Nevada Policy Research Institute is a private non-profit, free-market and limited-government policy research organization based in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

. Nevada Policy seeks to promote private, rather than government solutions to issues facing Nevada and the western region of the United States.

History

In 1990, Judy Cresanta supported Soviet pro-democracy leaders, educating them in the principles of the free market economy and free elections. The next year, she founded the Nevada Policy Research Institute, which addresses public problems through solutions that foster freedom and introduce new ways of problem solving in fields such as government spending, taxation, the restriction of union powers, federal ownership of state owned land, energy policy, and education policy. Since 2013, Nevada Policy's "Solutions" publication for lawmakers has been published every two years. Nevada Policy supports lawmakers in an advisory capacity and through assessment of legislation. Their staff is often asked to give evidence before legislative committees. The national press relies on their advice and evaluations on breaking news and reports on their research, campaigns and litigation attempts. The institute works towards increased transparency in government publishing records of government employee compensation and retirement data on TransparentNevada.com and has successfully campaigned for public-sector workers and school district employees to make use of their opt-out rights of their union membership. This led to the inauguration of the National Employee Freedom Week, establishing priority of workers' rights over the preferences of unions. Nevada Policy forged an alliance with more than 100 national and state-based organizations, including the

Mackinac Center for Public Policy The Mackinac Center for Public Policy () in Midland, Michigan, is the largest U.S. state-based free market think tank in the United States. The Mackinac Center conducts policy research and educational programs. The Center sponsors MichiganVotes. ...

, the Buckeye Institute, and

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presi ...

Public policy research

Nevada Policy researches education, tax and fiscal policy, and labor issues related to Nevada public policy.

Education

Nevada Policy opposes efforts to halt the opening of new charter schools and favors expanding

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

options, tuition tax credits,

school voucher A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some cou ...

programs, and merit pay for teachers. Nevada Policy has been critical of the

Nevada System of Higher Education The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE, formerly the University and Community College System of Nevada or "UCCSN") is a state government unit in Nevada that oversees its public system of colleges and universities. It was formed in 1968 to ove ...

, specifically the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

and the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

for low graduation rates, despite spending above average per full-time student on education and education related higher education expenditures.

Tax and fiscal policy

Nevada Policy supports a balanced budget with controlled growth in government spending, such as a

TABOR Tabor may refer to: Places Czech Republic * Tábor, a town in the South Bohemian Region ** Tábor District, the surrounding district * Tábor, a village and part of Velké Heraltice in the Moravian-Silesian Region Israel * Mount Tabor, Galilee ...

's or TASC amendment. Nevada Policy claims Nevada's 2008-2009 budget deficit was the result of excessive growth in government spending. Nevada Policy has also argued that Nevada's history as a low-tax state has been slowly eroded by a growing number of fees on Nevada's residents. Nevada Policy opposes tax hikes on individual taxpayers and corporations within Nevada, including a tax hike on the gaming industry.

Labor issues

Nevada Policy supports protecting secret ballot boxes and paycheck protection and opposes defined benefit plans for union and government workers.

LVCVA

On November 30, 2008, the ''Las Vegas Review Journal'' published an article regarding some investigative journalism conducted by Nevada Policy on the

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is a government agency and the official destination marketing organization for Southern Nevada. It was founded by the Nevada Legislature in 1955. The LVCVA owns and operates the Las Vegas ...

. According to Nevada Policy's investigation, it appears the LVCVA has an inappropriate relationship with a private marketing firm, R&R, that has overbilled the LVCVA but the LVCVA has never attempted to ''recoup these losses. Through public records request Nevada Policy found that the LVCVA not only knew about these irregularities but literally gave R&R the rubber stamp to approve expenditures above $5,000 without any oversight from the LVCVA. According to Nevada Policy vice president, "In the days following the release of this project, multiple private investigators visited the institute's offices requesting our financial statements and claiming to be working for "the other side." Some of our board members have been approached with broad hints about retaliation if the institute's look into convention authority financing proceeds.""Authority trying to change subject" by Steven Miller, ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'

/ref>

Assets

As of 2017, Nevada Policy had total assets of $580,617.

Funding details

Funding details as of 2017:

References

External links

* {{official, http://npri.org
Organizational Profile
–

National Center for Charitable Statistics The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is a clearing house for information about the nonprofit sector of the U.S. economy. The National Center for Charitable Statistics builds national, state, and regional databases and develops sta ...

(

Urban Institute The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that carries out economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations and pr ...

) Organizations based in Nevada Politics of Nevada Political and economic think tanks in the United States Libertarian think tanks Libertarian organizations based in the United States