfelt feedback on my Friday email and appearance on Ralston Reports. Out of respect for the families in Newtown, along with the people who are suffering here in Las Vegas with the Excalibur tragedy, I don't want to participate in making this tragedy any more politicized than it already is. I will rejoin the conversation following the holiday season in the days preceding the session.   Yesterday the Clark County Commission selected Lesley Cohen to fill the vacant Assembly District 29 seat. I would like to welcome Lesley, and I look forward to working with her at the Legislature.   I have been hard at work these last few weeks preparing my Bill Draft Requests (BDRs) with the latest submitted just over a week ago as well as learning about the BDRs that have been submitted by my peers in both houses. You can see a full list on the Nevada Legislature website. The descriptions don't give a lot of information; however, legislators are hard at work on the full text that goes with them that will be available when the BDRs become bills in February.