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 thank you for joining me for another edition of the scoop right here on KU and D 91.5 jazz and more. As always, I'm delighted to have some time to talk with you. That is the month of February, Black History Month, and we have so much to celebrate it. We are on the just finishing up Valentine's Day, so I hope those who are in love are just those who have love in your life, which should be each and every one of us had a wonderful Valentine's Day celebration this weekend, and we're also gearing up for President days. So those of you who don't have to go to work tomorrow, get the extended weekend and skip some extra days to have a good time. Also Black History Month, and so I tried to spotlight things during the month of February, to shine a light on African Americans and their contributions to our community and culture. And in that vein, I am very delighted to have with me this morning, the exception of Danielle Monroe Marino, who serves as chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party. She's also Speaker Pro Tem and the Nevada State legislature on the in the assembly chamber and Chair of Ways and Means for the assembly. At the Nevada State Legislature, we are in the 83rd session as we speak. It is the second week of the 80 day session, and so it truly is a privilege to have her take some time out of her busy schedule to talk with us this morning. So without further ado, please allow me to welcome Daniel Monroe Marino to the show. Good morning,

Daniele Monroe-Moreno 2:13
good morning, and thank you for having me well. Thank

Tanya Flanagan 2:17
you. I know you are busy and being even though it's only week number two, you wear hats that are very large, shoes that are very hard to feel, and so there's a lot on your shoulder. I know you're super busy, but happy. Valentine's Day to you, even though it's over, let's pass.

Daniele Monroe-Moreno 2:37
Thank you. Thank you.

Tanya Flanagan 2:42
Thank you. So as we're in the second week, getting ready to go for the third week of the session, it's an opportunity on the show right now to allow our constituents to hear what's going on up in Carson City and to understand how they can participate. Last week, I had the pleasure of having speaker Dave Edgar on, and it was a good and fun conversation as well. So it's early. The conversation isn't too heavy, but I think it's great for people to get to know you and know many people know you and they're fans of yours, but there are those who see you at a distance and just think, wow, she's really phenomenal. So I want to say to you as a black woman during Black History Month, thank you for the sacrifice that you've made, for the trails that you are raising and just for being the wonderful person that you are to so many of us and the role model that you are for so many of us. Thank you for that.

Daniele Monroe-Moreno 3:35
Well, thank you for those kind words, and it is a privilege and an honor to serve with you this legislative term in the session, your freshman session at the legislature. This will be my fifth session, and because of term limits, we'll only have an opportunity to serve one more time. So welcome aboard, and I look forward to the wonderful, amazing things that you're going to do for the state in this role.

Tanya Flanagan 4:04
Well, thank you very much. How did you make the decision? Because there are probably young women out there thinking, I might want to follow this path and go into politics, but I don't quite know what to do. What were your motivating factors that brought you into this space?

Daniele Monroe-Moreno 4:21
You know, there were so many, and it started when I was just a child. I was a kid whose life started in foster care. My father was in the military. My mom was a small business owner herself, but she had battled cancer at an early age and was unable to have children, so they were foster parents, and my mom finally told my dad, I want a child of my own. And they adopted me, but they continued being foster parents because they she knew that her home may be the only home some children have, and my parents were the type of you never aged out of their home once you. Were their child, you were their child. But my mom was always advocating at city council meetings and county commission meetings for children's issues and family issues. And my father, being retired military, was always speaking up for military issues. So they were advocates and activists in the community, and I I often said as a child, was not going to grow up and be like them, and I think I grew up to be even worse than them, because I ran for office seeing that there were so many things happening in the world that needed a voice, and people that didn't have a voice needed someone to speak up for them. So that's what's kind of my my upbringing and in my DNA. And I decided, and 2019 to take a political training course called emerge, that trains women had to run for office. And I thought I knew everything, until I learned there was so much that I didn't know, and spent the time between oh nine and 16 to prepare myself to be the best advocate for my community, but also what I thought the best candidate for the seat. I originally thought I'd run for city council, but I did not see that. That's where God was leading me. All doors and avenues opened for me to to run and be a voice for our community as a state legislature. So a lot of work in the community, a lot of work across party lines, to be the voice for the district that I serve, but for all constituents here in Nevada.

Tanya Flanagan 6:41
I remember when I first met you, and you were so sure, and I think that's what I appreciated the most, because I didn't know you well. I knew your name, and I remember we were at a community conversation, and I don't remember what the conversation was about, but it was at on CSN Cheyenne campus, and you came and you told I was talking to some other people, but we all knew each other. And you came over and you approached and you said, here's what I'm going to do, and I'm certain. And it was with such certainty, and I thought, wow, okay. And you began this journey, and so many people do, because it takes a lot, and I've gone down this path too, and the path I'm talking about was one where you decide to run for office, but so many people approach it differently. But I've heard emerge alum, because you mentioned going through the eMERGE program, emerge in Nevada, which trains women to run for office, which I, too, have done, but emerge alum have spoken about you in a different way and how you approach things with a great deliberateness about an intentionalness What you want to accomplish. And I think that it's just a testimony to your strength and your perseverance and the head strongness that makes partly makes you unique as a woman in this space. But I remember meeting you and the certainty that you had and some people, and I say that because people go into this space and they're never as sure as you seem to sound to me upon the first venture.

Daniele Monroe-Moreno 8:19
You know, I know that not everyone holds the beliefs that I do, but I I believe in the power of prayer and not making decisions based on what I want, but on where I truly believe God is leading me and in our family, we have family prayer every Sunday with family members from across the country, and I lean on family to also pray about what my next steps in life should be. Never telling my family what I think they are, but just ask them to pray on what they see is next for me. So this was not just a decision that I came to on my own. I made sure that I discussed it with, you know, my children, with my parents, my siblings. Because when you run for office, it's not just you, your name is on the ballot, but to be successful, it takes, it takes a village to surround you. When I made, finally made the decision to put my name on the ballot, it came after years. Like I said, I took a merge in oh nine. I didn't run until 2016 because that's when I felt that I was ready, that my family was ready, and that God had made me ready to be in this position, and it wasn't because I wanted a title. You know, people who run to hold a title should never be in office. To be in office means being a public service. Servant and to be in the service of others, and have a sincere desire make your environment and those around you better and leaving the world a better place than when you entered it. So I truly believe that I'm in the position now, not because of anything that I did, because this is where God took me, and I believe that's what may some people may perceive as confidence. I truly believe this is where he's placed me at this point in my life.

Tanya Flanagan 10:31
And I appreciate that completely, and I understand it. And I think that anyone listening right now is probably saying, wow, it's just such a conviction, and it's good advice to anyone who thought about or thinking about running for office or contemplating emerge as a program. And I choose second going through emerge. I mine was a little different from yours, because I signed up for emerge, and unexpectedly, the opportunity to run kind of all at the same time. It was mixed up together, and it presented itself and so but I agree with you on life, taking you through a journey and needing to pray. Prayer is important to me as well, so praying for the peace and the direction in the path that is being laid out before one is very important. You wear, you wear a lot of different hats, as I mentioned at the beginning of the show. And among those hats is chair of the state party, the Democratic state party, and also Speaker Pro Tem on the assembly side of the legislature and Chair of Ways and Means. How do you actually, I mean, that's a lot, and then just the day to day responsiveness to your constituency in district one in Southern Nevada, as the assembly member, representative for district one of Southern Nevada, how do you wear all these hats. I mean, are you like the Energizer bunny? I mean, how do you do this? It's like, that's a lot,

Daniele Monroe-Moreno 12:07
very little sleep. And for all of the titles that I currently hold, I am the first black woman to hold those titles. So I feel with that comes great responsibility to open the door for the next generation of black women leaders in the legislature and in the Democratic Party. It's balancing. It's having a team that is amazing around you, because none of us do the work alone, and anyone that thinks they can, they're kind of nuts. So from you know, the campaign side, I have a team, a kitchen cabinet that has been with me since the day I decided to run and make the announcement in 2015 they're still with me. We've had some people come that left the state. We've had a few members have passed, and new young people with energized ideas join us, but I would not make it through campaign and being a legislator and representing the constituency without that volunteer team that has been with me, but it's also having amazing fiscal staff in the legislature to help me. Then the Ways and Means chair is means that, you know, I'm in charge of the budget. Once the governor gives us his recommended budget to the legislature, it's up to the Chair of Senate, finance and and the Assembly Ways and Means chair to work with their fiscal staff and committees to work through that budget, to come out with one balanced budget that's reflective of the priorities of who we are as Nevadan and we are only in session every other year for 120 days, so making sure that two year budget gets us through and and right now, I'm a little nervous, because at the current administration making some executive decisions that could have serious impact, negative impacts on our budget, means right now we're going to have to seriously look at what we do as we plan out the financial future of the state for the next two years, but then as a speaker pro tem, and I, you know, I've been blessed. I was the assistant Majority Leader for two sessions. This is my second session as a speaker pro tem, you know, I'm on that leadership team that makes decisions of what bills come to the fore and what that the priorities are of the Democratic caucus, and it's working across party lines and having weekly meetings with the governor's chief of staff to make sure that nothing happens in a silo. You know you're you run as a Democrat or a Republican, but you're supposed to serve everyone, no matter what side. Of the aisle they're on. That's how I approach my job as as a legislator. And so I tell legislators, especially new legislators, all the time, you may have an amazing Bill idea that might be great for your district, but if it's going to have a negative impact on another part of the state, another county, another city, then you have to talk with that legislator and the constituents in that area to negotiate and compromise to make it a good bill for the state in general, because we're only as strong as the weakest link in our state. So once you're elected, you're there for everyone, but my job as state party chair is to mentor and build the bench and find strong Democratic leaders to run for office, to run campaigns, become directors and and campaign Treasurers and things and and making sure that the state of Nevada has a voice on The National level in the Democratic Party. So it's having a strong team at every aspect of my leadership, because I can't do this work alone. And

Tanya Flanagan 16:07
again, I do want to thank you because you do the work that you do with such kindness and graciousness, and it makes people want to be a part of the movement that you're leading. So you energize. I watch young people around you all the time and the excitement and the smiles that come to people's faces just at the mention of your name and the work that you do, and having held various leadership roles in the community and starting different groups, I know what it means to be able to mobilize people to work with you. So kudos to you for the influence that you have on future leaders who are coming behind you and cultivating them so that the state of Nevada is in a good place and the Democratic Party is strong, and we do have people to lean on and to be ready to step into the roles that you are helping to prepare them to step into. I had to acknowledge that. So thank you for that. Thank you. Get a little bit more. You're welcome. I want to get a little bit more into the session, and as our listening audience is out there wondering what's going on in this 120 day session. And initially you you feel like that means you have time, not a lot of time, but time, because four months feels like time. But once you get here and you start to see those days, just kick off the calendar. You like, oh my gosh, we're already down. Like, I don't know, 1014, days. And it you begin to feel the urgency of how it flies by. We talked about the budget. You talked about the budget, what are some other high points or highlights that you feel Nevada should tune in on and watch our priorities for you, at any rate, coming out of this legislative session and that will take us into the next two years. That's a cop for you, in addition within the budget, but in addition to the budget, yeah.

Daniele Monroe-Moreno 18:03
So the budget being number one, you know, we received a budget that was $400 million in the red, so finding out what we're, you know, going through the budget and looking at, where do we cut back? Where do we not appropriate as much money there's legislators work on their legislation in the interim, when we're not in session with their stakeholders, and having to tell someone, I know, you've done some great work, and this is a great bill, but we're not going to be able to move it forward, because the state just doesn't have the money and the budget to do it. So looking at legislations that will help diversify our economy other revenue drivers. You know, the state of Nevada doesn't have an income tax but what can we do to bring in other revenues? And that's looking at other industries that might want to come to our state. There's a lot of conversations about expanding our current film tax credit and having the film industry expand here, we've seen that Nevada is the entertainment capital of the world, but also becoming the sports capital of the world. So do we also become, you know, the film capital of the world? Having that conversation will happen this legislative session, but the biggest thing is, I hear from our constituents, is the economy. What is those pieces of legislation that will seriously address bringing down costs for Nevada's families, whether it's addressing the cost of childcare, housing, food costs. You know, just last week, we probably passed the fastest bill ever to assist in bringing down the cost of eggs in our state, which might sound simple, but I don't know if you've gotten to the grocery store lately a dozen of eggs could be six to $10 depends on where you shop. So that can end. At a family's budget. So looking at those pieces of legislation that can seriously help a family's bottom line, we call them, you know those kitchen table issues, when you're sitting down and deciding to pay the mortgage, to pay rent, to pay for daycare, gas in the car, all of those things are at the top of the priority list of this legislative session, and and folks can follow along with us really easily. If you go to the Nevada legislature's website, in the top right corner of the first page of the legislature, there's a little section that's called nella and if you click on that, you can follow the legislation of bills that are coming out of session. You can also get the daily schedule of the committee meetings where we have a Committee on Government Affairs, judiciary, K 12 and higher education, public safety, natural resources. You can follow each one of those hearings online. If you'd like to come up to Carson City and participate and testify on a bill in person, you can do that. But if you can't get to Carson City. You can also go to our Southern Nevada campus, which is right off of Warm Springs and the 215 and testify on legislation. There. You can log in on Nellis and actually follow bills and get an update of when that bill is going to be heard. You can follow it in real time. The budget is online, the committee, the floor sessions can be watched online. So if there's a particular thing that you're interested in and you see that that the bill sponsor, if it's an assembly member or Senate member, you can reach out to that Senate or assembly member and offer to assist them. If it's a subject matter that you're an expert on, and they would welcome the conversation. But those are the things, a lot of things, that I'm kind of excited about this legislative session. You know, on Tuesday, we'll be celebrating black history here at the legislature with the Nevada black Legislative Caucus. So if you happen to be in Carson City, I invite you to join us. We'll start with breakfast that morning, guests will be able to sit with members on the floor in the respective houses. We'll have an entertainment from Broadway in the Hood with a live production, and we'll end with lunch and a book signing and round table conversation. So if you're in the area, I invite you to join us. Well,

Tanya Flanagan 22:59
thank you. Yes, and I also second that invitation, because it is exciting times. It's going to be an exciting day as the Nevada black Legislative Caucus recognizes Black History Month and brings it to the forefront so everyone can enjoy it, and we just pause to recognize the contributions of African Americans in Nevada and in the country, there are so many great things that African Americans have done to make life better for everyone. And then I think it's wonderful that we pause. And this has been going on now for how many sessions, because it's become a staple. The Black History program in Carson City, that happens every year has been going on. What happens during happens every year, either happening in Southern Nevada, if there, if the legislature isn't in session, or in Carson City when the legislature is in session. But this

Daniele Monroe-Moreno 23:52
is which year for this program. This will be our fourth year to celebrate black history here in the halls of the legislature, and when we're not in session, we generally have a brunch down south and a horse brunch down south.

Tanya Flanagan 24:08
I was walking through the building the other day and just looking at a lot of history on the walls in the halls of the Capitol Building and the campus up here in Carson City. And so you see those who come before you, and it is, it's really awe inspiring to look at the history of who the speakers have been on the assembly side, who the leaders of the House have been on the Senate side, and just to look at the women in the legislature, the men in the legislature, the structure of each session, because all the pictures are on the wall. So you see pictures of people that you've either heard their names, that you hadn't seen their pictures, or what they looked like at that time. And you I think I was looking at the assembly, and I realized Barbara Buckley was the first woman, Marilyn Kirk, Patrick Tammy. After her as a speaker in the assembly, and then Jason fires an African American male was the first African American man to be the speaker for the Nevada State Legislature assembly. And it's moments like that that you have to pause and go, Wow. Look at, kind of where we've come kind of the contribution. It's like, it's amazing, because it's a big deal. And you you recognize the value for me, of the place that I now hold and get the responsibility in this space of service to the community that I represent and to the state as a whole. It's just kind of mind blowing, if you will. So it really it's something.

Daniele Monroe-Moreno 25:48
When I was originally elected in 2016 assembly member, Miller, Brittany Miller, she and I were elected that same year, but we were only the second and third black women to be elected to serve in the assembly at the legislature. So looking at the numbers have, it doesn't seem like a lot, but we've made great advances in a very short number of years,

Tanya Flanagan 26:22
and I think that's probably what really settled in and resonated with me. We're getting into the last few minutes of the show this morning. Again, I want to thank you for taking some time to talk with me, to share your story and to enlighten the listening audience on the legislative process, what happens in Carson City, your life story of how you came to be in this space. In case anyone wants to continue to get to know you, I always offer people the opportunity to share their social media handles so quickly. If you have that and you want to share it, feel free to do so. You know,

Daniele Monroe-Moreno 26:55
I am. I'm so bad on social media, and I should be more active, and I apologize for that. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you my number. Reach out to me. Text me is the best way to reach me. My number is 702-816-7922, and I, or my assistant Sierra, will respond and Danielle for Nevada on Danielle for Indy on Twitter. I am on blue sky and I am on Facebook. But the best way to reach me, the absolute best way to reach me, is to text me at that number.

Tanya Flanagan 27:39
You heard her folks. Danielle Monroe, Marino is one of our most accessible legislators, legislators and representatives, and she does a phenomenal job. I again want to say thank you for being a role model for me and becoming a friend. Thank you folks for tuning into the show. Once again, to the scoop right here with me. Tanya Flanagan on KU, NZ, 91.5 Jasmine Moore, i Until next week, when we talk to you again and remember, watch the legislature, folks. We're here for you, and we want to hear from you. So engage and stay with us. Have a great week. Stay safe, and we will talk to you again soon.

Daniele Monroe-Moreno 28:16
Thanks for having me. I

Tanya Flanagan 28:21
want to thank you for tuning in to the scoop with me. Tonya 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, and if you have a thought, an opinion or a suggestion, don't hesitate to shoot me an email to tonya.flanagan@unlv.edu Thanks again for joining in. Stay safe and have a great week. You.