The Pahrump Valley Times - Titus Shares Vision In Pahrump Swing

June 14, 2006

Titus Shares Vision In Pahrump Swing

By PHILLIP GOMEZ
PVT

Sen. Minority Leader and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dina Titus was the featured speaker at a luncheon sponsored by the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce Monday at Terrible's Lakeside Casino and RV Park.

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Nevada gubernatorial front-runner Dina Titus came to town Monday, telling Pahrump business leaders she is the best candidate to translate the state university system's high-tech research programs into general economic development.

Titus said that, as the only educator in the race to be Nevada's next chief executive, she would be well placed to lead the state in developing renewable energy, communications and medical technologies, which could bring well paying jobs to rural areas of the state.

The former University of Nevada, Las Vegas political science professor outlined her plan to foster research and development through "the five E's": education, economic development, energy, environment, and ethics.

She said her issues were not partisan ones, but Nevada issues that all could agree on.

Titus called for new directions in Nevada's economy to encourage new industries that could lead the way to a higher quality of life for all Nevadans.

In terms of "green" energy, Titus said, "We need to do better." She said Nevada should create a solar-powered electric plant, possibly at the Nevada Test Site.

"There's nothing like that anywhere in the country," Titus said of the test site. "We could be doing things out there that could put us on the cutting edge of homeland security, of engineering, of solar technology and of post-9-11 architecture.

"We are the only state in the West that has no wind project," Titus said. Such projects could be established at old abandoned mine sites. Similarly, she said, "Nevada has some of the best places for solar. We need to be going after that.

"It all ties to what the university and college system is doing," she said.

Titus said Nevada must overhaul its current practices for attracting and developing new kinds of businesses and industries, if it were to improve wages and the standard of living in the state.

Last year, among Nevada's 1.2 million workforce, the average wage was $16.63 per hour. Yet the median price of a new home in the southern part of the state approached $300,000, beyond the reach of most residents.

Diversification of Nevada's economy, anchored as it is in tourism and the construction industry, is essential to expand the state's economy, Titus recently said.

Because wages in industries prominent in the state are not keeping pace with the escalation in housing costs and prices for electricity and fuel, Titus said the state must create a new economy that offers higher-skilled, higher-paying jobs, while educating and training Nevadans to fill them.

She said scholarships should be established for nurses, teachers and pharmacy students, professions strongly in demand within the state.

Currently, 57 percent of nurses in Nevada leave the state within two years. When asked why, nurses say it's because of unsafe staffing ratios. "They feel they are unable to perform their duties adequately, thereby putting patients at risk," Titus said.

Titus wants to see loan forgiveness programs for full-ride scholarships if the student will stay in the state after graduation and practice in his or her profession. For every year they stay, that much of their loan should be forgiven, she said.

As governor, Titus would reorganize the state's efforts to attract business development through the commissioning of an outside assessment of Nevada's competitive strengths and weaknesses and the identification of the most likely avenues for success in several fields.

She would convene a governor's council on economic strategy to evaluate the findings and make recommendations to the governor's office and the Legislature on the industries that best fit with Nevada's assets and economic possibilities.

In particular, she said, the governor's council would investigate how to align the state university system's research mission with economic goals.

Oversight of the state Commission on Economic Development would shift from the lieutenant governor to the governor's office, Titus said, giving her leadership of the commission and primary responsibility for meeting economic development goals.

Titus would tighten requirements for companies to qualify for relocation incentives so that they must guarantee paying wages equal to the state average.

Titus also called for payroll tax incentives for small companies that provide health insurance plans for their employees. Additionally, she wants tax incentives for all companies to provide on-site day care for children of employees.

"For Nevada to succeed in attracting a workforce supporting its economic development strategies, it must establish itself as a place where health insurance in the workplace is the norm," she said.

"As business leaders in Pahrump, that's something to think about," Titus told her Chamber of Commerce audience regarding the advantages of on-site day care. "It would be a reinvestment of tax dollars."

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