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GangboX Podcast
GangboX Podcast Episode 8 The Vote Doesn't Pass
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This is episode 8 recorded after the bill for the Summerlin Studios was voted down and if you want to know who to blame just give this one a listen. GangBox...all things Union all things Construction!
Here we go. All right. Gangbox Podcast. Episode eight. Episode Ocho. Um Typically we're all things Vegas, all things Union, All Things Construction. More recently, we've been all things uh Hollywood movie bill, studio bill. Um, and you know, we talked a lot about that stuff just because of the timing of when we started our podcast. You know, we were thinking about starting a podcast for for a while, and when we finally did start it, it just happened to be during the time when this movie studio bill got got going. And so, you know, we had the CEO of Howard Hughes, we've had some legislators um come in and talk about it. Tommy White of the Laborers came in and talked about it. And uh, we haven't shot in a couple weeks because you know, it was it was time, it was go time. Fucking grind time. And uh you were up there and uh, you know, it didn't go our way. But I think uh the people who listen to this podcast probably want a better understanding of how that all went down. And I don't think there's anybody that knows more about how that went down than yourself, yeah? Yeah. So what do you what uh obviously we'll we'll probably stop talking about this as the podcast goes on as this thing fades into a distant past, but I think it's important for us to kind of do a a little post op on it and see, you know, what what we think went wrong, what we think went right, um, how did you know what happened that was unexpected, um, and what kind of lessons we've learned from it, right? Because it's not over. Yeah. Um, what's what all that's over is that this bill right for right now is over, but we keep moving, uh, we keep fighting, and and it never ends. And so it's on to the next one. But uh, why don't you kind of give us a little play by play what happened, how it went down, what were some of the things that really surprised you? Did anything happen that you expected? Uh let's start from the beginning. I mean, it fireworks started right off jump, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right out of the gates, man. We had uh Celina LaRue Hatch, uh Northern Nevada Assembly Yeah, boo. She sucks, bro. She's the worst dude. She's the reason that uh, you know, she says she she's a fan of labor, but she's never done anything to help labor. She's never passed a bill, she's never gotten a bill passed to actually help labor. She's fucking horrible. Yeah, she's horrible, but the North loves her because even Northern Nevada building trades, I feel, doesn't even like work. I don't think they enjoy work for their workers. They're they're just ultra woke people, which is fucking strange, bro, because the reason that you even are in your position as uh a union rep is and that you have the opportunity to speak to these elected officials is to represent your membership. So when she knows that even the head of the building trades in the north is fucking scared or whatever, whatever term you want to use, she's she's gonna run and just as long as she says I support labor, they'll always believe it. They they in the north, they being the northern Nevada building trades, believe that if they say it, it must be true. You don't have to prove anything to them. We're here in the South, bro. We make you prove with your votes. That's right. Right? And and again, only talking about building trades. I'm not talking about uh every union and everything like that, but um so she uh tried to like get it ripped off the agenda right out of the fucking before there could even be any debate or discussion on the bill.
SPEAKER_00She tried to kill it out the gate.
SPEAKER_01And like it would like a lot of people are like, oh my god, I can't believe it. And I and I'm sitting there thinking, like, this is the best thing that could have fucking happened. Because if anyone flipped their vote or changed their fucking minds, we were able to see it right then and there. Then we knew who we had to lobby. So she the way I looked at it is it it worked out because everyone exposed themselves to show their cards right now. Right out of the fucking job, which was good. Yeah. And I was okay with that, right?
SPEAKER_00And then uh, you know, so her motion to kill the bill basically, um, not allow it to move on, um, it died by one vote. Right? Yeah. Yeah. So it had to be heard. Uh and the speaker, you know, pulled some strings and someone had to vote a uh remotely, which caused some speaker and the governor, yeah, to be fair, because there was there was one Republican also uh that voted to get it off the agenda, and then he later on came out um in the media and said he was just confused.
SPEAKER_01It was his first day. He was a he was a legislator. Welcome to the Nevada legislator, legislature. Um and so yeah, dude. So um he he was good on the bill. Um so there was a lot of shenanigans, there was a few things they had to there's a lot of technical things that happened up there, and I'm not an expert on it, so I don't want to s say it on here and people tell me I fucked it up or whatever. But there there was a few rules that had to be followed, uh like constitutional rules of uh and uh they tried a couple more times to kill it, and uh they knew there was gonna be two yes votes leaving. So on the assembly side, so um, you know, they try to challenge can you vote remotely on on blah blah blah. And uh like like again, I don't I'm not an attorney, I don't know all the fucking rules, I don't know the Nevada Constitution, but I just know that it failed again. Like they tried several times to just not have the bill heard heard or or and and every they tried every thing possible, right? You know, and and with new leadership, obviously Steve Yeager and Sandra Hodgee are leaving DMMs uh seeking uh North Las Vegas mayor.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh so Sandra Hodgee, who you're a fan of, yeah. Yeah, she's great, man. She's running for uh lieutenant governor. Yeah, so there's there's gonna be a lot of folks not there anymore, right? And I feel like the cock the Assembly Democratic Caucus has a lot of dislike to to that to that membership, uh the leadership team. And so, you know, uh the new chair of the Democratic Assembly Caucus, Elaine Marzola, who's great for labor too. She's a good person. I think that she got it it was it was good for a lot of reasons, right? She got to see everyone kind of expose their true colors. So she gets to see now what she has to look forward to going into leadership. So it was good, you know. Hopefully, hopefully she gets to sit down um with some of those folks one-on-one and you know, be a leader that I know she can be. She she's, you know, I've known her for a lot of years. She's a good person, and and so it it was good. I think the special was good for her um as far as like a leadership perspective goes, right? She gets to see what she's um looking forward to. Yeah, the other thing I found interesting on the assembly side when the bill was there was seeing Greg Hafen, a Republican, the minority leader in the Republican Assembly um caucus, um, teaming up with all these progressives. And and last year he actually got an award for being the most progressive Republican. So it's interesting, man. I mean, uh, look, you know this. I I was texting with Governor Lombardo before we came on the podcast today, and he's agreed to come do the podcast with us. So um I I got a few questions for him regarding his uh some people in his party and you know his thoughts on some of his Republican votes. It almost seemed like they were trying to spite the governor.
SPEAKER_00Well, what's interesting is look, the governor to put it on the agenda for the special session is an endorsement of the bill, right? Because he wouldn't put it on the agenda if he didn't want it to pass. But that's really where his endorsement stopped. He wasn't very vocal about getting it passed. Uh, I don't remember seeing any kind of statements or anything on social media. Um, and so to his credit, just putting it on the agenda was an endorsement. Um, but then that's kind of where it ended. He kind of he's obviously working the back rooms, but publicly uh he just kind of let his caucus um kind of do what they're doing. And it's interesting that you said there's these kind of far right Republicans working with these far left progressives to attack us, the people in the middle. You know what I mean? And that's how our members feel about the country as a whole. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like we have these extremes and they came together to kill our jobs. Yeah. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_01It's nuts, dude. It isn't, it's wild. And when you're watching it in real time, it's a very, very slow process. I thought we were gonna be up there for three days max. We were up there for seven days, dude. And we had to go buy clothes. I'm sure uh it was great for the Carson City local economy because we were able to eat at the restaurants, you know, those that drink drank at the bars. Um, and uh, dude, there's it's interesting, man. It it was it was very interesting. So it ended up passing out of the assembly. Right, 22 to 20.
SPEAKER_00Um who were some of the no's? So this is what's interesting, you know, and and you've corrected me a few times on this podcast where I'm like, we're gonna go after every Democrat that doesn't support us, and you're you'd correct me, like, no, we're gonna go after everybody that doesn't support us. I'm like, yeah, I right, right. And the reason why I think that that's the way it is is because I kind of expect the Republicans to fuck us. You know what I mean? Like they don't really ask for our endorsement. We don't really walk or knock for most of them, right? And so I kind of expect that from them. Um it it it stings and hurts more when it's someone that we've door knocked for or that we've endorsed or that we've given money to to then turn around and go into that building and vote against us, it stings. And some of those people, uh Howard Watts, Selena Torres, um, Cecilia Gonzalez, um, you know, they is uh who else am I missing that is on that list?
SPEAKER_01I don't know. Name them through and I'll tell you if they're D's or ours. Uh Anderson. Uh she's a Democrat North. Buckus. She's a Democrat South. Considine. Democrat South. Dickman. Republican. That's gotta be a Republican with a name like that. Yeah. Uh Edgeworth. Uh Republican South in a very, very tight district. Gallant. Republican South. Gonzalez.
SPEAKER_00Democrat South. Democrat South that came to my and I'll never I'll never forgive this. Like came to my facility for a build with us rally, stood in front of my members who had their kids there, their families there, and said, We I support working people, I support project labor agreements, I support local hire, I support your apprentice your apprenticeships, and then voted against a bill that provided all those things. Uh Gold Golding? Uh Democrat North.
SPEAKER_01Gurr. Republican Rurals. Hafen. Uh Perump, Republican. Hansen. Uh Northern Republican. Rules too. Hardy. Uh Republican South. We don't get a lot of support from Hardys. Uh uh Jackson. Uh Democrat South. He flipped. He voted the first time for it, and then this special session.
SPEAKER_00That makes it even worse.
SPEAKER_01We should run someone against that guy. Uh yeah, so hopefully we could have that person on the podcast. I had a conversation with somebody who reached out to me and said they want to run. I wasn't, I'm not doing any recruiting right now. Right. But uh my ears are open to people that are, and there's an apprentice carpenter who will be journeyed out by the time the next session comes around who really wants that seat. Uh Koenig. Uh Republican. We know LaRue Hatch.
SPEAKER_00Democrat North. Orange liquor. Democrat South. Yeah. What happened with him? Was he always a no?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Osborne. Uh, he's a new Republican.
SPEAKER_00Roth.
SPEAKER_01Uh Democrat North, who there was a lot of shenanigans going on, man, and and uh her and I have had a lot of conversations that I won't talk about on the podcast, but I believe in her still, even though she voted no. Um she has a uh uh a very progressive um district and legitimately her her constituents didn't want it, and I feel like she's one to vote with her people. Torres uh Democrat South.
SPEAKER_00Watts.
SPEAKER_01Democrat South.
SPEAKER_00Those are all the no's. A lot of Democrats in there. A lot of Democrats, a lot of Democrats.
SPEAKER_01Well they are the majority to be fair.
SPEAKER_00They sure, sure, but you know, and we and it still passed out of the assembly, right? And so, okay, those were no's, but we gotta take a mental note, right? Yes. Um and so okay, so they try to, you know, our LaRue Hatch tries to kill it, just like she tried to kill the A's, um, gets through the assembly. Now what happens?
SPEAKER_01Uh it passes out. Um it goes gets assigned to a committee in the Senate side and uh it gets read and and it's good. The committee hearing was fair, it was good, it gets voted out of committee. I believe, if I remember correctly, the same night it gets heard in committee. Um and then it kind of sits and waits because we find out that uh Republican Jeff Stone, who's in the South, um flips his vote. Why? He didn't give a reason. Not to me.
SPEAKER_00So going into the session, we're counting him as a yes.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00And uh all of a sudden it's actually And he leaves the building.
SPEAKER_01He left, he did not fulfill his obligation to serve the people. He left. He left, he didn't participate in the second half of the special session. Same with uh there's so if you see some names that are like bluish, yep.
SPEAKER_00Titus Ellison Stone.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Titus left, Stone left. There's one more.
SPEAKER_00Not to be confused with Dina Titus. No, no, no. I've got a lot of messages when I posted that from members like Dina always walk, obviously, she's our congressional uh representative on the federal level. Uh she walks with us every year at our at our parade, and some of the members are like, What happened? I'm like, it's not the same thing. No, different Titus. Different Titus.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And then uh who's the other guy you said? Uh Allison. Yeah, he left too. He was supposed to be a yes, really, from what I understand. Again, I I was tasked with speaking to specific people. Yeah. I was not tasked to speak to them because, like you said, being a union rep, those Republicans don't really support unions. But John Allison was supposed to uh no to be fair, he get he he left because he had eye surgery, from what I heard. And uh so those two flipped. That's why the governor put on the agenda because he was told by his uh senators, state senators, that they were gonna vote for the bill before we went up there and uh and they both left the building.
SPEAKER_00Right. So it goes to the Senate floor, right? Um there are uh 21 senators. A constitutional majority means that you need eleven votes. Yes. Doesn't matter if there's only eleven people in the room, right? You you need eleven votes. Uh because I had some members see the the vote total. It was ten years and only eight nays. And like, well, how do we lose? And it's like, well, because you need eleven. So some of the no's in the Senate, uh, we have Buck.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, she's a a Republican who's running, I th I believe, against uh either Susie Lee or Dina Titus. I don't remember what they're so she's leaving. Yeah, she she's a no, but she's not she's leaving if she wins. If she loses, she still comes back to the Senate because the Senate uh has every other election cycle that they run. So here's an interesting no. Cruz Crawford. Yeah, that one hurt, man. That one hurt. Um me specifically, professionally and personally. Her husband's a union iron worker. That's crazy. Yeah, dude. And uh it fucking hurts, bro, to know that she voted no. And uh we've had multiple um economic folks go in there and speak to her about the money, and she just kept saying the money didn't make sense, and so yeah, man, she she killed a lot of jobs, bro.
SPEAKER_00Because keep in mind that the Senate, I mean, we had 10 Yay's and we needed eleven. Yeah. So any one of these people that I'm about to read off that were that were no's their vote changes this, and our members go to work on a historic landmark. I mean, a historic project. That's that's now not gonna happen because not one of these people had the courage uh to vote with us. And so Cruz Crawford, whose husband is a union ironworker, and their family's Ayaze as well, you know. Um voted no.
SPEAKER_01And so the next no is Flores. He was a no also, uh Democrat South East Side. Um, and you know, his two assembly people, because each senator has two assembly people in their districts, they voted yes. Uh Chicanos por la casa, which is a community center, uh, was gonna get six million dollars for a workforce development building that was in his district, and he still voted no.
SPEAKER_00That's unbelievable. Uh Hansen.
SPEAKER_01Ira Hansen, it's your buddy.
SPEAKER_00Fucking guy. I mean, he listen, he voted no. We know he's gonna vote no. He fucking hates union labor.
SPEAKER_01Owns a non-union.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so we know he's a no, but he stands up on the fucking floor and spews the most bullshit that I've ever heard. Um, trying to convince people that a PLA means it has to be 100% union. And that is not in any of our PLAs. That is a that is factually incorrect. Yeah. And he just spews it from the floor like it's truth. Nothing like pissed me off more than listening to his fucking little floor speech. It it it was like talking points from the ABC. Yeah. That's what it sounded like.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I'm sure there was some lobbyist in his ear asking him to to do that. Um, but again, dude, like to me that doesn't matter, you know.
SPEAKER_00Like Right. I expect that from him. Yeah. It's still it's still make i I don't like the lies. Like if you want to stand up and and talk, talk, but don't lie. Don't lie about what a PLA is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because that's not what it is.
SPEAKER_00So it and it's one of either two things. Either one, he's ignorant to what a PLA is and just doesn't know. Yeah. Or two, he's lying. And either one of those two things are unacceptable.
SPEAKER_01And I think it's both. I think it's a little bold. I think he doesn't want to know so that he could feel comfortable telling a lie. Sure.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Because you don't have COVID if you don't take a test. You know what I mean? Fucking weirdos, bro. All right. The next one, Lang. Roberta Lang, oh, Democrat South. She voted no. Um interesting. Because she ran a similar film bill. A competing film bill. Yeah, that that that was not on the agenda or anything in this special session. So for me, uh, if she wanted film in the state, she should have voted for it. And I think it would have made it a lot better to you have a proven concept now. You have something here, and she's like, We're coming back in 27, and you know, we're gonna run she she wants to run her film bill again, knowing that it would be the only one. And I don't know, man. I I feel like from what I understand, and this is only to my knowledge, hers was more expensive.
SPEAKER_00So is her no just based off of the fact that it's not hers?
SPEAKER_01Correct.
SPEAKER_00That's the way I feel. That's not factual, that's right, that's my feeling.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Yep. Uh Rogic. Republican South, which is crazy, man, because uh again, she's new, she was a freshman, and uh she was a no. And again, I wasn't tasked to speaking with her, so I don't know. Yeah. Scheibel. I spoke to her. We actually did a lot of people don't know. In the last two days, her and Edgar and I sat down to try to get some sort of amendment in there. And uh it sounded like Warner Brothers and Sony would have had a little heartache. The first amendment that came out in the first proposal that they gave us to amend the bill was uh kind of like an up trigger, like the economy has to do something in the upside in order to trigger it to show that the economy is good and everything, because everyone keeps saying we're in a declining economy. Right. Which to me, my argument to that is this is supposed to help the economy, right? We talk about all the time how construction jobs uplift the economy. And uh they they I I said, you know, well, it's a Nevada jobs now, and what you guys are proposing is to put the jobs on hold for potentially two years.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01So if we're not working for two years, the economy will never hit that up trigger to kick start the program. Right. So we just couldn't come to an agreement on uh on what the amendment should look like to start the program. There was down triggers, they wanted an up trigger, and uh it just it didn't make sense, you know.
SPEAKER_00All right, and last would be Taylor.
SPEAKER_01Angie Taylor, man. Um there was a lot of folks tasked to talk to her. Uh she got lobbied pretty really hard. She's a Democrat in the North. And uh it's tough, bro, right? Like because when you have everybody in the North hating on the bill, I I understand just because I understand something doesn't mean that I uh uh I approve. Sure. But I understand her no. Yeah. Um I don't approve of it. I think it's I I think it was the wrong choice, but I understand why she voted no. Right.
SPEAKER_00So so those are the no's. I mean, I've I've blasted both uh houses um their yes and no's on my uh social media so that uh my members who follow my page know who who the no votes are. And uh, you know, there's some friends of labor in there, and it's it's disheartening. And you know, we were talking earlier, and to me, it feels like, you know, some of them made some speeches from the floor that was like, you know, I've always been with labor, I've always supported labor, but I can't, I just can't do it this one time. Uh and let's work together in the future, you know, and and it kind of feels like you've had a uh a good friend with you your whole life and they've always been there for you. Um and then you're out and and you get jumped and they fucking run. Yeah. You know, and then you ask them, like, hey, you know, where were you? And they're like, well, you know, I've always been your friend before, but this was just too much. It's like, well, yeah, I this is when I needed you the most. This is when my head was getting kicked in and I needed you. Yeah, and you and you ran from us, you know, and that's how it feels, you know. And I I think the building trades, um, all of us have have taken a pretty aggressive stance early on before this came, and we kind of let everyone know, hey, this is our issue. Like, this is the one we need you on. Um, and I think now it's time to uh, you know, they've they've had to made their decision, right? And now we have to move accordingly.
SPEAKER_01It is that ride together, die together, man. Like if you're a true friend of fucking labor, that's what you're supposed to do, bro. Like, that's what you're supposed to do. And it's difficult to hear we talk. About lies and shit on here, right? And and it's like you you really have to stop saying you're a friend of labor, you're not a fucking friend. You're not you're not a fucking friend. You don't get to decide if you're a friend. I am labor and I am telling you you are not a fucking friend. Right. You don't get to pick that. Like we decide, right? Like we, yeah, Southern Nevada Building Trades represents labor. Yep. And in that fucking building, I am thoroughly convinced there is one building trades that fucking matters, and I'll I don't give a fuck. I don't give a fuck what the North says. I don't fucking care. They're not present. They will kill jobs. I'll say that a hundred times, dude. Like, where was the North to back us up? Where was the Northern Nevada building trades to back us up?
SPEAKER_00Now there were some Northern affiliates I know that showed up and tested. There was, bro. It was amazing.
SPEAKER_01It was huge, bro. We had sheet metal, DC 16. Um who the fuck else was up there? There was a handful, bro. I I will say this. There was some positivity that comes out of negative stuff like this. Tommy White obviously was there, right? Um, the Carpenters were there. Uh Sprinkler fitters, operating engineers, your guys, the district council 16 guys from North and South. Um, sheet metal, north and south. Uh who the fuck else? IBW was there for a couple days and then he got called away. Um Plumbers and Pipe Fitters, 525 was there. Local 12. Did you say local 12? Local 12, yeah, yeah, yeah. So there was guys up there that have never been up there before. Yeah. And I could tell you that as far as like building trades as a whole, have never had that sort of fucking support um all together, come together, right? Like I wasn't around. I had just become a business agent with Iron Workers Local 416 after the legislation passed um for the Raiders. But from what I understand, it had support. But there's one thing to say, like, yeah, we support it and then not show up in the building. And I get it. Managers are busy and everything, dude. I I understand. But there's some managers who make it a priority, yeah. Right. And and and can make the membership understand that this is a priority. Like I'm literally fighting for a job for you. Right. So sorry I can't take your call right now, or sorry that I I have to put those problems on hold so that I could give you a job, right? The A's, there was uh a lot of support within the building trades. That was my first session um as the building trades leader to uh run that legislation. We got that done, but it was there was folks there, but it was the paid lobbyist from the um unions who were there and me. Right. Basically, I was there by myself. Yeah, not to say they didn't do their jobs, not to say they didn't help because they did, but like in a union leadership role, I was there alone. Right. Right. This time we had union leaders in the building, yeah. And there was no arguing, there was no fighting, there was no jurisdictional bullshit. Everyone was on the same page, and we all had the same task. And so when something um unfortunate happens like this, it strengthens our bond. We had a lot of dinners together, like different crafts you would never see hanging out. We were all together hanging out, whether it was in a cafeteria in the building or having dinner at a restaurant in Carson City. So the camaraderie and the solidarity that grew out of this was something that money can't fucking buy. So there was an upside to it.
SPEAKER_00Do you think that that solidarity and camaraderie can carry over into the next regular session when there's not some big dramatic crazy bill on the floor?
SPEAKER_01I believe that that solidarity and camaraderie is gonna carry on to the election cycle. Nice. That's what I believe. I'm a firm believer in that because we've had people now approach us wanting answers. And you know, here's what happens, right? Every time there's a tough vote to be taken, it's always the dust will settle, everybody will go back to their corners. I have to go with um all parties that need to be involved and dissect the shit out of this thing. Uh kind of like a after action report, right? What happened, what should have happened, what could have been done differently, and where we need to get better, right? Like those are the things that I'm gonna ask myself and those that went with us and have like a real deep dive in this after actions report. And uh after that, man, I think we go take a look at like and then the electeds will come in that had to take the hard vote, and they're gonna be super apologetic and and they're gonna then they turn into the lobbyist, right? They the elected officials now turn into lobbyists and they try to lobby us on why they should continue to hold their seat, why they're the best candidates, X, Y, and Z, they'll make a bunch of promises of all the things that they could do for us. And I think for me is making sure that everyone holds true to their feelings and holds on to this and not let it go, you know. It's like, well, he hits me because he loves me. Like, no, motherfucker, like that's wrong. Like you didn't stand with us. Like we asked you multiple times, and this isn't the first time for some of these no votes, man. Some of these Democrats and Republicans just flat out fucking hate unions. Right. And it's spiteful, and their egos get in the fucking way of making the right choice, and it's more of a flex than anything else, you know.
SPEAKER_00Well, and like Tommy says, I mean, I I remember Tommy saying, you know, we're not gonna let them hold us hostage anymore. And what happens after these votes, after these sessions, is the ones that don't vote with us, they come to us and they say, Well, I'm with you 80% of the time, I'm with you 90% of the time. And if not me, this other person's worse. Yeah, and then we kind of go, Oh man, they're right. You know, if it's if we don't support this other person, if they win, it's they're way worse. And we have to get out of that. We have to stop giving a fuck. Yeah, like you know, the you our support, our our money, our members' votes, our contributions, our door knocking, it is contingent on you supporting us. Yeah, when you stop supporting us, you lose that shit.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't give a fuck who's running against you. You know what I think we should do a better job of though, bro? Like, we're on here always talking the negative shit, which which is good. Like that's that's fine. Yeah, but what about the fucking yeses? Bro, right? There were some people who fucking literally are ready to ride and die with us. Yep. Right? Ruben DeSilva, the one who sticks out the most in my mind. Yep. Uh Danielle Minro Moreno, Sandra Hodgey. Hadgy. Like they should have our full and unwavering support. Yes, I agree. 100%. Yeah, run through the yeses. We we went through the no's, man. Let's see. You want to do that? Yes, on the assembly. No, let's start with the assembly. Okay. Where the bill started. Let's I think it's important, dude, to give thanks. Like, we don't do that enough. We're always so hard on the no's. Yeah. And then we're just like, well, we're they're expected to do that. Where you you have to understand there's two sides to the coin, brother, right? Like the way that we're fighting and talking, there's people doubling down and making it worse with bullying and threatening the yeses. Right? Yeah. And so we got to make sure we have their back just like they had ours. So we got to focus not only our attention just on the no's and holding them accountable, but also praising and giving thanks to those that voted yes. That's what we're doing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and you make a great point because the ones that voted yes are getting attacked by these fucking progressives and hard, dude. Now hard.
SPEAKER_01And we gotta give them cover that we we owe them. You know what's funny, dude. The last day, I'll tell this story. The last day, the bill dies in the Senate. We were one short. And I go to leave the building, and I'm with the sprinkler fitter and the operator, Keith and Mark. And we were outside, it's cold as shit. And I was like, Oh, let's just go get food, man. Like, this is unfortunate. Tommy White goes outside and he's like, Hey man, we should go say thank you to everybody. And I said, Yeah. We go back inside, and we're in the hallway. And I don't know if you've you've never been in the legislature, but the way it's set up is if you're looking at the building, on the left side of the building is the the Senate side, the right side is the assembly side. So when you walk in, you go right and you're at the um majority leader uh and and speaker's office to the right, and it's their chambers and and and uh and the their floor. On the left is the same, it's the Senate Majority Leader's office and the the Senate floor. So we go left because the Senate's still on the floor. And I walk in and I'm like, hey man, um Nicole's office is there, and I saw there was a little, they took a recess, and I'm like, hey, is Nicole in there? And there's like 15 fucking construction guys in the hallway standing in front of Nicole's office. It's Nicole's office, then the Senate floor. And Lech police comes out. They're thinking we're gonna start some shit. And somebody's like, you know, oh man, like, no, no, no, everyone relax. And I'm like, I'm relaxed, I'm just gonna say thank you, you know. And they're like, no, everyone calm down. And I'm like, I'm fucking calm. Yeah, like I'm calm. I just want to say thank you to Nicole. So it's like a big commotion, like it's weird, bro. It's like their tensions were so high, their defenses were up so high, they thought we were gonna cause trouble. Realistically, we were just gonna say thank you to the yeses and the no's. Like, hey, thank you for taking the vote, thank you for taking the time. So there were some senators coming in and out. We thanked them, you know, media's there and everything, and uh Nicole's in her office, and I I get called in there, and me and Tommy go in there, we tell her thank you. Um, you know, she tells us she tried her hardest, which I believe, man. You know, um, I know she tried her hardest, bro, because she she told us she had seven the uh Democrats that would vote for this, and there were four Republicans, and obviously we named two that fell off. Right. And there was actually eight Democrats that voted for it. So she even pulled one, bro. Right. Like, um, so we were just grateful and telling her thank you very much, you know. And uh it's funny on the way out, somebody's like, hey, you know, well, you guys gotta understand we didn't know how you guys were gonna react, and and uh, you know, it it's you guys are intimidating. You're just you know, and that's why people say you're a bully and like you're threatening. And I'm like, but if I'm not saying or doing anything and my just my presence is making you feel that way, that's a you problem, it's not a me fucking problem. And any elected that feels threatened by the presence of building trades members in that fucking building needs to go out to the community more because we're fucking everywhere, right? So that just tells me you're not even in touch with society, right? So here you are being an elected leader for society, and you're fucking scared of the presence, just the presence of construction workers, not just me, some of your guys. Yeah, and they're like, oh, well, they're intimidating looking. Well, did you go have a fucking conversation? So you're just allowed to come up with your own fucking assumption of what we're gonna say or do, and that's just the way it is. Your assumption is now the way it is. Fuck you, right? You know, fuck you, and fuck you for thinking that way, especially Democrats who are all about equality and everything else. It's it's shitty, bro, you know, and and it's fucked up. But but we we got a lot of that, dude. There was a lot of that like weird uh rumors and bullshit. I mean, um, but that that was it's really unfortunate to know that the presence of construction workers is intimidating and people are allowed to make their assumptions. Everyone's allowed to do whatever the fuck they want, but like have a conversation. Yeah, like just have a fucking cover because we were literally there just to say thank you. We took the bill dying with my opinion, with fucking class and respect. We said thank you to the yeses and the no's. I understand it was hard, like I said, about you know, some of these folks being nos. Um and we literally were just saying thank you. Yeah, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_00It was good, and so assembly. Um, some of the yeses was Brown May.
SPEAKER_01Tracy Brown May, yeah, dude. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00You know, uh obviously Max Carter.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Democrat. IBW. Yeah, IBW retiree. Yeah, he's a Democrat. Uh Cole. Lisa Cole's a Republican, dude. And and uh my hope is that she becomes a minority leader uh in that building. She worked very hard, she did well for the governor. I think she's a true soldier for the governor. And and again, everything's partisan, right? Republican, Democrat, but she understood the value. She understands that um if the highest ranking Republican in the state asks you to do something and it makes sense to you, you should do it. And and and I feel like working on both sides like that made sense. And she did she did her thing, man. Yeah, you know, she did good. Um Dahlia. Joe Dahlia is uh he was a yes, he's running for state treasurer. Oh, really? Yeah, he's running for state treasurer, he's a Democrat. DeLong. DeLong is a Republican. So another Republican that voted with us. Uh friend of the pod, da Silva. Ruben DeSilva, man, that guy. Rock star. He's a rock star, bro. And I hope his mental health's okay because he's getting fucked. Is he blowing up online, dude? Why? Because he's a yes. I mean, and again, dude, he's a yes. He makes things make sense. Yeah, he's a logical guy. He he is a uh you know me, he's the true American dude.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he's a teacher, right? And a lot of the teachers always oppose this stuff because you know anything that comes out of the general fund they think takes money away from them. So he's kind of going against some of his own people there. So he it took him a lot of cool.
SPEAKER_01Because of the pre-K stuff, right?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, yeah. Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Joan Ebert on there uh advocating for the bill. Yeah, like so it kind of takes that argument out. Flanagan. Uh, she's actually my assembly person, and she was a yes. Hibbits Republican, another Republican, yeah. He said our podcast changed his mind.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Our podcast with with uh David O'Reilly, bro. He'll he'll he'll tell you that. Nice. Maybe we should have him on. Yeah, Hunt. Linda Hunt. Uh she's a waitress at the El Cortez culinary member, voted yes. Nice. Howdy. Yes, obviously.
SPEAKER_00I mean, she's just the best, dude. She's good, dude. I hope she wins her nuts. Yeah, we need to we need to do everything we can, you know. And I don't know if I've talked about this before, but you know, she reached out to me and was like, hey, I want to buy your members lunch. And I'm like, what? She's like, yeah. I'm like, what is this for? Like, what's the angle? She's like, nothing. I just want to talk to them. And I'm so then I said some rules. I'm like, no cameras. And she's like, okay, don't post nothing on social media. She's like, okay, to see if it's real. And it was. She literally bought food, had my members come out. Uh, we invited all the building trades to the building. Um, anyone could come, and she went from table to table to table, and she just talked to people about issues that affect them.
SPEAKER_01I mean, that was all she wanted to do. People talking about stuff that has I mean, everything, I guess you could tie it back to the legislature, but there was like talking about their their uh the school zones or their fucking NV Energy bill. She was literally listening to the community, whether constituency or not, bro. She was yeah, look, that's the that's another thing that blows my mind with somebody like this. They only want to hear what their constituents say and not just Nevadans. Right. Right? Uh Karis. Retired I IBEW voted, yeah. Republic uh Democrat, Democrat. Kassama. Uh dude, so she is a Republican who is running for county commissioner uh for Jones's seat, but she voted yes. Really? Republican. Marzola? Democrat voted yes, new chair, hopefully the new uh speaker of the assembly. Miller. Brittany Miller, teacher, she voted yes. Solid, solid, solid. Bro, a lot of people talk a lot of shit about her for some. I don't know why, dude. I don't know why. Um, I've watched her hearings in her committee. A lot of people talk a lot of shit, dude, but she's a real human. I feel like I feel like when you're in the middle and you're a common sense person, people attack you. Yeah, that's how we feel.
SPEAKER_00I mean, that's how you I mean that's literally what happened over there. There was the far left and the far right, and they attacked us in the middle who won the the film bill. That that is exactly what I feel like happened. Umro Moreno.
SPEAKER_01She was a yes running for North Las Vegas mayor next. More. She flipped from a no to a yes, and same thing. She got attacked pretty heavy. Uh Democrat. Mosca. Democrat East Side. Nadim. She flipped from a no to a yes, and she got a lot of pressure, bro. She got a lot of pressure. The people were oh the people were pressuring her to vote no. So not a lot of pressure to vote yes. That that I know of. I didn't speak to her. I just told her thank you after the vote. I took a picture with her in Ruben. And uh I I was grateful for her vote, man. Yeah. When? Uh Yui Wynn. He voted yes, Democrat. O'Neal. PK O'Neal is a Republican. Uh, he voted yes. Yep, thank you. Uh Patchett. New guy. He's the guy who uh in the media said he was confused when they tried to kill the bill in the beginning. And uh he he Is he a Democrat or Republican? He's a Republican. Okay, yeah. I think he he replaced uh I want to say Toby York. All right, and then Jaeger.
SPEAKER_00Steve Yeager, speaker Yeager voted yes, man. Yeah. And and I mean pushed pushed for the bill, right? I mean, had to do had to do some things uh to to to get it through.
SPEAKER_01There was some it was crazy. Somebody went to uh speak, I think it was Watts, and he's like, I'm choosing not to recognize you right now, dude. And they it is what it is, right? The rules are the rules. Like everybody wants to play by the rules until they're not in their favor, right? Right. All right, moving on to the Senate.
SPEAKER_00Obviously, uh the leader Ken Nazaro.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, voted yes, Democrat. She did good, man. Senate majority leader Ken Dazaro. Man, I'm grateful for her and her leadership. Absolutely. Um, she's she's just amazing.
SPEAKER_00She's an amazing person.
SPEAKER_01Uh, you know, Daily. Skip, yeah, uh retired uh Lyuna member in the North. Labor guy. Labor guy. Um Don Don Donate Don Daryloup. No, uh Donate. Oh, Fabian Donate. Donate. Yeah, Fabian. I call him Donate. Uh, yeah, he's a culinary kid. His parents are culinary members. Um, young guy. He catches a lot of shit too, just because uh he voted for the A's and and this, you know, he took a different approach, but he did good, man. He did good. I I appreciate him. We had great conversations after session and uh came to a lot of understanding of more so personality things for the both of us, but um, I think he's uh he's he's gonna be a rising star. Don Darrell Loop. Yes. Uh she the the studio was actually in her district, but yeah, she she hung tough, man. She voted yes. Krasner. Uh Krasner is a Republican. Nice. And she she held strong. She got a lot of pressure. A lot of pressure. She did, man. What about what this is an interesting one, Neil. Dina Neil voted yes, and according to her floor speech, it was a yes 100% uh loyalty to Nicole.
SPEAKER_00Right. Didn't her speech didn't sound like she was a yes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh she kind of made it very clear that she wasn't doing this for Hollywood, she wasn't doing this for uh, you know, the movie studios or uh Howard Hughes, which is w we're not doing it for that either, right? We're doing it for our members. Correct. Uh but you know, she gave uh a pretty scolding speech about the pressures uh that were put upon her and her uh colleagues um and how she didn't really appreciate it, but that she uh respected Canazaro and had already let Canazaro know that she was a yes, and so she was gonna stick with that with that vote. But she gave a very interesting, uh very interesting floor speech.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um and then is it Wynn again? Are there two wins?
SPEAKER_01Uh yes, non-related to my knowledge. Okay. But yeah, Rochelle. Oh, Rochelle. Yeah, Senator Rochelle Wynn. Yeah, she was she was making some magic back there, trying to do her best. Yeah. So there's talk she she may be the next Senate majority leader, but that's an internal vote between them, so we'll see how that shakes out. Uh Oranschau. Yeah. Orange, yeah, Oranschau. Oranschau. Uh he's uh Democrat on the east side as well. My senator, Pasina. Julie Pazina, yeah. Yeah, man. She voted yes, Democrat. And then Steinbeck. John Steinbeck, firefighter. He Republican voted yes. Those two stuck stuck to their guns. There was a lot of pressure on those two Republicans, man. Yeah, which is crazy, man, because you would think like people would be men or women of their words. So shout out to those that stuck by their guns, man, and and held strong, man. Really, really grateful and appreciative, even though the bill didn't pass. I mean, sometimes, like, you know, we talk all the time, man. Like, your word is all you really got. So those who said they were yeses and now are no's or or you know, how could you ever be trusted again? How could anyone take anything you say seriously? Right.
SPEAKER_00So, I mean, we look, we went through the the the process, right? What how how this thing kind of went down from beginning to end? Uh we have called out all the no's, we've given flowers to all the yeses. Uh so now, you know, anyone listening knows that at least the name of every uh legislator that that's up there. What uh what surprised you the most? Um, walking away, looking at the whole thing, what what was it uh up there that you think surprised you the most? Or was there anything that surprised you?
SPEAKER_01I think the camaraderie between the brothers and sisters of the unions, sticking strong, um, not fighting, not arguing, nobody doing no backdoor deals. Right. That was the best thing for me. That was it was surprising because every other session um there will be an elected official to plant a seed in one union lobbyist's head to kind of split us up and divide us so that they could cover their own asses with a no. And our guys held strong as well. Yeah. Our guys held strong. I wasn't the only one that had to buy new clothes because I thought we're gonna be up there. Everyone, right? Like there's a lot that goes into it, man. And so I was surprised by the amount of people who stood there, stood strong. Um, I'm again our side on the lobbyist side, I I'm very proud of our brothers and sisters that stood up there to fight for their members, man, and didn't start no shit with each other. It was amazing, dude. And that's that that was a true testament to solidarity for for the unions.
SPEAKER_00Um, and so we had uh, you know, obviously we had. The CEO of Howard Hughes on um pretty early. Uh have you had any chance to talk to him since since the bill?
SPEAKER_01We did and it went okay, man. It was just more like, you know, um, thank you. He was grateful uh to work with us. And an another thing that's good I that could come out of this is a relationship between me and Howard Hughes and and carry on conversations when it comes to construction. So we it wasn't a total lost, bro, right? Like uh there was an appropriations bill where UNR and UNLV got new buildings, and I was able to talk with them about getting project labor agreements on both buildings and uh another small victory there, right? And so there's a lot, dude. There's a lot that came out of this bill, even though we didn't get the full meal, the appetizers and dessert, bro. I'm uh it's enough to keep me happy.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Uh and I I mean I think this is a great episode to kind of put a bow on this thing because I know, you know, when we started this podcast, you know, the goal was like to bring issues and topics and things that our members would be interested in, right? Educate them on on kind of unionism and how the union works and what we do, right? And it and just because of the timing, it was kind of overtaken by the studios bill, right? Just because when we started it was when this whole thing was really reving up and getting going. Uh, and I kind of think this is like the perfect episode to kind of put a bow on this thing and and keep it moving, right? I mean, the the labor movement doesn't die. Uh we just keep on, we keep moving forward. Uh I know I'm super proud of you uh for representing us up there. Um I'm excited for what the future holds, you know. Uh organized labor has never been so organized. Uh and and any of the people up there in that legislature um that are not our friends and that do not have our back, I think should be worried. Yeah, they should absolutely be worried because we are not going away. Um, and all that tough talk that we talked before this session happened, we are going to carry that out. Uh, we are on a mission now because what's crazy is we're rolling right into an election cycle. And then once that's over, you roll right into another a session. You know what I mean? It's like it never ends. You know, it doesn't end, dude. And uh, you know, what's one of the things your biggest uh learning lesson? What do you think you learned from this special session that you think you can take with you uh moving forward?
SPEAKER_01I think the thing that I learned the most from this special session is making sure elected officials they're not the ones that get to decide whether or not they're friends of labor. Yeah. That it's us that get to decide. Yeah. So they could think they are in their minds and they could talk it, but your feet gotta match your mouth, man. Yeah. You know what I mean? Because if you don't, you ain't shit. Yeah. You ain't shit. You're just a fucking liar.
SPEAKER_00Right. And so I know uh, you know, not not to get off topic, but I know that the the billing trades is, you know, very focused on this bill. But while this bill's going, you know, we've been very focused on community benefit agreements with the county, uh with the city, with the school district. Um, and you know, now it's time to to really start focusing on that.
SPEAKER_01Bro, the job is more than just legislation for me and for you and for everybody. We have a hundred thousand other fucking things to do. It does feel good that this is done and over with. Sure. Um, obviously, again, I'm not happy with the outcome, but dude, we have so much other shit to do, so much other shit to focus on, not just the elections, not just session. Right. But dude, we we have actual fucking jobs. And like I told people, they were like, This isn't my identity. Politics is not my fucking identity. Unfortunately, it is part of the job, and so I have to play in politics, but it's not who I am. And like I I said in one of my posts on social media, I will always go to war for working people. Yeah, and it doesn't stop here. I don't fucking quit. I'm not gonna stop. And that's not just talking elections or anything, that's for all things working people. This is what the fuck we do. This is not about uh progressive or conservative needs. This is the needs of working fucking people who I represent and I fucking love them and I will go to fucking war, I'll walk through hell for them. Right. And I did, and I have, and I'll continue to fucking do it because, like you said, bro, until my members think that I am not a good representative or that I become too self-serving, I will continue to fucking do that. And I told you this many times the moment that you think I become bigger than the organization, it's time for me to fucking go. Right. Right. And I'll vote you out. Yeah, vote me out. I voted you in. Voted me in, you can vote me out, dude. And I'm and I will take that with pride in my head because that means it's time for me to fucking go. Right. Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_00I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon. I appreciate it, brother. So now, you know, a lot of people have asked, okay, so now it's it's over, we're done, we're moving forward. Uh, do you think we'll get a movie studio? Do you think it's gonna happen sometime in the future? Do you think it's completely dead and we'll never never look back? Or what do what are your thoughts on on you know Hollywood 2.0 ever coming to Southern Nevada?
SPEAKER_01It's too soon to say. Yeah. It's too soon to say. Um it's really hard. We we're competing with other states to bring economic development here. Right. And I feel like Nevada doesn't fully understand that yet. Like that's the way that business is done now.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01Um, with all states, all states that have that money. And I'm I'm not the economist. I leave that to you know, Jeremy Aguero and Guy Hobbs and the people that went to college. People who went to college for numbers and to do these things. And you know, I you know what's crazy, and I'm not trying to put him on blast, but I was hoping that like Zach Conai would have weighed in a little bit more. Yeah. You know, our state treasurer to try to make the numbers make sense. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean he he weighed in on the A's. He did. He he weighed in and said, Hey, this this makes sense. And uh yeah, he was pretty um pretty silent on this uh on this topic. And I don't know, maybe we can have him on here because he's running for uh attorney general, right? Hey G. Um, and so yeah, I think a lot of these people uh that are our friends, and I consider Zach Conan a friend of labor, yeah. Uh always has been. He's running he's running against Nicole, who's also a friend of labor, and so that's a tough that's a tough race for us, yeah, right, to to throw our hat in. But I think uh because it's election uh season, I think people are gonna want to come on here and kind of give their side of the story. And uh I think we should let them. And I think it's a an awesome way for our members to kind of get an inside peek into the minds of of these people because the the clips you see on TV, right? These commercials that are paid for by the group of they're all bullshit, right? On both sides. Uh the mailers that you get in the mail are all scare tactics, usually bullshit from both sides. But to have them come out here on this on this podcast and talk to us like a real person, I think is the best kind of uh media that that we can get to our members. So I'm excited to see who comes and who doesn't, yeah, right?
SPEAKER_01I think it's pretty telling me too, man. I think uh it's exciting because this is a direct line to our membership. Like we talked about, not everybody could make every union meeting and and that's only one union. And this podcast is designed to reach out to all construction trades, right? Not just one north, south. I mean, dude, I get people from Cali hitting me up everywhere, so it's good, man. Awesome. You got anything else you want to kind of put a bow on this thing and move on with our lives? I'm fucking ready to move on, dude. I'm so fucking tired of it, and I'm sleepy, bro.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, tool of the week. I mean, tool of the week, I think is how can it not be LaRue Hatch? I mean, she's gotta be the tool of the week, right? Is there anyone is there any bigger bigger tool that you can think of than what she's doing?
SPEAKER_01That might be tool of the year. Yeah, tool of the decade. Yeah. Uh for me, dude, it's it's the people who said they were gonna vote for it that lied. Tool of the week. Stone and uh who is the other one? Uh Stone and Allison. Allison. Yeah, Allison. Both of them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. We'll have the governor. The governor will come on and tell us what happened. He should know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. The governor, man, I hope he comes on. He said he he said he's committed. So we'll see. Hopefully he holds true. We'll see. I hope he does. Me too. I think it'd be interesting. That'd be good shit. All right, big dog. Right on, brother. Yep. All right. Thank you all. Thank you.