Sisolak’s ‘Two Economies’ Ad Fact-Checked by the Nevada Indy

Governor Steve Sisolak announced a new campaign ad, entitled “Two Economies” that claims Nevada’s economy is rated “best in America”:

In Nevada, unemployment is dropping and we have the fastest employment growth in the nation.

But I know Nevadans are feeling the rise in costs.
I’m making investments in affordable housing, child care, and education so our state stays affordable for everyone.

New 📺 ad: pic.twitter.com/0H7dPyg2Gf

— Steve Sisolak (@SteveSisolak) July 5, 2022

As reported by The Nevada Independent:

Gov. Steve Sisolak’s campaign is launching its first ad of the 2022 general election with a heavy focus on economic issues.

Entitled “Two Economies,” the ad features Sisolak speaking directly on the state’s positive macroeconomic trends coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, while acknowledging rising consumer costs for “housing prices, gas, groceries.”

“I get it,” he says, before touting the state’s proposed American Rescue Plan spending on programs for child care, affordable housing and tuition-free community college, and reiterating a pledge for “no new taxes.”

The six-figure ad buy will start running Tuesday digitally and in Reno and Las Vegas media markets. Shortly after the state’s June primary, Sisolak’s campaign placed a $6 million general election ad reservation.

Following their report, Sean Golonka of the Nevada Independent fact-checked Sisolak’s claims in a series of tweets and simply destroys the campaign’s narrative:

Quick fact check on Gov. @SteveSisolak's new campaign ad 👇

In the ad, Sisolak says, "Our economy is rated best in America."

That statement stretches the truth from the original State Policy Reports' index it cites as evidence, which ranked Nevada first in "economic momentum." https://t.co/UH6lN77iHi

— Sean Golonka (@s_golonka) July 5, 2022

The new Sisolak ad references a KSNV headline from April. That story, like the press release from the governor's office that it mostly copies, inaccurately described the findings of the report as ranking Nevada's economy as first in the nation. pic.twitter.com/DJsCFhZspV

— Sean Golonka (@s_golonka) July 5, 2022

What also destroys Sisolak’s economic narrative is reality.

When Sisolak outlined his spending spree in his State of the State address, he detailed numerous ways to spend billions of taxpayer dollars in order to fix the many problems the state has suffered during his administration. Naming the address “Nevada on the Move,” many were wondering who was moving, where they were going, how they were going to get there, and to where, exactly? With skyrocketing gas prices, many of us were asking how much it was going to cost us to move.

Yet, Sisolak answered those questions by outlining his spending spree of the once-in-a-lifetime $6.7 billion federal tax dollars the state received from the American Rescue Plan. At a time of historic inflation, spending billions of taxpayer dollars on growing government and dependency would be the last action any reasonable economist would advise.

Nevadans are hit the hardest by Sisolak and Biden’s spending sprees. In a report released by the United States Congressional Joint Economic Committee, prices increased 12.7 percent from January 2021 to April 2022 in Nevada, costing the average Nevada household $686 last month alone. Even if prices stop increasing altogether, the inflation that has already occurred will cost the average Nevada household $8,231 over the next 12 months.

In the wake of Sisolak’s shutdowns during the pandemic, the unemployment rate remains the second highest in the country and small businesses were forced into bankruptcy. The National Bureau of Economic Research gave Nevada a “D” rating for its economic response to COVID, while Politico ranked Nevada as having the second-worst pandemic response in the entire country.

According to the Pahrump Valley Times:

Some 270,000 small businesses were operating in Nevada in 2019, with small businesses employing roughly 40 percent of the state’s workforce, a federal report said. During the pandemic, more than 35 percent of those businesses shuttered their doors for good, according to Lt. Gov. Lisa Cano Burkhead.

As Nevadan’s struggle to make ends meet in a state economy that has the third highest unemployment rate in the country, a recent poll showed that the standard of living for 40% of Nevadans is worse than it was four years ago.

Although the governor has publicly claimed that he had never raised taxes during his four year term, he fails to mention that in 2019 he signed Democratic legislation that extended the business tax and a DMV surcharge. However, the legislation was met with a lawsuit led by State Senator James Settlemeyer which claimed that the legislation did not meet the state’s constitutional requirement of a 2/3 majority to raise taxes. The Nevada Supreme Court agreed.

In 2021, Steve Sisolak successfully signed a mining tax increase. Sisolak  said that he was “so proud” of it.

As Sisolak spends $6 million in ads to convince them that the Nevada economy is the best in the nation, he claims he “gets it”. Sisolak did get $23 million from Nevada tax payers after he sued Clark County, yet according to the Nevada Independent, polls, and reality, Sisolak doesn’t get that, come November, Nevadan’s may not forget about his failed, economic record.

Elizabeth Ray, Lombardo for Nevada Spokesperson, publicly stated: “Steve Sisolak is trying to gaslight Nevadans and confuse them about his economic record. Despite his best efforts, Nevadans won’t forget how Sisolak raised taxes, shut down the economy, closed small businesses, and contributed to Bideninflation.”