Las Vegas Metro Chamber gets good news on Interstate 11
Members of the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce were happy to learn this week the Interstate 11 project linking Nevada and Arizona is at the top of mind for politicians and officials in Washington, D.C.
But a project to turn Yucca Mountain into the nation’s nuclear waste dump, a project the chamber opposes, may see its first legislative victory as early as next week.
Both items came up time and time again during the chamber’s annual D.C. trip, chamber Vice President of Government Affiars Paul Moradkhan said.
This year, the chamber hosted its largest group yet, with more than 100 members, along with state and local officials.
I-11 funding options
Chamber members heard positive news from politicians from Nevada and Arizona on ways to provide needed funding to build I-11.
The chamber met with U.S. representatives with a say in federal transportation policy.
Those two representatives were Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican on the House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, and Bill Shuster, a Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the House Transportation Committee.
White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Justin Clark told chamber members infrastructure investment is a top agenda item, along with science- and technology-related education and reduced regulations.
U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., said I-11’s need for funding makes it a candidate for any public-private partnership deal the White House may want to try to see if such partnerships can hasten future infrastructure redevelopment.
Yucca moves forward
Chamber members had less fruitful meetings over the proposed initiative to move nuclear waste from across the country to Yucca Mountain in Nye County, near the California border. The proposal has picked up strength since the retirement of Sen. Harry Reid.
The chamber’s meeting with Rep. John Shimkus, an Illinois Republican in favor of moving waste from his state into Nevada, ended in debate over the project, rather than any persuasion to the other side.
The chamber opposes the move because of Yucca’s nearly 100-mile distance from the Strip, Moradkhan said. The chamber also wants more study on a plan created 30 years ago to move nuclear waste across the country.
The trip gave the chamber a chance to talk about how much investment will be needed to get Yucca ready for waste storage.
“It’s not just a Nevada issue. It really is a national security conversation,” he said. “There is a perception that this is ready to just turn on, and that is just not the case.”
Tax reform
D.C. insiders the chamber met with sounded optimistic about some sort of tax legislation passing before the end of the year.
The legislation could be as simple as tax cuts or as complex as President Donald Trump’s proposed decrease in tax brackets.
Changes to health care, however, seemed more muddled, Moradkhan said.
Reforms to President Barack Obama’s health care law supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce include repealing some of the taxes created under Obamacare and clarifying rules around health care plans offered to small businesses through associations such as their local chambers of commerce. The idea is that such association plans help small businesses buy into a larger insurance pool than they could afford on their own.
Contact Wade Tyler Millward at wmillward@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4602. Follow @wademillward on Twitter.
