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Backed by 300 leaders at a 'Nevadans for the Common Good' accountability assembly, Marsha Rodriguez told her story about the fragility of independence as a senior. 72 years old, Rodriguez described waiting 6 months to get into a Nevada Medicaid waiver program, the Home and Community Based Waiver, which helps pay for non-medical services that are essential for some aging seniors to continue living at home. After seven years of receiving non-medical care, she fears that privatization of Medicaid services would reduce access to those services and push her into a nursing home. NCG leader Barbara Paulsen noted that the cost of at-home services for six or seven people is about equal with the cost of covering one person in a nursing home.

State legislators in attendance carefully listened and soon followed up with a delegation of NCG leaders, promising that Medicaid privatization of services would NOT happen in 2016, and that the legislative proposal would move more slowly, transparently, and inclusively.

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At a 300-person assembly of 'Nevadans for the Common Good,' state legislators publicly supported NCG goals to address the state's teacher shortage and to ensure that a plan to privatize some medicaid services in Nevada is transparent and includes meaningful public participation.

State legislators Senator Michael Robertson and Assemblymen Paul Anderson and John Hambrick listened as Marsha Rodriguez told her story about the fragility of independence as a senior. 72 years old, Rodriguez described waiting 6 months to get into a Nevada Medicaid waiver program, the Home and Community Based Waiver, which helps pay for non-medical services that are essential for some aging seniors to continue living at home. After seven years of receiving non-medical care, she fears that privatization of Medicaid services would reduce access to those services and push her into a nursing home. NCG leader Barbara Paulsen noted that the cost of at-home services for six or seven people is about equal with the cost of covering one person in a nursing home.

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Las Vegas, NV - Leaders of Nevadans for the Common Good cried 'foul' when a dead bill proposing to privatize the provision of Medicaid services was kept alive through unnatural means. Though voted down, it remained in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee through an exemption sparing it from normal deadlines. That same language was then grafted onto a separate bill (SB 514) and approved by the legislature the day before it adjourned.

"We are just concerned about transparency," said Barbara Paulsen, whose church in Boulder City is a member of NCG. The proposed change could impact 54,000 people statewide. ""If there's a transition, it needs to be carefully planned," Paulsen said Wednesday. "It's a major decision and people need to be aware of it and need to have an understanding of the steps being taken and the rationale and ability to comment on them."

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Nevadans for the Common Good celebrated the signing of the CARE Act by Governor Sandoval which recognizes the important role that family caregivers play in caring for their loved ones by improving communication between families and hospitals. Rev. Art Gafke (standing on the right side) represented NCG at the signing.

Days prior, fourteen leaders from NCG participated in a two-day caregiver respite training held by REST at St. Andrew's. Leaders plan to take this training back to caregivers in their communities to serve the needs of elders and their families.

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Leaders of 'Nevadans for the Common Good' were among the heavy-weights listed as supporters of a proposed tax plan that would generate $430 million for Nevada public schools over the next two years. At a press conference the morning of Governor Sandoval's presentation of the proposal, NCG leader Rev. Dr. Marta Poling-Goldenne called this "a historic opportunity to improve our public schools and invest in our children."

One week prior, 'Nevadans for the Common Good' met with the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Las Vegas; both organizations voted to support the business license proposal. LVGEA cited a study it had commissioned on the impact of the business license fee proposal, which concluded that the "negligible negative impact" in Southern Nevada would be far outweighed by the benefits of improved public schools.

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More than 1,500 leaders from across Nevada convened at the packed Cashman Theatre in Las Vegas to celebrate the passage of anti-sex trafficking legislation last year to and issue challenges to a broad range of public officials around multiple issues. The organization obtained solid commitments from public officials after sharing stories about elder abuse in unlicensed group homes, public transportation problems for wounded veterans and disabled, and the need for immigration reform and respite care for caregivers. The organization has grown over the last two years to include 33 member institutions. [Photo Credit: L.E. Baskow, Las Vegas Sun)

Building Off Legislative Success, Interfaith Group Eyes New Set of Social Concerns, Las Vegas Sun

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As part of its elder issues campaign, leaders of 'Nevadans for the Common Good' have begun researching the accessibility of public transport in Boulder City, conducting a research action in the field.

"'The good news,' said the Rev. Robert Stoeckig of the Office of the Vicar General of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas, ...'is that the (Regional Transportation Commission) website is wrong. But the bad news is that the website is wrong.'

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With his mom behind bars for having a deportation order, 21 year-old Bryan Rivera spoke with "the voice of hundreds of kids being affected by immigration laws," alongside Bishop Joseph Pepe and other religious leaders of Nevadans for the Common Good.

Testimony from 'Nevadans for the Common Good' detailed how the failure to address a broken system is tearing apart families, harming children and weakening communities in Southern Nevada, thus highlighting how policy implementation at the local level is ultimately dehumanizing people.

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