Nine Democratic lawmakers have asked the Department of Veterans Affairs to explain why the agency is conducting taxpayer-funded experiments in which dogs are killed to study the effects of methamphetamine and antidepressants on their brains. In a letter to the department’s inspector general, Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada and eight Los Angeles-area lawmakers said details of the… Read more »

Several lawmakers questioned Tuesday whether to move air-traffic control from the Federal Aviation Administration to a private corporation, after recent airline debacles. The comments came at a House Transportation Committee hearing about customer service, after United Airlines dragged a passenger off a flight April 9 to make room for a crew member. Lawmakers also argued that occasional… Read more »

A broad spending bill to fund the federal government through September does not include money for licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository, Nevada lawmakers said Monday. A bipartisan agreement on the omnibus spending bill, which funds the government through the start of the next fiscal year, contains no money for Yucca Mountain, Rep. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said in a… Read more »

More than 200 people came to the UNLV campus Saturday to participate in the sister march for the national People’s Climate March. A throng of people chanted and held signs as they wrapped around the university’s student union building. Several local activist groups, including Chispa Nevada, the Human Rights Campaign, the Nevada Conservation League and the Sierra Club,… Read more »

President Donald Trump’s tax reform proposal calls for tax cuts across the board, but would also eliminate a deduction that could ding Silver State pocketbooks. The proposal would eliminate the state, local and sales tax deductions on federal tax forms. Taxpayers in Nevada, which does not have a state income tax, are allowed to deduct sales taxes when filing to the Internal… Read more »

Draft legislation to revive the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project brought almost all of Nevada’s congressional delegation together Wednesday to express opposition in Washington, D.C. A group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives heard input on a draft of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017, a measure that would help restart the project’s… Read more »

LAS VEGAS - The State of Nevada is intervening in a lawsuit filed by the State of Texas against Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Texas officials are suing Secretary Perry to require the Department of Energy to restart the Yucca Mountain permitting process within 12 months. Nevada is intervening in the suit in an attempt to stop that from happening. Governor Brian Sandoval hinted at the… Read more »

Accountability reforms at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are urgently needed to protect veterans, taxpayers — and animals. Last month, VA Secretary David Shulkin took the rare step of endorsing VA reform legislation after existing rules prevented his agency from immediately firing an employee who was caught watching pornography while with a patient. This is a welcome… Read more »

After questions from California members of Congress, the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center has halted planned tests on narcoleptic dogs. In a May letter to the Veterans Affairs inspector general, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) and eight members of Los Angeles' congressional delegation demanded to know more about the experiment, including how much it… Read more »

The House voted Wednesday to ban all Department of Veterans Affairs medical testing that causes pain to dogs, language that is now part of a multi-agency funding bill. By voice vote, lawmakers approved an amendment that would prevent the VA from spending any money on those tests. The bipartisan proposal was offered by Reps. Dave Brat, R-Va., and Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev. "My amendment… Read more »