Transparency Review (9/26-9/30)

• The black eye keeps getting darker for both Solyndra and the Obama Administration's green subsidy movement. According to The Hill, the U.S. Department of Energy has yet to disclose any lobbying reports from the embattled energy company. As part of the Recovery Act and Lobbying Disclosure Act, federal agencies must disclose lobbying for stimulus funds.
• The Las Vegas Sun reported how Frank Woodbeck, Governor Sandoval's new Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation director, held two state jobs last fiscal year, essentially double-dipping by receiving two taxpayer-funded paychecks.
• U.S. District Court Judge Berryl Howell gave the go-ahead for a lawsuit claiming the State Department violated the OPEN Government Act of 2007 by not giving Freedom of Information Act requestors an estimated time for completion of their request.
   
• Visit http://www.npri.org/ to watch NPRI's 20th Anniversary video, and continue checking http://transparentnevada.com/ for the latest transparency updates.

Supercommittee holds second straight closed-door meeting

Despite a bipartisan call for transparency, led by Nevada Senator Dean Heller, the Joint Deficit Reduction Supercommittee is keeping its ears covered and doors closed.

The 12-member Supercommittee held its second straight closed-door meeting Tuesday in Washington, D.C., and according to Politico, when committee members left they "wouldn't answer basic, innocuous questions about the policies they were discussing nor specify when the next meeting would take place."

Politico noted committee members from both parties went out of their way to duck reporters after the meeting, from Representative Jim Clyburn, D., SC, running "down a set of stairs" to Representative David Camp, R., MI, "using a back exit."

Heller's office had yet to release a statement about the Supercommittee's secretive behavior, but given how outspoken he's been on the issue, he'll probably have something to say before the next meeting ... provided committee members let anyone know about the meeting.

Lawmakers returning Full Tilt poker contributions

Members of Nevada's congressional delegation who received funds from Full Tilt, the online poker website, announced they would dispose of their funds, and in some cases donate the money to charity, according to a Las Vegas Review-Journal report.

The announcement comes after Full Tilt was called a "global ponzi scheme" and four of their board members were listed as defendants in a civil lawsuit for defrauding players.

Nevada congressional leaders who received Full Tilt donations include:

• Senator Harry Reid, who received $16,800 from the defendants and $8,332 from the Poker Players Alliance PAC. Additionally, Full Tilt board members donated $44,000 to Reid-affiliated committees.
• Senator Dean Heller received $9,063 combined from the Full Tilt board and players PAC
• Representative Shelley Berkley received $40,084 from board members
• Representative Joe Heck received $1,500 from the players PAC and announced he's donating the money to Catholic Charities
• No records were available for newly-elected Representative Mark Amodei

Not all of the money, however, is being returned. According to the RJ, Reid is keeping the money he received from the players PAC since the PAC isn't associated with Full Tilt, and Reid "receives contributions from hundreds of online poker enthusiasts, many of whom were allegedly defrauded themselves by Full Tilt."

Transparency Review (9/19-9/23)

• Yesterday, Judge James Russell issued an order in the state's redistricting case that essentially punts responsibility to the Special Masters panel, ordering them to "determine the...preconditions" of the Voting Rights Act, as well as allowing them to use both the 2001 districts and the vetoed Democrat maps as starting points for their maps.

• In other redistricting news, Russell also announced his intention to approve a new set of maps by November 16. Russell ordered that the Special Masters finish their maps by October 21, so the public can see them, and then Russell will hold a court hearing on November 15 or 16 to determine if the maps are acceptable or not.

• On Wednesday, the Nevada Republican Party filed an ethics complaint in Congress regarding Representative Shelley Berkley's alleged conflict of interest involving her husband and her advocacy for health care policies that would financially benefit him. The complaint is the latest fallout from last month's New York Times story questioning Berkley's advocacy for policies, which would help her husband's business.

• TransparentNevada recently added 2010 Board of Education contracts and salary data for University Medical Center. Please continue checking http://transparentnevada.com or follow us on Twitter @TransparentNV for the latest updates.

Judge orders more public hearings on redistricting

Apparently Carson City's First District Court isn't in a big hurry to settle a nearly year-long dispute over redistricting.

Judge James Todd Russell ordered the three member "special masters" panel to hold two public hearings next month before they officially begin drawing their maps.

The three masters will hold a public hearing in Las Vegas on October 10 and one in Carson City on October 11, following a similar pattern used by state lawmakers last March before they released their maps.

Following the hearings, the masters will deliberate behind closed doors before releasing their first draft maps of congressional, state senate and assembly districts.

While the two public hearings will enable the public to re-enter the redistricting debate, Russell further delayed ruling on the biggest sticking point -- and one reason the maps failed to pass during the Legislative session -- which is interpreting the Voting Rights Act.

Russell said he'll issue a written decision before the masters release their first maps next month, and hopefully he'll issue a decision prior to the public hearings. It'd be a shame for citizens to prepare public statements on the maps only to have their statements shot down by a delayed court ruling a few days later.

While today's hearing paves the way for actual map-drawing next month, lawmakers planning on running for office next year are probably getting a little antsy. As Anjeanette Damon wrote in the Las Vegas Sun, the case will probably be appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court, regardless of Russell's ruling, and possibly the federal court.

Will Super PACs overpower 2012 campaigns?

Time magazine political blogger Michael Sherer examines how large Super PACs, aided by the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission decision, could have more influence during the 2012 election cycle than the candidates' campaigns.

Sherer writes how top aides for Republican presidential candidates Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney both left their respective candidate's campaign staffs to work for Super PACs.

According to Sherer, since presidential campaigns are limited to $2,500 individual campaign contributions by Congress, Super PACs have much more funding available since the Citizens United ruling allowed unlimited campaign contributions to the PACs.

Sherer notes that the 2008 campaign, which broke records for amounts raised by the candidates, was conducted within the established campaign finance laws, but concludes that in 2012 "the landscape will be totally different."

Transparency Review (9/12-9/16)

• Republican Mark Amodei was sworn in to the House of Representatives by Speaker of the House John Boehner on Thursday morning. Amodei replaces Dean Heller in representing Nevada's second congressional district after Heller was selected to replace John Ensign in the Senate last May.

• Speaking of Heller, Nevada's junior senator continues to be outspoken about transparency on the deficit Super Committee. The Committee held its first meeting on September 15, and the meeting was behind closed doors, prompting Heller to comment on his website: "Given the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Committee, meetings should be held in full daylight for the public to see."

• Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston writes how Representative Shelley Berkley has awkwardly dealt with her husband's health care connection after a New York Times story raised questions about her possible conflict-of-interest.

• TransparentNevada recently added public salary data for Ely. Continue checking http://transparentnevada.com/ or follow us @TransparentNV on Twitter for the latest updates.

Amodei wins CD-2 special election

Republican Mark Amodei received 58 percent of the vote en route to an easy victory in the CD-2 special election on Tuesday.

Amodei defeated Democrat State Treasurer Kate Marshall, who received 36 percent of the vote, and Independent Helmuth Lehmann finished third with 4 percent.

While Amodei's victory isn't official until the state Supreme Court verifies the results on October 4, Amodei is already planning to fly to D.C. and be sworn in by the House of Representatives immediately.

Amodei's campaign, though, won't have time to rest as he'll face reelection next fall during the normal 2012 election cycle. Already, former USS Cole Commander Kirk Lippold, State Senator Greg Bower and former US Senate candidate Sharon Angle have been rumored as possible primary challengers to Amodei next summer.

Saitta named new Chief Justice of NV Supreme Court

Justice Nancy Saitta was became the new Chief Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court effective September 5, and will serve as Chief Justice until May 6, 2012.

Saitta has sat on the Supreme Court since 2006 and will succeed Justice Michael Douglas, who was the first African-American on Nevada's Supreme Court.

In a statement, Douglas complained about state budget cuts to the Supreme Court and it's effectiveness in hearing so many cases:

With the budget cuts we had already endured plus the additional cuts from the 2011 Legislature, including furloughs for the staff, it has become increasingly difficult for the Judiciary to fulfill its constitutional role. ... For the moment, we have managed to keep the courthouse doors open and the Supreme Court is working to decide as many cases as possible.

Transparency Review (9/5-9/9)

• Congresswoman Shelley Berkley's Senate campaign responded to the New York Times story questioning her husband's involvement in her health care legislation. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Berkley's campaign said the Times "ignored crucial facts" and defended Berkley's "long history of fighting for better healthcare for patients."
• Nevada Senator Dean Heller continues calling for transparency from the debt-cutting super committee saying: "We cannot allow this committee to dissolve into the super-secret committee."
• Disgruntled North Las Vegas residents began signing a petition to recall Mayor Sherri Buck. Residents have 90 days to obtain 2,466 signatures, and the signatures must come from residents who voted in the 2009 mayoral election, when Buck was elected.
• TransparentNevada recently added 2010 House disbursement data from Nevada's congressional delegation as well as payroll data from West Wendover. Keep visiting http://transparentnevada.com/ or follow TransparentNevada @TransparentNV on Twitter for the latest updates.

Berkley's husband's healthcare influence questioned

Monday's New York Times ran a front page story about Nevada Representative Shelley Berkley's potential conflict of interest in legislating healthcare reform.

The Times reported how Berkley has been instrumental in protecting University Medical Center's kidney transplant program while her husband is a kidney specialist who benefits from the continued program.

As political columnist Jon Ralston notes in the Las Vegas Sun, Berkley has "never hidden the influence from her husband" and most Nevadans are familiar with Berkley's close ties to the medical sector.

However, both the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Sun note that the Times story makes her ties national news and will probably affect her as she runs for the Senate.

As an unnamed Republican strategist told the Sun:

"She's had to weather it in a 20-point Democratic district...She's never had to weather it in a tossup election."

No doubt this story will be brought up again in campaign ads against Berkley in next year's election cycle.

RGJ tallies ad expenses for CD-2 election

Ray Hagar of the Reno Gazette-Journal reported Republican Mark Amodei and Democrat Kate Marshall have spent a combined $1.2 million in regional television advertising for their September 13 special election.

Hagar includes other CD-2 spending data such as:

• Amodei has outspent Marshall 3 to 1.
• Marshall's campaign has spent $337,640 with no help from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
• Amodei's campaign has spent $295,000 but outside organizations including the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee have spent over $800,000 on his behalf.

The article is a good read and shows the competitiveness of and national interest in the special election.

Transparency Review (8/29-9/2)

• State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford accused Republicans of hypocrisy for supporting a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying office while wanting to "reduce our reliance on the federal government." According to the Las Vegas Sun, Republicans defended the office as a necessity for trips to D.C.

• The Interim Finance Committee approved $539,137 to reimburse counties for costs incurred for the CD-2 special election, according to the Nevada News Bureau. The reimbursement was one of 100 fund requests approved by the committee.

• The Federal Election Commission approved Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ request to use campaign funds for security upgrades on her home. According to Politico, the FEC approved Giffords’ request because she was wounded "while carrying out her responsibility as an elected official."

• Keep checking TransparentNevada for the latest information regarding public-employee salary data. Visit us at http://transparentnevada.com or follow us on Twitter @TransparentNV.