The Scoop with Tanya Flanagan

Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a Kun V studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Tanya Flanagan 0:19
Good morning, and thank you for joining me for the scoop with Tanya Flanagan, I'm so happy you decided to wake up and start your day with me here on the scoop, where we talk about life, joy, funny moments, trending topics and so much more. We promise to keep you in the know and find out what you know. So let's get started.

You Good morning Las Vegas, and welcome to another edition of the scope with me. Time to Flanagan. As always, I'm super delighted to have you tune in and grateful for the opportunity to share with you. I am also always excited about my guests, and I hope that you get excited about them as well. This morning, I'd like to welcome to the studio with me, or to the show with me. Assemblyman. Steve Yeager, good

Steve Yeager 1:07
morning. Good morning. Thanks for having me today.

Tanya Flanagan 1:11
Thank you for being here, folks. Just so you know this portion of the shows from this point forward through June will probably be coming to you from Carson City from the Nevada State legislature from the 83rd session, and I will try to bring you some interesting conversations about what is going on up here in Carson City. And so my first gift in this series of shows is the Speaker of the House for the assembly, democratic assembly, assembly party on the Democratic side. But I just want to take a moment to allow him to introduce himself a little bit more and tell you some of his background and how he came to be in this space.

Steve Yeager 1:50
Yeah. Well, thanks for having me again. It's an honor to be here. And you know, sometimes I don't know how I got into politics, but here, here I am. So you know, when I first moved to Las Vegas. I was a public defender. I did that work for a number of years, and I got involved in politics a little bit back then, just lobbying on behalf of issues, criminal justice, issues that mattered to the public defender's office. And then I got recruited by our former speaker, Jason Frierson. He said, Hey, I think you should run for office. I didn't really know what that entailed. That was back in 2014 actually, and I decided to run, and I lost my first election, which was really, really difficult. And I was like, I'm never doing that again, because that was a bad experience. But I was talked back into it in 2016 and and thankfully, I've won every time since then. And as I've been in the building, I've sort of moved up the ranks. And when Speaker fireson got appointed as US attorney, I became the acting speaker and then was voted in. So this will be my second session as the speaker, which is a really, really cool thing to be able to do.

Tanya Flanagan 2:54
Well, I want to say personally, say, Thank you for your service in this capacity as a servant leader, and thank you for being such a good role model and a mentor to so many people in that space, young legislators who come behind you. I know we really look up to you for your leadership, your thought process and just your willingness to kind of always wrap your arms around us and make sure you're guiding us through this journey to the best of the ability, but at the same time allowing those people who are elected to find their own way in this space. And so I just want to say thank you for that.

Steve Yeager 3:29
Well, you are. You're very welcome, and thank you for throwing your hat in the ring and running. You know, one of the biggest challenges that we have, and I think one of my biggest responsibilities, is to make sure that we have really good legislators coming up through the process. And thankfully, we have a really good crop of new legislators this cycle and this session. And you are, of course, one of those. So thanks for being willing to do it, and I look forward to working together well.

Tanya Flanagan 3:54
Thank you. Well, folks, we're in the first week of the legislative session. We just wrapped that up, and so there's not a lot of heavy, deep stuff we're going to dive into. But I don't think people at home really have any idea from type of what goes on up here in Carson City, in the state's capital when we come together. And so I thought this would be a fun opportunity before we get too deep into the weeds, into the long nights and the hairy days, and you start looking in the mirror, going, what was I thinking? Just to kind of have a conversation about how this first week has gone. The opening ceremonies were on Monday, so I just thought it would be cool to have you on to talk about that and see how you feel after week number one, what you've noticed, and just and help people understand how to participate in this process, if they're at home, going, gee, how do we even keep up with what the legislative, you know, body is doing? So,

Steve Yeager 4:48
yeah, I mean, it's been an exciting, exciting week. It's been been a long week, but the opening day was Monday, and that's always one of my favorite days, because, you know, after a really hard, fought election, you get to find. To get sworn in. And so it's a day when you have your family friends there. It's largely ceremonial, but it's the first time you're actually there in the assembly chamber as a as a legislator. And so it's a nice opportunity for folks to really thank their supporters and family members for all of the help along the way. This year was a little interesting, because we had some weather issues. There was a lot of wind in Reno, so that made, made it difficult to get up to Reno from Las Vegas. So I would say that was unusual on the first day to have so many flight delays. But I think all of us made it there, and then all of us made it out, which was a very good thing. It just took a little bit longer than we're used to.

Tanya Flanagan 5:37
Yeah, that was Harry, I have to say, having to be my first ceremony of being sworn in, people have asked me, what was my favorite part of it, and really it was listening to each elected official in the on the assembly side, in the in the assembly house, go through and introduce the guests that they had with them, on the floor and just in the chamber And the gallery, and talking about the sacrifices and contributions that each one of those people had made to help them get to that day of actually being sworn in and being recognized. And I think for me, that was I was fortunate to have my dad, my 86 year old father, was there. My niece was on the floor with me, my middle niece, who I really have probably one of my closest relationships with, because I've had her since she was a baby, and she was born before I even turned 15. So I've just been I've watched this young girl grow up to be like a daughter to me, and then my best friend of 41 years, who's a principal in Arizona, was there. And then I had some cool folks in the gallery to both of my good friends, both named Eric, one, helped me start for people who have heard me talk about the Urban League young professionals. They helped me start that organization. And then my bonus needs Brianna, who works in daycare and started out as a young girl and decided in her 20s to do a day a childcare service. So she came up, and it was just really neat to have family and friends there to support me who have supported me on the journey. Made the sacrifices made the campaign contributions helped me go through and knock doors or put together events. And it is just really heartwarming to see people thank their loved ones and spouses who made the sacrifices, sang up late nights and understood the demand it places on your life and the time you cannot give to them because you're giving it to the community in the campaign space to get to this point, to be here to serve. And I think it's really heartwarming. And then the other fun part is to watch the fashions and people run around and meet each other for the first time. And there was a social media clip that was done capturing some of the folks and what they had on at the legislative session and at the opening day. And I thought that was too funny, and I told a young lady who used to be in the indie and Nevada independent reporter, I said, I think you're onto something. If you walk around and capture the looks of the lettuce place for this session, I think it'll be one of the most watched things that people would tune into. But it was funny to

Steve Yeager 8:11
me. Yeah, no, those are, those are great points, and it's a really good fun first day. And you know, if your listeners don't know, we are part time legislators in Nevada. So that means we all have other jobs that we do. And so it really is a team effort to run a campaign and then to come up during the session, because, you know, most of us live in Las Vegas, so we have to either relocate up to Carson City for four months, or we have to fly back and forth. And, you know, obviously can't do that without a lot of support back home. And so the first day is our chance to thank everyone for helping us get there, and to thank them for the sacrifices they're going to make on our behalf for the next 120

Tanya Flanagan 8:46
days. Yeah. So for these 120 days, people will, will, will review a number of those, like hundreds of bills. There's also a way that you can track those bills. Speaker, yeah, if you want to talk a little bit about everything that we set up and put in place. It's super engaging, whether you're coming up to testify, if you are concerned with a deal, whether it's on education or health care or insurance or whatever might be coming before the two houses, the Senate House, the assembly house. You can listen down in Las Vegas, you can tune in, you can give public comment, and you can come up here and spend some time as well, and you can also track it using the nose device. So if you can talk about the different tools and resources that have been put in place to allow people to participate in the process, and we know the progress that has been made to do that, yeah,

Steve Yeager 9:38
well, we know not everyone can participate every hour of every day in politics, and we don't want you to. That's why you elect us to do that work on your behalf. But we have tried to make it as easy as possible for people who want to engage, to engage. So the first place to go is the legislature's website. There's tons of information there. Every single document we look at, every single bill that gets written, every single hearing, we have. Can be found there. We archive video court, all of our hearings. And then, you know, we have a really nice new legislative building down in Las Vegas, just south of the airport. So if you want to be there in person and sort of testify through like video conference, you don't have to come all the way up to Carson City. You can actually do that from Las Vegas, which is really nice. And you can, you know, send emails. You can send letters. I think the best thing to do for anybody that wants to really be involved in the process is go to legislatures website. There's a link there where you can click on it. It says who is my legislator, and you put in your address, and that's going to tell you who your senator is and who your assembly member is. And you should reach, you should reach out to them, send them an email, just introduce yourself and say, This is who I am. I live in your district, and I'm interested in these kind of issues. You know, maybe, if it's healthcare, can you say, could you keep me updated? You're going to be surprised. Most legislators will respond to those communications, and that way you'll sort of get it straight from the horse's mouth about what's going on up there. And you know, we really take those communications seriously. And you know, if you're having issues finding what you need, we can put you in touch with folks who work for us. We have great staff that are really helpful. So we try to make it as easy as possible, because we know not everyone can follow this minute by minute and day by day. And so there's a lot of good resources out there for whatever you're interested in, absolutely

Tanya Flanagan 11:17
and also, folks, there's some fun days that go on as a legislative session, and if those topics are of interest to you, you're more than welcome to come up and participate. I know the black Legislative Council is having a Black History Month celebration on February 18, and people are welcome to come up and participate in that. As you all know, I'm a huge healthcare advocate, and Cancer Awareness Day is going to be March 24 I'm also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and so the Alpha Kappa Alpha Day at the Capitol will be March 24 as well. I believe I was talking with Assembly Member Ruben da Silva and his fraternities, Phi Beta Sigma is having their day on I want to say it's March 27 so there's just the number of days. Delta, sigma, theta, is slated to join us on Monday, February 10, so there's just the love, which is tomorrow. But there's a lot going on up here at the legislature, and there are a lot of causes and groups that come up to make sure we're aware of how issues pertain are important to them, and things that we need to think about and be mindful of. And I think I said this in a meeting this past week that I matter of fact, we had a meeting in Reno where some community members came out to a church there, and they talked with members of the Black Legislative Caucus from both the Senate and the Assembly. And I said to them, it's really important to hear perspectives from our constituents, because I've lived my life, but I am not the resident expert on all things that may happen to black people in society, and so my experience isn't your experience. And so I need to hear what you've gone through. And that goes for anyone. My experience as an American, as a resident of Nevada, isn't your experience, and so the things that you're going through, I need to understand that, because it helps us to be sensitive and to shape the laws that help to govern the state and make it as fair and equitable as we possibly can for those of us who are going to live by these rules. And so your participation is crucial and so important, yeah,

Steve Yeager 13:16
you know. And to that point, you know, if you have an idea for legislation, or you see something out in the world, and you say, Well, why do we do it that way? That seems really foolish. Don't assume that your legislator knows that. Contact your legislator and ask, say, why do we do it this way? Can we change it? And you know, some, some of the bills that I've done over the years, they've come straight from constituents of mine who have reached out with some issue that I didn't know about. And the more I looked into it, I said they're absolutely right. Why would we? Why do we do it this way? We should change the law so, you know, you can really participate directly in that process. I think Nevada, it probably has the most accessible legislature in the entire country, like I've talked to a lot of legislators from other states, and it's not the same way. They don't necessarily have that one on one contact with their constituents, but we really do here in the state, so don't be shy about reaching out about something we want to we're there to help, and we want to make our state better. I think that

Tanya Flanagan 14:09
point that you make is super crucial, because I've always that's one of the things I've always appreciated about Nevada and that I've always touted when I'm in conversations with people around the country. Matter of fact, I had a friend of a friend who was in town one holiday weekend, and it was Memorial Day weekend, and so I told him, sure, I'll come and get you for food or coffee or whatever. And hey, there was a barbecue today, and you can come with me. And it happened to be a Greek barbecue, so the sorority just fraternities had gotten together. But what was neat about it was, when I brought him out, I was able to say to him, this person is the Attorney General for the state of Nevada. And he looked at me like, Oh my gosh. And this is a North Las Vegas judge. And here, this person over here works at one of our universities in a really important capacity of legal counsel to that university. And he was like, so what you're saying? Me is we're at a barbecue on a Sunday afternoon, and all these people are elected officials, are elected adjacent and I was like, I hadn't thought about it. But yes, in this group, you have the CEO or director for the ACLU, you have and I think that's the neat part about our state. We're like mighty but also small enough to be intimate and to be connected, and I think it makes a huge difference in allowing residents to have their voices heard, because you really are one to two. They say it's six degrees of separation, but I feel like in Nevada, there's only a couple degrees of separation, and you can touch the person that you need to touch, or get in touch with them so easily to have a conversation about something that concerns you in the political space, or in, you know, in a legal, legislative, law enforcing way, where policy needs to be affected, or at least considered, to make change and make something better for people in their everyday lives. And I think that's one of the neat things about how we're connected as a community here in the state of Nevada, from the top to the bottom, I really believe that, yeah, absolutely

Steve Yeager 16:11
agree. Agree. Agree 100% it's just, you know, people are here for the right reasons. They want to make positive changes, and so, you know, I know sometimes people feel intimidated, like I can't reach out to an elected official, I assure you that you can, and if they're any good at their job at all, they'll be responsive to you. I

Tanya Flanagan 16:29
don't want to take the time and not touch a little bit on some legislation that people might want to watch this session. Don't want to dive too deep. It's super early, and some of that is still being introduced, but you've talked about getting in, getting into the space as a public defender, any legislation that you want to point out to people, great accomplishments in the years that you served in different sessions over the years, or that might be coming, that's worth, you know, putting into hot buttons or interesting, passionate things you Want to share, talk about that you bring in or,

Steve Yeager 17:03
you know, I think what originally got me interested in politics was was criminal justice, because I was in that system, and, you know, I saw a lot of inequities in the criminal justice system. And I think not just in the criminal justice space, but in a lot of other spaces. Our state has finally gotten smart and decided we should make decisions based on data rather than anecdotes or stories. And so in the criminal justice space, I think we've done a really good job of doing that. Leaning more on specialty courts to help people with their issues. You're supposed to try to correct people's issues, and just incarcerating them without any kind of correction is not helpful. So I've done a lot of work in that space, and I think we'll continue to try to fine tune that it's very labor intensive, but I believe that everybody is worth saving, and everybody is capable of being redeemed. So I want to continue to invest there. And, you know, I think beyond that, anyone who lives in our state just knows that housing is a real issue. Right now, we don't have enough housing. It's too expensive, so we're going to be working on some solutions there, and that includes trying to keep renters in their place. We have some of the harshest eviction laws in the country. It's very easy to get evicted here, and you know, when someone gets evicted, you know, they got to go somewhere, and they've got to rely on social services. So that's the cost that affects all of us. You know, beyond that, I say the other big two are health care, health care, affordability, prescription drug prices, lack of having enough doctors and access. So we'll continue to look at those programs. And you know, it's sort of a near and dear to my heart. The last couple of sessions has been our public education system. And we have not, as a state, prioritized investing in public education. And I think that was because, particularly in Las Vegas, there was just a time where you could really not need much of an education. You could still make a lot of money. I mean, you could valet park cars and make over $100,000 a year like that. Those jobs aren't here anymore. They've been outsourced or contracted. So just getting back to that fundamental principle of let's invest in a way that reflects our values. So you saw huge increases in public education funding and in teacher pay, and the last session, those are going to take some time to bear fruit, but worth the investment. And I'll continue to fight to protect those investments, and I'm not interested in the conversation of using our tax money for private schools. I think we need to do right by our public schools. So I think those are probably the three big ones to watch almost every session, is housing, healthcare and education. I'm

Tanya Flanagan 19:30
glad you shared that with our listeners, and I am sitting on the Education Committee while I'm up here in this session, and I'm also sitting on government affairs, and the two are somewhat tied together, and revenue, which is also patented, I think money, education, health care, three time, breast cancer survivor, and I've talked about that numerous times on the show. So I'm watching things in a health care space, and I'm hoping to make some contributions in that space as well, with a couple of bills that are being introduced that diving into them this morning because. As still working on some of the language that affects that stuff, but education, hearing lots of information from the agencies that work to educate our children, educate young people from K through 12, primarily, and then even in the higher education system. So we're having some really important conversations, and I'm learning a lot as a freshman legislator about what goes on and how agencies function, the interaction and the responsibility of the state on the funding side, on the regulatory side. So I invite those who are listening to pay attention, to be engaged, to learn more, and don't think that your work is done once you cast your ballot at the voting poll, and you put this person in office because your support is needed, your communication is needed, your engagement is so important. One of the things I like to do when people come on the show speaker Yeager is kind of have a little bit of a man on the street segment, and this is where people get a chance to hear more about who you are and how you pick and the things that you like. I also like to make sure before we get to the end of the show, any social media that you like to share, so that people know where to find you. You have an opportunity to do that and not rush through it. So before we start to get towards the end, I'd like to invite you to if you want to share handles that allow people to follow you if they would like to you may invite them to do so and share that information visiting Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Steve Yeager 21:29
Yeah, absolutely. So if you want to sort of follow me on the official sort of political side, you can find me on Facebook at Assemblyman Steve Yeager. If you just search for that, you'll find me. And then I do have an X account, which is speaker Jaeger NV for Nevada, and then same on blue sky. Have that official account if you want more sort of fun, non political stuff Instagram. And you'll find me there at at Steve Jaeger NV, and that's where I post a lot of photos about food and hiking and running. So I try to keep those accounts separate. So depending on what you're looking for, you can check out one of those.

Tanya Flanagan 22:06
And I promise you, folks, Dave is one of the most fun people I have ever met. I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know you, and I want to take this moment to allow them get to know you a little bit better, too. So if I had to say most amazing place you've ever traveled to, where would that be? Oh,

Steve Yeager 22:22
I love Japan. So my, my wife, is half Japanese, and we've spent quite a bit of time in Japan over the years. So I just, I love that country, love the culture, love the food. So I would say that's probably the best place. And we were just there, actually back in, back in November, right after the election. So it's fresh on my mind.

Tanya Flanagan 22:44
Oh, that's cool. So best, favorite dish, and you talked about being a foodie, and you hinted the Japanese food is at the top of the list, but as a foodie, what's one of your I don't know, maybe top two or three dishes.

Steve Yeager 22:59
Oh, yeah. I mean, any anything Japanese I'm I just, I love Japanese food. I don't know what it is. It's one thing I miss the most when I'm in Carson City, because we don't have a lot of Japanese food here. So be down in Las Vegas, you know, I would say that, and then it's hard to pick because I really do love, like, every kind of food. It just sort of depends what I'm in the mood for. But you know, you can't beat a great burger or a great steak, and we have a lot of those kind of places, obviously, in Las Vegas. So yeah, I'm willing to try anything, any kind of food. I'll try at least once, and most of them will try two or three or four times. Just to be sure

Tanya Flanagan 23:35
that's fair, I like to try anything at least once. I said that in that chat octopus the summer of one of my because it was my 50th birthday, as I start to kind of reveal my age, but we were in San Diego in the Balboa Park area, and popped into a restaurant and we had charred octopus. And ever since, whenever I see it on the menu, I'm always willing to go in and go, Yeah, let's try the octopus appetizers. Usually so tasty, and it's surprisingly a nice, firm seafood, and it's very pleasant in flavor. So for those of you listening to try something different, octopus should be something you might want to put on your lips. Favorite music, top two or three bands that you're super, super into in the past, even if it's changing, what you're into now. Who's in your ear?

Steve Yeager 24:20
Yeah, I'm a little bit of a homer in that way. I love the killers. I think it's so great that they're from Las Vegas, and, you know, they're still, still making really great music. So they've been one, and Imagine Dragons too. They they were in Vegas for a while, and their lead singer actually was my constituent for a time before he moved to Utah. And then, I would say more long term, probably you too. I love some of the old Beatles albums as well. And you throw some country in there too. I really like this sort of classic country, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, some of my favorite but almost like food. I almost love all kinds of music. It just depends what what I'm in the mood for. I

Tanya Flanagan 24:58
have to say that was a nice menu. You a variety that you just shared with us right there, and you hit some of my favorites in there too. Because I am a YouTube fan, I especially enjoyed I got to go to the 360 degree tour, and it didn't come to Vegas, so I traveled to Southern California, to Anaheim. I tried to do it in Denver, and I missed the date, and so I ended up going. It was Father's Day weekend that the year that that tour was going on. So I saw you two at Anaheim stadium, and it was kind of cool. Found out Maria Shriver was in the house too the night that I was there. And then I think they did, they did a stint at the spear down in Las Vegas. So super awesome group to see. And of late, I have discovered a new love of such a music that always appreciated. But I have really begun to listen to it a lot more and every so often when I'm driving music. So I love it in that space, Morgan Wallen and just Blake Shelton and, oh, a bunch of people, I just really have found that I really enjoy it. I like they tell really great American stories, and I think that's what I love the most about country music. So it's also cool to find out that we have some some things in common, some love that we both share. Um, favorite movie,

Steve Yeager 26:09
my favorite movies? Oh, that's really hard. I would say lately I really enjoyed the the dune movies, dune one and two, the remakes, right of the old one. But I, I really like that kind of sci fi, you know, big theater, action, great music, great special effects. So that's that's probably my latest and greatest at the moment,

Tanya Flanagan 26:26
I can appreciate that. My brother's a sci fi fanatic, so I'm going to give you that and say nothing more. And then author,

Steve Yeager 26:35
favorite author I love, I love the book, catch 22 by Joseph Heller. That's like my all time favorite book. It's it's just such great writing and such irony. So I probably read that like, once a year. I love that book. I

Tanya Flanagan 26:49
think it's always cool when people say they reread a book. I don't think I have ever had a book that I read that I actually decided to reread it. But there are genres that I've gone through where there have been fiction and non fiction, and I love those writers. I was actually by SNC was in my office, and she said, Go, Connie. Because, do you like Connie because? And I said, I do like him. The books that I have on my shelf is actually the first book by him I've ever purchased. But I appreciate a good book. I picked up a James Baldwin book at the Fulton bookstore when we were in Tulsa recently at the Black Wall Street experience in September of last year. So eventually I'm going to open the pages, but you shared a book with us too to help us get going, and so I am excited to get some time to dig into the book that I have from you, from Karen Kaiser, getting elected is the easy part, so working and winning in the state legislature, I'm looking forward to that reading. So I want to say thank you for sharing that with me. Thank you for sharing that. Well, we are getting to the end of the show. I'm very delighted to have had you on as a guest. Folks, you can always tune in if you miss it or you want to hear another part of this going to be available on most podcast platforms that you tune into, but definitely on Spotify. Speaker Steve Yeager of the Nevada legislative assembly, I want to say thank you for spending some time with me this morning and here on the scoop at KU and B 91.5 jazz or more folks, we will have some more shows during the legislative session that share with your information different people, different legislators. Hopefully I'll get a chance to put them in the spotlight and let you get to know you get to know them better and keep you as educated as possible on how this process works. But again, Steve, thank you for being a friend and thank you for being a guest.

Steve Yeager 28:30
Thanks for having me. It was a lot of fun. Well, thank you. I look forward to talking

Tanya Flanagan 28:33
to you guys next week. Thanks for tuning in. Have a great week. Stay safe. We are cold up here in the CO country of Carson City, and you are probably sending in a woman much more thought out down there in Las Vegas, but wherever you are, stay safe, stay happy, stay well, and we look we look forward to talking to you again in the future. Bye for now, I

want to thank you for tuning into the scoop with me. Tony Flanagan, and I want to invite you to get social with me. I'm on Facebook and Twitter. My name is my handle, T, a n, y, A F, l, a n, a G, A N. You can also find me on Instagram at Tanya almond eyes Flanagan, if you have a thought, an opinion or a suggestion, don't hesitate to shoot me an email to tanya.flanagan@unlv.edu Thanks again for joining in. Stay safe and have a great week. You.