This week we sit down with Steve Yeager, Speaker of the Nevada Assembly, one of the key political leaders in a battleground state.

[00:00:12] Welcome back to another episode of The Political Life. Today I am back and we are post-NCSL and Maggie is recovering and Maggie has secured us another wonderful guest from a very, well we all think of it as a swing state, an important state, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Steve Yeager. We're so excited to have him on. Maggie was speaking with him at NCSL.

[00:00:42] And so I will let Maggie say hello and introduce him.

[00:00:46] Thank you, Jim. It's nice to be back together and welcome Speaker Yeager. I am so grateful that you've taken the time to chat with us today. I was thinking back when we saw each other in Louisville, it dawned on me that we met actually in Lexington when you were a toll fellow.

[00:01:01] And it really stuck out to me because of all the thousands of lawmakers that I've been privileged to meet, I remember you asking so many questions about Lexington and you had this genuine, you know, kindness and curiosity about where you were.

[00:01:16] And anyway, you just stood out. And the irony is that we were standing in a ballroom that looked like the Kentucky Derby.

[00:01:22] And then we were in Louisville 14 or not 14 years later, but about I think six years later at the actual side of the Derby.

[00:01:31] So anyway, a little bit full circle, but welcome to The Political Life.

[00:01:35] Yeah, thanks for having me. It's great to be here and great to be with both of you and very fond memories of the Toll Fellows Program.

[00:01:41] That was one of the best programs I've ever been to.

[00:01:44] If I can just interrupt for one second, Maggie, before we continue.

[00:01:48] Speaker, can you just tell our listeners who may not be familiar with it what it is and what it's about?

[00:01:54] Yeah, so The Toll Fellows, it's sort of an executive leadership program that's put on by CSG, the Council of State Government.

[00:02:00] So it's a very competitive program. Generally, it's one person from each state, sometimes two.

[00:02:05] So about 48 to 50 participants every year. You convene in Lexington and it is a very intense, very intense leadership program.

[00:02:14] And I'm not sure if Maggie remembers, but the program, I believe, is in August.

[00:02:19] And I had just come off of a legislative session and, you know, coming out of a legislative session, I never really want to do anything with my life other than recover.

[00:02:27] So I kind of had a bad attitude about going. Like, it's hard to get into. I got into and I got there and I was like, I don't know if I really want to be here.

[00:02:35] And man, the first kickoff, I just knew right away, like this was a good use of my time.

[00:02:41] So just a wonderful program, still really good friends with a number of folks that I met at that experience.

[00:02:47] In fact, a number of them were out at NCSL in Louisville because we tend to do the circuit of CSG, NCSL and all the other programs.

[00:02:53] But wonderful program. And I've been proud to be able to nominate other members of the legislature from here in Nevada to participate as well.

[00:03:00] It's six days giving a lawmaker six days to do anything in Lexington, Kentucky.

[00:03:06] It is they call it a boot camp for good reason. So you were a good sport.

[00:03:11] But we like to kick off our conversations with where did you begin your political life?

[00:03:18] Yeah, that's a great question. So I never really intended to go into politics.

[00:03:22] And in fact, sometimes I wake up in the morning and I'm not quite sure how I got here.

[00:03:27] You know, I would say I was not very politically active growing up.

[00:03:30] I went to college at University of Michigan. I think I volunteered for the Al Gore campaign in 2000.

[00:03:35] When I say I volunteered, I think I spent like an hour or two the entire campaign talking to folks.

[00:03:40] And, you know, after that sort of made my way out west.

[00:03:43] And, you know, never really was that politically active. Obviously, I was voted.

[00:03:48] I always sort of paid attention. And then what really happened to me is I was a public defender in Las Vegas, which is a fascinating job.

[00:03:57] And somebody came to me and said, hey, would you maybe like to lobby for the office up at the legislature?

[00:04:04] And at that time, I had never been to Carson City, where our capital is.

[00:04:08] It's about an eight hour drive from Las Vegas.

[00:04:10] And I didn't know what lobbying was, really.

[00:04:13] And I said, well, what what is that exactly?

[00:04:15] And they said, well, you go up to the legislature and you talk to legislators about policy.

[00:04:19] And in this case, it'll be criminal justice policy because you'll be lobbying on behalf of the public defender's office.

[00:04:25] I still wasn't sold, but they told me I would get a break from all of my cases.

[00:04:28] So we carry about 300 cases at a time.

[00:04:31] And they said, well, you get about six months break from your cases.

[00:04:35] At that time, I've been at the office for, I think, about four years or so.

[00:04:37] And that sounded very appealing.

[00:04:39] So I said I would do it.

[00:04:41] They sent me up to Carson City.

[00:04:43] I had no idea what I was doing and just kind of really sort of naively thought that all legislators must be really like smart, competent, accomplished people.

[00:04:55] And I never saw myself as one.

[00:04:56] Right. I put legislators on a pedestal.

[00:04:58] And and of course, there are some really amazing legislators, but then there are some that are not not so great.

[00:05:03] So it was very eye opening for me.

[00:05:05] I was able to do that for two legislative sessions.

[00:05:07] So that kind of gave me the political bug because I learned that you could make big structural changes to the legislative process versus, you know, sort of fighting day to day, case by case in the public defender's office.

[00:05:20] So that would have been 2013 was the first session.

[00:05:23] We are in every other year legislative state, one of only four left.

[00:05:26] So I lobbied in 2013, ran for office unsuccessfully in 2014, went back up and lobbied in 2015 and then ran in 2016 and have thankfully got elected that year and been elected every cycle since.

[00:05:41] So last cycle or last session was in 2023.

[00:05:46] That was your first as speaker.

[00:05:49] You had been pro temp previously.

[00:05:52] You had a new governor.

[00:05:53] And I believe that your counterpart in the Senate had just had a child.

[00:05:58] So was working, but was just like postpartum immediately.

[00:06:02] A lot of dynamics.

[00:06:04] What were the big, you know, headlines coming out of last session?

[00:06:08] What were your lessons learned as the top leader for the first time?

[00:06:13] And what are you carrying forward from last session into next?

[00:06:19] Yeah, it was really interesting transition for me because I was the pro temp, which is sort of the second in command.

[00:06:24] And our speaker, our former speaker, Jason Frierson, was appointed as U.S. attorney before the last election we had.

[00:06:32] And so I sort of became the acting speaker out of session, which is a weird spot to be in because I had all the responsibilities, but not the title.

[00:06:41] And I kind of thought I knew what I was getting into.

[00:06:44] I can tell you once you get up there, you can't really prepare yourself for just sort of the pressures and the decisions that you have to make and the management that you have to do.

[00:06:54] And as you noted, we had the only Democratic governor who lost re-election in 2022.

[00:06:59] So we had a brand new governor, third different governor that I've served under.

[00:07:03] We did have some continuity in the Senate with the Senate majority leader.

[00:07:07] But as you noted, she actually had a child very late in session.

[00:07:10] I think it was about a week to go in session, which is really a very chaotic part.

[00:07:14] But, you know, some of it for me was just feeling out how to make those decisions, how to work with the governor, how to work with the Senate.

[00:07:22] And, of course, you know, my main responsibility is to do what's right for the state and also to be able to help my members succeed.

[00:07:30] So there were a lot of lessons that I learned.

[00:07:32] You know, I think over the years I've been more of a, you know, go along to get along kind of guy, like just try to avoid conflict.

[00:07:39] And you cannot avoid conflict in this role.

[00:07:42] I mean, it is at your doorstep every single day there's conflict.

[00:07:46] And so learning to embrace that, learning to be comfortable with the fact that there's conflict, learning to be comfortable with the chaos of the role.

[00:07:54] I mean, I'm a very type A, I want to control everything sort of person.

[00:07:57] That's the way I've been over the years.

[00:07:59] And you just can't in this role.

[00:08:01] You just don't know what's going to happen.

[00:08:02] Whatever you think your day is going to be, it's not going to be that.

[00:08:05] And, you know, people continually will come to you with problems and issues and, you know, learning, being able to figure out do they really want help solving the problem or do they just want somebody to hear them out?

[00:08:17] Do they want empathy?

[00:08:18] And everyone's a little bit different.

[00:08:20] So navigating, navigating those egos, navigating those personalities, I feel sometimes like a parent, sometimes like a social worker, sometimes like a cheerleader.

[00:08:29] But, you know, at the end of the day, it was a real honor to realize like you're sort of in this role where you get to dictate the direction that you go as a state.

[00:08:38] And I think for us in the assembly in particular, it was really holding our ground on a lot of the things that we had passed the last couple of sessions, whether it was voting rights, whether it was criminal justice reform, you know, holding our ground there and not going backwards because, you know, we had a governor that wanted to roll some of that back.

[00:08:56] And so those conversations were difficult.

[00:08:58] But I think overall, it went probably about as smoothly as you could expect.

[00:09:04] Everyone was kind of feeling each other out.

[00:09:05] And I think there were some big bipartisan wins in the session, one being a massive infusion into our public education system and more than we've ever done in the past.

[00:09:14] And that really was something we were able to get together and agree on, including pay raises for teachers, which was a long, long, long time coming.

[00:09:21] So interesting experience.

[00:09:22] I think I'll be much better equipped this time around having one session under my belt, but I also think the governor will be better equipped.

[00:09:28] And my Senate counterpart, I think, is now going to be on her fourth session as Senate Majority Leader.

[00:09:32] So she's definitely the veteran in the leadership triad.

[00:09:36] Well, one last question.

[00:09:38] Oh, sorry, Tim.

[00:09:39] No, go ahead, Maggie.

[00:09:40] I was just going to say, when you talked about the big wins from last session, I know that in Nevada, the interim is a critical period for you.

[00:09:49] Knowing that you've got one bite of the apple every two years.

[00:09:53] And Nevada is very much known for its first in the nation status on a lot of different bills, I think because you have the two years to work on it.

[00:10:03] So what are the big topics during interim right now that you think will get legs in 2025?

[00:10:11] Yeah, good question.

[00:10:12] It is interesting being in Nevada because, for instance, this year we were not in session, but almost every other state was.

[00:10:19] And what we saw, I think, around the country was a massive amount of artificial intelligence bills, right?

[00:10:25] That's like the hot topic.

[00:10:26] It was a hot topic at NCSL in Louisville.

[00:10:29] And, you know, we kind of sit back and see who gets it right and who doesn't get it right and sort of watch that play out.

[00:10:35] There's a part of me that likes that because we get to be a little bit more deliberate.

[00:10:39] And there's a part of me that hates that because other states are doing really good things.

[00:10:42] And I feel like, wow, we should have done that last session, but we don't go back in for two more years.

[00:10:47] But to your question, I think artificial intelligence to some degree is going to be on the docket for next session.

[00:10:53] And I think some of the issues we worked on the last legislative session are going to be carryovers to the next session.

[00:10:58] And these are not going to be surprising because they really are national issues.

[00:11:02] So you talk about housing, affordable housing, housing stock.

[00:11:05] We had quite a bit of difference with the governor over what housing policy we should pursue.

[00:11:10] We passed a lot of bills.

[00:11:11] They were vetoed.

[00:11:12] So I think we'll continue to make efforts there.

[00:11:16] Healthcare continues to be a really challenging one for everybody.

[00:11:19] You know, costs going up, prescription drug costs, lack of providers, Medicaid reimbursement rates,

[00:11:24] these sort of nitty gritty budget issues that really have a big impact on bringing providers to your state.

[00:11:30] I think you're going to see a continued focus on better funding public education.

[00:11:35] We did put a lot more money into it, but so did a lot of other states because states found themselves with more money than they'd had in a long time.

[00:11:41] But we're not even close to the national average in funding.

[00:11:44] And I think that's a shared priority with the governor.

[00:11:46] So I think you'll see us doing work there.

[00:11:48] And then, you know, I always say there's going to be some issue that we just don't know about that's going to creep up between now and our next legislative session,

[00:11:56] which starts in early February.

[00:11:57] So I don't know what that'll be, but it always seems like there's something unanticipated that becomes a big issue right before or during session.

[00:12:04] So I think those are some of the big things we'll work on.

[00:12:07] We have a lot of turnover in the statehouse.

[00:12:09] We always do.

[00:12:10] I think we have about 30% turnover, open seats.

[00:12:13] So a lot of that is going to be, you know, training people.

[00:12:15] People have to get ready sooner to step into leadership roles and to really take on a lot more responsibility.

[00:12:20] So, you know, thankfully, I've got great legislative senior leadership around me.

[00:12:24] They're amazing people.

[00:12:25] My staff is fantastic.

[00:12:26] So I think we are ready to go for the next session.

[00:12:29] We just got to get through this election and get to February.

[00:12:34] Well, I think you just answered part of my question.

[00:12:36] I was going to say you rose to speaker from your first election becoming speaker.

[00:12:41] Very short timeframe.

[00:12:43] Is that typical in Nevada or is that how did that come about so quickly?

[00:12:47] Yeah, I mean, we have 12 year term limits.

[00:12:50] So basically, we don't do six terms in the House and you get 12 years in the House, 12 years in the Senate.

[00:12:55] So it would be four terms in the Senate.

[00:12:57] So you really do rise pretty quickly.

[00:12:59] I mean, I was thinking about next legislative session.

[00:13:01] We don't have any legislative member who's going into their final term.

[00:13:04] Like nobody who served five terms and is going into a sixth.

[00:13:07] And then there's only four of us left who will be in our fifth term.

[00:13:11] And cross my fingers that we win our elections.

[00:13:12] But there aren't many of us.

[00:13:14] So, yeah, there is an opportunity to rise pretty quickly.

[00:13:17] I mean, I will give a lot of credit to our former speaker, Speaker Frierson.

[00:13:20] He made me the chair of the Judiciary Committee as a freshman, which is sort of unheard of.

[00:13:26] And being in the leadership position I'm in now, I know how hard of a decision that probably was for him.

[00:13:31] So I sort of got really thrown into it from the get-go.

[00:13:34] I didn't really have that typical freshman experience where you sort of ease into the legislature.

[00:13:39] I had the busiest committee and the most work.

[00:13:41] And, of course, I wanted to do a good job because you don't want to ruin it for somebody else who might be an appropriate freshman.

[00:13:48] So never something I really intended or wanted to do, but it just sort of played out that way.

[00:13:53] And, you know, just really fortunate that my colleagues had confidence in me.

[00:13:57] And, you know, a couple things I'll just mention because I love bragging on our state legislature.

[00:14:01] We were the first female majority legislature in the country.

[00:14:04] And I think right now we're the only female majority legislature in the United States.

[00:14:09] And I think we have the most diverse legislature in the country, at least in the state house.

[00:14:13] I mean, last session, out of the Democratic caucus, or 28 of us, there were three white men.

[00:14:19] That was it.

[00:14:19] And I'm one of those three.

[00:14:21] So my colleagues had confidence in me to be the leader.

[00:14:24] And, you know, I take that honor very, very seriously.

[00:14:27] And so, yeah.

[00:14:28] And, you know, already looking towards who's going to be that next speaker, right?

[00:14:32] Because I've got, I would have two more legislative sessions left if I want to do those.

[00:14:36] And so a big responsibility that I have is, I think, getting people ready to the extent you can to step into these roles.

[00:14:43] As I mentioned before, you can't really get somebody ready because you don't know until you're in it.

[00:14:47] But you can get them thinking in the right ways.

[00:14:49] You can get them, you know, thinking strategically.

[00:14:52] And just making them aware of all the different things you need to take into consideration when you're speaker.

[00:14:59] If I can just now shift to politics, the upcoming election.

[00:15:05] I know in 2020, there were some allegations of, you know, miscounting, or I can't remember what they were.

[00:15:11] They're ultimately thrown out.

[00:15:13] Have you as a state had to do anything to tighten up that process?

[00:15:18] And how are things looking in Nevada?

[00:15:23] Nevada, I know we have a new Democratic head of the ticket, so it may be fairly a lot of change in the past few weeks.

[00:15:30] But give us kind of an overview of Nevada and what to expect in November.

[00:15:35] Yeah, I'm, you know, I'm fortunate to be in the state of Nevada because we're a swing state.

[00:15:41] And so even though we only have six electoral votes, we get a lot of attention paid to us.

[00:15:46] And, you know, so far, I don't think our six electoral votes have ever been the decider in an election, but could happen.

[00:15:51] And I think candidates know that.

[00:15:53] So, yeah, I mean, we are just, we are very much a state where we still knock on doors.

[00:16:00] I mean, my district is 75,000 people.

[00:16:03] So we're out there every day, every weekend, knocking on doors, talking to voters.

[00:16:07] It's really retail politics.

[00:16:08] That was something that Harry Reid really brought to the state when he was in the Senate, just really the ground game.

[00:16:17] And you saw that take off under President Obama.

[00:16:19] So it's going to be a lot of that.

[00:16:21] What I'm seeing is a lot of enthusiasm, right?

[00:16:23] And I think that's changed in the last couple of weeks.

[00:16:26] I think, you know, there were folks who were not excited about a rematch of the two oldest presidents in history.

[00:16:33] And we've got new life now, I think, in the Democratic Party.

[00:16:36] So I'm seeing a ton of enthusiasm.

[00:16:39] You know, our challenge always on the Democratic side, at least, is getting folks out to vote.

[00:16:44] I mean, the typically, you know, presidential elections, there tends to be higher voter turnout.

[00:16:49] But we weren't so sure if it was going to be a Biden versus Trump rematch.

[00:16:53] We thought a lot of people would just sit that one out.

[00:16:56] I don't think that's the case anymore.

[00:16:57] But we certainly don't take it for granted.

[00:16:59] I mean, we are out there every day working hard.

[00:17:02] And obviously, we're working for ourselves because we want to be reelected and do good things for the state.

[00:17:06] But that helps the top of the ticket and vice versa.

[00:17:08] There's a lot of investment in this state nationally and otherwise.

[00:17:12] And, you know, when you have a state like California next door, which obviously is a gigantic state, and, you know, they're going to go blue.

[00:17:17] We know that.

[00:17:18] So we get a lot of volunteers who come over from California and knock on doors here because they realize that's really going to be more of a bang for their buck.

[00:17:26] In terms of voting, you know, there were a lot of allegations about voter fraud and all this.

[00:17:31] A lot of lawsuits.

[00:17:32] All those were thrown out.

[00:17:33] They weren't based in fact.

[00:17:34] I think they were based in fiction or wishful thinking.

[00:17:39] You know, we've continued to just make sure that we've got secure elections that we make it easy for people to vote.

[00:17:46] We're, you know, we're a 24-hour town, a lot of service industry.

[00:17:48] So having sort of standard voting hours on Election Day does not work for Las Vegas in particular.

[00:17:54] So we have a robust mail-in voting drop-off.

[00:17:57] You can drop off your ballot.

[00:17:58] You can vote in person.

[00:17:58] I think we have about two weeks of early voting now, which is nice.

[00:18:02] And our Secretary of State, we have a new Secretary of State who was elected in 2022.

[00:18:06] So he is working on, you know, more centralizing some of the voter data.

[00:18:10] It's kind of county by county right now with the county clerks.

[00:18:13] So coming up with a centralized system run by the state, and that's not to really speak to the accuracy of voting, but it'll help us get results faster because we do have same-day voter registration.

[00:18:24] And there's some checks that have to happen there to make sure, you know, someone doesn't go to two different places, register twice and vote.

[00:18:30] And right now that's kind of a manual county by county check.

[00:18:33] But I think centralizing that in one place will hopefully get us quicker results.

[00:18:38] Some people complain, well, why does it take so long out there, you know, to get results?

[00:18:41] And I say, well, I mean, that's a real privilege for us.

[00:18:44] We're such a close state that we can't sometimes call these races at the end of election night.

[00:18:50] And I think that's a good thing for us because it says that we're important to the dialogue that's happening and we're important to the results.

[00:18:56] So candidate recruitment tends to get tougher and tougher as politics gets meaner and meaner.

[00:19:01] You entered politics that I would consider more peak career, very professionally successful, not in your 20s, so not kind of eager to get in and then also not as a retiree.

[00:19:14] So what do you say to people who are considering putting their name on the ballot and running for the legislature as you're kind of bringing forth good candidates for your party?

[00:19:25] Yeah, my concern is always that we're not going to find good people.

[00:19:28] And we just we have a lot of turnover.

[00:19:30] And that's because, you know, we're every other year.

[00:19:32] You got to travel to Carson City.

[00:19:34] I think we get paid $8,000 for a two year term.

[00:19:37] You got to take a leave of absence from your job for the most part.

[00:19:40] So it's hard.

[00:19:41] You've got to be in a position where you have an employer who's understanding or you work for yourself or you're retired or you're young.

[00:19:48] It's a real sacrifice.

[00:19:49] Right. And for folks, 80 percent of us live in Las Vegas, but yet we travel to Carson City every week during session or some people relocate up there for the entire session.

[00:19:57] So I'm always worried like this is going to be the cycle.

[00:20:00] We're not going to find good people.

[00:20:02] And I've been surprised because we continue to find, I think, really good candidates, people who want to do it for the right reasons.

[00:20:09] We do recruiting for sure.

[00:20:11] I mean, we're trying to build a bench.

[00:20:13] So, you know, today's campaign volunteers, maybe tomorrow's electeds.

[00:20:17] Or, you know, I think sort of the same thing that happened to me.

[00:20:19] Like I never saw myself in politics, just didn't.

[00:20:22] If you would have told me 10 years ago I'd be here, I would have laughed at you.

[00:20:25] But somebody else looked at me and they saw something in me that I didn't know that I had, that I didn't know that I could do.

[00:20:30] And I think it's a that's one of the real privileges of being in my position because I can identify those folks and I can say, have you ever thought about politics?

[00:20:38] I think you'd be good at it because you're smart, because you're hardworking.

[00:20:41] And I think we've made a really concerted effort to kind of grow that bench.

[00:20:45] And I think our diversity really helps because, you know, everyone in our we are a super diverse state.

[00:20:50] But you can look at our legislature and you will see somebody who looks like you no matter where you come from or what your background is.

[00:20:57] And I think that's had a really inspiring effect on folks who want to run for office.

[00:21:01] You know, that being said, we have an interview process.

[00:21:03] We're very brutally honest with the candidates about what it's like to be in politics, especially today.

[00:21:09] I mean, everything's fair game. They're going to criticize you.

[00:21:12] They're going to criticize your family. They're going to say awful things about you.

[00:21:15] And, you know, you as a candidate can probably handle that.

[00:21:17] But it's hard on your family to see that stuff when they know it's not true.

[00:21:21] And so I think we're pretty realistic with folks.

[00:21:23] And thankfully, we're still getting good ones who want to come and do this.

[00:21:27] So I'm really excited about our candidates.

[00:21:29] I think we have like 10 new candidates that were running for Democrats running for the state house this cycle.

[00:21:35] And we've got some really, really good ones.

[00:21:37] And so we just got to get them over the finish line and then throw them right into the fire and give them a lot of work and say good luck with your first session.

[00:21:45] Yeah, I was sitting at a CSG West meeting in Las Vegas, and I actually heard one of those candidate interviews one time.

[00:21:51] They are brutal.

[00:21:52] I mean, I had never heard anything like it.

[00:21:55] Probably shouldn't have overheard it, but it was it was.

[00:21:58] As a political scientist, I was just very I was taken aback.

[00:22:03] Like they were setting it straight on what the expectations were.

[00:22:07] Yeah.

[00:22:07] I mean, look, we're recruiting for our team, right?

[00:22:10] So we want folks who are team players.

[00:22:12] We want folks who are there for the right reasons.

[00:22:13] One of the things I hate the most is when I hear a potential candidate say, well, I want to use this as a stepping stone to something else.

[00:22:20] I mean, we're not a stepping stone.

[00:22:22] We're doing the actual work in the in the state house.

[00:22:24] And so, you know, you want to be able to vet folks, but you want to be honest with them about what it is.

[00:22:28] I mean, this is this is a hard job.

[00:22:30] There are days that I wake up and I say, oh, man, I thought I was busy before.

[00:22:34] I thought life was hard before.

[00:22:35] Like I didn't know how good I had it.

[00:22:37] Right.

[00:22:37] It's just it's fast and furious all the time.

[00:22:40] And, you know, the irony that as you rise up in leadership and you have more opportunity to do good things like you just have more stress, more responsibility.

[00:22:47] So we try to be as honest as we can.

[00:22:50] And, you know, sometimes candidates say, yeah, that's not for me.

[00:22:52] I didn't know I had to go to Carson City.

[00:22:53] I didn't know it only paid eight thousand dollars.

[00:22:55] And, you know, we want to just make sure that they know what they're signing up for.

[00:22:59] And once they do sign up for it and we get them there, we will do everything we possibly can to support them, to put them in a position to succeed.

[00:23:05] But they have to be willing to put themselves out there and run for office.

[00:23:08] And that is not easy in today's world.

[00:23:10] Yeah.

[00:23:11] It wasn't you interviewing anyone, but yeah, it was it was like a generation ago.

[00:23:16] But you are a leader in a bunch of national organizations.

[00:23:20] I don't know where you find the time.

[00:23:22] Can you just share kind of where you're active?

[00:23:25] I know that you have been participating with SLF and DLCC.

[00:23:30] You hold the CSG SSL chairmanship.

[00:23:34] But just, you know, just share like why that's important to you to do that work.

[00:23:39] Yeah.

[00:23:40] At the initial level.

[00:23:41] Yeah.

[00:23:41] Well, really first, really thankful to my wife who, you know, sort of allows me to do this.

[00:23:47] It wasn't for, you know, for her job and for her willingness to allow me to be gone so much.

[00:23:51] I wouldn't be able to do it.

[00:23:52] And to my employer, you know, I'm in a private law firm now.

[00:23:55] So they're very understanding of what is a crazy schedule.

[00:23:57] But, you know, I think being part of these organizations are really important, these national organizations.

[00:24:01] So as you noted, the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, I'm a board member there.

[00:24:05] Also a board member for DLCC, which helps elect legislative Democrats around the country.

[00:24:12] CSG, Council of State Governments on the board there.

[00:24:16] Participate in NCSL Leaders Program as well.

[00:24:19] So these are national organizations that bring legislators together from all different states.

[00:24:24] And, you know, they bring corporate folks in too.

[00:24:26] But I just think it's a great opportunity for me to be able to develop my own leadership skills, to learn that, you know, other states have the same challenges we have here.

[00:24:36] We might have different states.

[00:24:37] We might have different legislatures.

[00:24:39] But, like, the challenges that come with being in leadership are similar, right?

[00:24:43] It's managing people.

[00:24:44] It's dealing with egos.

[00:24:46] It's trying to figure out how to advance an agenda and cooperate.

[00:24:49] And so I find that really valuable.

[00:24:51] I mean, I can pull up my phone and I've got a legislator I know in every state in the country.

[00:24:56] And so if I hear that Connecticut's doing something, I'll reach out to Senator Bob Duff and say, hey, what are you doing out in Connecticut?

[00:25:03] If California is doing something, I got a dozen people on my phone there.

[00:25:06] It is a lot of travel, but I think it's really helpful, especially in a state like Nevada.

[00:25:10] I mean, we're a very small state.

[00:25:12] So, you know, I sort of say we punch above our weight class.

[00:25:16] And I think it's important for us to get out there.

[00:25:18] One of the cool things is being from Las Vegas.

[00:25:20] Everyone knows and loves Las Vegas.

[00:25:22] So it's a natural point of conversation.

[00:25:24] But I do think it's important to be part of these groups.

[00:25:27] It gives you a chance to meet people in settings that you wouldn't otherwise meet them.

[00:25:32] And one thing I wanted to note, we are actually hosting.

[00:25:35] I'm hosting the speakers, National Speakers Conference.

[00:25:38] So SLF puts that on.

[00:25:39] So it brings all the speakers from around the country.

[00:25:42] We're hosting that here in Las Vegas in really about three weeks.

[00:25:45] So I'm really excited about that.

[00:25:47] And that's a very special group because you're talking to the presiding officer in all the different houses, Republicans, Democrats.

[00:25:54] And you would think it would be partisan.

[00:25:55] It's not partisan at all.

[00:25:56] I mean, it is just about how do you deal with your governor?

[00:25:59] How do you deal with the Senate?

[00:26:00] How do you deal with a member who's just having issues?

[00:26:03] How do you deal with the press?

[00:26:05] How do you deal with lobbyists?

[00:26:06] And really great time to just be able to learn from each other, bounce ideas off, and then also have some fun on occasion, too.

[00:26:13] We have some good excursions that we'll do here in Las Vegas.

[00:26:15] So I think we've got about 30 to 35 speakers signed up.

[00:26:18] And I'll be happy to host that, but also be happy when it's over because it's a lot of work to put together.

[00:26:25] So, oh, Jimmy, you got a question.

[00:26:27] I see you coming in.

[00:26:29] I was just going to say, in terms of policy and maybe even people, that mean a great deal to you.

[00:26:35] I know that your wife is a public servant as well.

[00:26:37] But what are some policy initiatives that you have taken on in your time in the legislature or last session that you are really proud of?

[00:26:47] Yeah, well, the one that really got me started in the legislature was criminal justice reform, right?

[00:26:52] I sought the public defender's office, a criminal justice system that did not treat people who were similarly situated equally.

[00:27:00] And so I sort of made that my mission to make some what I thought were common sense changes to the system, just meaning let's get more treatment for folks who have substance abuse or mental health issues.

[00:27:11] I mean, that's not the reason people commit crimes, but it doesn't help the situation.

[00:27:15] So in 2019, as a chair of judiciary, we did the most comprehensive criminal justice reform package we've ever done in the state.

[00:27:23] And really, that did focus on investing our money more wisely and actually trying to correct the problem.

[00:27:28] I mean, we don't have a department of prisons.

[00:27:30] We have a department of corrections.

[00:27:32] And the idea is you try to correct the issues so that people can go back into society.

[00:27:36] We weren't doing a very good job of that.

[00:27:38] So I would say that, you know, that was sort of a landmark legislation that I worked on because that's what got me into politics.

[00:27:45] Now, as I've moved on, of course, I don't have the luxury of being as involved in the day to day policy, which is sad because I really like that part of the job.

[00:27:53] But, you know, I think helping us get through COVID, helping our small businesses with financial assistance during COVID, we did some housing.

[00:28:02] You know, we put $500 million towards affordable housing and we're just starting to see that play out now.

[00:28:06] We're seeing ribbon cuttings for all kinds of projects.

[00:28:09] And then, you know, personally for me, last session I worked on an office of entrepreneurship, which is the first in the nation.

[00:28:16] So we actually have an office now dedicated not to small business because almost everyone has that, but new businesses, businesses that are five years or younger.

[00:28:24] It doesn't matter the size.

[00:28:25] So we're trying to capitalize on a lot of folks who want to move here and are moving here from California to have an environment here where there's some support for them to start their business.

[00:28:35] Who knows?

[00:28:35] Maybe we'll have the next big thing happen right here in Las Vegas.

[00:28:39] And then I think my passion project the last several sessions has been getting kids outside.

[00:28:44] I love the outdoors.

[00:28:45] I love to hike.

[00:28:46] I love to run.

[00:28:46] So every year I've done a bill involving getting kids outdoors.

[00:28:51] My first session, it was free parks passes, state parks passes for fifth graders.

[00:28:55] That was really cool.

[00:28:56] A bunch of fifth graders came and testified about how much they love being outside.

[00:29:00] We did a grant program to help fund those excursions.

[00:29:03] And then last session, we put together a working group to look at how can we integrate outdoor learning with our educational system?

[00:29:09] It was pretty stunning to me the number of students in Las Vegas who have never been to a state park.

[00:29:16] And we literally have a state park that's, you know, 10 miles away.

[00:29:19] And they've never been there.

[00:29:20] They've never been outside of their zip code.

[00:29:22] And so making that effort has been really satisfying to me because I think aside from just the outdoors being amazing, it has a lot of mental health benefits.

[00:29:32] And, you know, getting kids off their tablets and out from the computer and outside is something that's been a passion of mine.

[00:29:37] And so I'm not going to say it's an earth shattering bills, but like I think they're good things to do for students.

[00:29:43] And they sort of remind you of why you go up there to be able to actually help people on a day to day basis.

[00:29:48] So when you're in the middle of these big fights with the governor or the Senate or what have you, you got to refocus a little bit on like, why am I here and what are we trying to accomplish?

[00:29:56] And, you know, that's just one example of hundreds of bills that my members carry every session that are going to help actual people in their day to day life.

[00:30:05] Well, you mentioned running and I checked out your blog, your running blog, which you started during COVID.

[00:30:17] Moab 240.

[00:30:19] Not many people have tried to run that.

[00:30:23] Maggie's colleague and a former guest on the show, Steve Palmer, has done a number of those races.

[00:30:29] I don't know if you know Steve, but tell us about your blog and your passion for running and being outdoors.

[00:30:36] It's just incredible.

[00:30:40] Yeah.

[00:30:41] So thanks for asking about that.

[00:30:42] I mean, this is one of this.

[00:30:43] I'd be doing more of this if I weren't in politics.

[00:30:46] But, you know, during COVID, I found myself with a lot more time than I anticipated because, you know, the whole sort of world shut down.

[00:30:52] Right.

[00:30:52] And that included all the political events and all the meetings that I had.

[00:30:56] And so I've always been a little bit of a runner.

[00:30:58] I ran cross country in high school.

[00:31:00] I'd say as more of a casual recreational runner, a couple half marathons here or there, one marathon in my life.

[00:31:05] And I started reading a lot of books about these ultra runners.

[00:31:08] And I just my mind was blown.

[00:31:10] I'm like, how does somebody run 100 miles?

[00:31:12] Like, that's not possible.

[00:31:14] And so I started just to get out there myself.

[00:31:16] And I started running longer and longer and getting more interested in that world and watching videos.

[00:31:21] And next thing you know, I was signing up for the Moab 240 in October of 2020, which I think was the only race that didn't get canceled because of COVID because it was entirely in the state of Utah and could get permitted.

[00:31:34] So I found myself at the start line of a 240 mile race with, I don't know, something like 45 or 50,000 feet of climbing.

[00:31:42] I was in pretty good shape and I thought I was ready for it.

[00:31:45] Man, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done.

[00:31:47] And I'll tell you, there's not necessarily a happy ending.

[00:31:50] I did not finish the race.

[00:31:51] I made it about 75 miles and I was too slow to continue because you have to make certain checkpoints.

[00:31:57] But I'll tell you, you learn a lot about yourself when you push those boundaries of what you think is physically possible.

[00:32:04] I mean, everyone's had that experience where you've been outside or you've been at an amusement park, you've been at the zoo, a convention, and you're walking all day long and your feet start to hurt.

[00:32:12] Take that and multiply it by 10.

[00:32:15] Like the amount of pain when you've been on your feet for 24 plus hours and you're running over mountains and rocks is just incredible.

[00:32:22] But I find like it really teaches me a lot about myself and really allows me to just focus.

[00:32:28] I mean, you are in the moment, step by step, minute by minute.

[00:32:31] And so I tried a couple of those races and really got into that.

[00:32:36] Really, really enjoyed it.

[00:32:37] I would love to get back into it.

[00:32:39] Right now, it's not feasible because my time in politics is just my time is always taken with other obligations.

[00:32:46] But I think right after I'm no longer in politics, I'm really going to start training for one of these and try to finish one of these races.

[00:32:52] There's a great one up in Lake Tahoe that's in Nevada and California.

[00:32:55] I mean, they're just beautiful to be out there and you meet the nicest people.

[00:33:00] I mean, these people that run these races, they're so nice to each other because everyone's out there sort of fighting their own battles.

[00:33:06] Right.

[00:33:06] And it's a roller coaster of up and downs when you're out there.

[00:33:09] You feel great one moment, terrible the next moment.

[00:33:11] And, you know, I tell myself no matter how hard it gets at the legislature, I've been out running for 24 to 36 hours straight.

[00:33:19] Like it can't be that bad.

[00:33:20] Right.

[00:33:20] It's not that kind of pain.

[00:33:22] So you can get through anything if you just take a second by second.

[00:33:27] Well, it's kind of interesting to think that you, you know, you didn't finish yet.

[00:33:31] You ran what essentially was three marathons.

[00:33:35] How many participants start the Moab 240?

[00:33:39] Yeah, I think that year they had limited that year a little bit.

[00:33:41] I think it was about 200 people per year.

[00:33:44] I mean, it sells out.

[00:33:45] Not many.

[00:33:46] Yeah, it's a lottery system now.

[00:33:47] And I would say well more than half of them finish.

[00:33:50] But that being said, most people like they really train for this or this is, you know, a lot of professional athletes, too, that this is what they do.

[00:33:57] But since you mentioned it, if you are interested in checking out the blog, it's battlebornrunning.com and just sort of has a whole bunch of different things that I did during that time period.

[00:34:07] And mostly to remind myself that I'm capable of doing these things.

[00:34:11] Because sometimes I, you know, I'm not running much anymore.

[00:34:14] And I think, how did I ever do that?

[00:34:15] So I can go back and read about what that was like and hopefully inspire some people to try something that maybe they thought they couldn't do.

[00:34:22] Yeah.

[00:34:23] Well, it's a great blog and great pictures.

[00:34:25] So, yeah, I would encourage our listeners to check it out.

[00:34:28] I think if you're ever looking for a new friend, Attorney General Plattkin from New Jersey is also dipping his toe into those.

[00:34:35] And I think you all would get along really well and be good running partners.

[00:34:40] Yeah, I appreciate that.

[00:34:41] I will definitely look him up because I think it is a special community, right?

[00:34:47] And you think like when you're in that community, you think there's a lot of people doing those things.

[00:34:51] But there really aren't when you think about it.

[00:34:54] So I'm really happy I was able to do that.

[00:34:57] Obviously not happy that, you know, COVID was the reason.

[00:35:00] But I decided to take advantage of that additional time to try something that I don't think I ever would have had time to do otherwise.

[00:35:08] All right.

[00:35:09] Go ahead, Maggie.

[00:35:10] Yep.

[00:35:10] I just have one last question.

[00:35:12] And then we can maybe round out with our two capstone questions that we like to ask our guests, if that's okay with you, Jim.

[00:35:18] Yeah.

[00:35:19] So in terms of your just leadership path, you've been through tolls.

[00:35:25] I'm sure you have a plethora of really good mentors.

[00:35:29] What have you taken into your role as speaker, maybe from your toll experience or another mentor that you've learned from in terms of leadership traits that you are now using as you manage and lifting up all of your members?

[00:35:44] I would say there are probably really three main things that I've taken from all these programs.

[00:35:52] You know, we live in a very fast-paced world where people expect immediate answers.

[00:35:57] And I think there's real value in stepping aside, spending some time thinking about an issue or a problem.

[00:36:03] You don't always have that luxury, but when you do, to really think about what you're going to do before you act.

[00:36:11] I think often we just instinctually want to do something.

[00:36:14] And sometimes that's right and sometimes it's not.

[00:36:16] So, you know, I think that is very important to be able to step aside, to talk to people, and also to ask for advice from people that you know are probably going to have a different view on it.

[00:36:25] Like, I don't want to be surrounded by people who agree with me.

[00:36:28] I want people to tell me where I'm wrong.

[00:36:30] I want people to tell me, hey, I think maybe this is the wrong approach.

[00:36:34] And so I think, you know, that's important as a leader.

[00:36:37] Empathy is very, very important.

[00:36:38] I mean, I think politics can really harden you.

[00:36:41] But to realize whether you're dealing with a constituent, a member, the governor, a lobbyist, everyone's going through their own things.

[00:36:49] Everyone's got their own challenges.

[00:36:50] And, you know, just to operate in a place of grace where, you know, you don't hold something against someone if they sort of go off the rails one day and realize that, you know, they're all trying to get through life too.

[00:37:01] I mean, this is a complicated world we live in, and the stakes are high in what we're doing.

[00:37:06] I think that.

[00:37:08] And then, you know, just taking some time out for yourself every once in a while, realizing you've got good people around you.

[00:37:15] You can delegate.

[00:37:16] You should delegate.

[00:37:17] You can't do it all.

[00:37:19] But at the end of the day, and this was a hard one for me to learn, you have to make a decision.

[00:37:23] You have to make a decision.

[00:37:25] People do not like leaders or respect leaders who are wishy-washy and say, oh, get back to me next week.

[00:37:30] I mean, there's no one else to look at in this role.

[00:37:32] You are the decision maker.

[00:37:34] And so I found that even when the decision is contrary to what the person wants, they will respect the fact that you made the decision, and you're going to stick to it, and there's a clear path forward.

[00:37:44] And probably a lot of other lessons there, but I think those three for me have probably served me very well as speaker.

[00:37:50] And I think one of the reasons that my caucus believes in me and continues to want me to be in this position.

[00:37:57] Well, I've long respected you since you entered the legislature, and we did a kind of deep dive conversation as you were taking on that role to hear you kind of evolve and take on that hard challenge of making a call.

[00:38:12] Some people are going to be mad.

[00:38:16] It's incredible to hear, even in two years, how you've changed and even grown.

[00:38:21] So our last two capstone questions are, where were you last?

[00:38:26] We always have road warriors on this podcast.

[00:38:28] So where were you last, and what was the best meal that you had?

[00:38:31] And I don't want to assume that your next trip, quote unquote, is to Las Vegas for SLF.

[00:38:37] But if people are headed to Las Vegas for SLF for your meeting, where should they dine?

[00:38:44] What would you recommend in terms of places to scope out?

[00:38:48] Oh, wow.

[00:38:49] So these are some really good questions.

[00:38:51] Actually, right after Louisville, I was in Chicago because I was in Chicago before and after Louisville.

[00:38:57] So I ate at Gino's East, which is one of the classic deep dish places in Chicago.

[00:39:04] And I love, love, love, love pizza.

[00:39:05] So I know it's a little touristy, but it's one of my favorite places.

[00:39:09] So that was where I last was before coming back to Las Vegas over the weekend.

[00:39:14] Your second question is a really hard one to answer because, you know, Las Vegas has so many good restaurants.

[00:39:20] I mean, just amazing, amazing places, whether you're on the Strip or otherwise.

[00:39:25] But I would say in Las Vegas in particular, get off of the Strip and go to our Chinatown, which is over on Spring Mountain.

[00:39:33] We probably have some of the, I'd say probably we definitely have some of the best Asian food in all of America.

[00:39:39] And it is in a one mile stretch and literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of places.

[00:39:45] So if you're looking for a place to go, Shanghai Plaza has about 15 restaurants.

[00:39:49] Everything from sushi to fried chicken to banchan.

[00:39:53] And they are all really, really good.

[00:39:56] So I would recommend going there.

[00:39:58] You can jump in a lift and you can be there in 10 minutes and you're going to pay a fraction of the price and you're going to have a great meal.

[00:40:05] Beyond that, obviously can't go wrong with any of the classic steakhouses on the Las Vegas Strip.

[00:40:10] Just know you're going to pay Las Vegas Strip prices.

[00:40:13] La Casa de Amor is my favorite off strip.

[00:40:16] That's a great one.

[00:40:17] Take the limo.

[00:40:19] Great one.

[00:40:20] Well, thank you for joining us.

[00:40:22] It's always so fun to just dive into your experience as a leader and what's coming up next in Nevada in 2025.

[00:40:31] And wishing you all the best as you host SLL app and just grateful for the time today.

[00:40:36] Well, thank you, Maggie.

[00:40:38] And thank you, Jim.

[00:40:39] Thanks so much for having me.

[00:40:40] And hopefully we'll be able to do this again soon.

[00:40:42] It was a lot of fun.

[00:40:43] And thank you to our listeners.

[00:40:45] Enjoy the last days of summer.

[00:40:47] And we will see you next Monday.