A small group gathered Thursday at Chrissie Caughlin Park to highlight what they called the “hypocrisy of Congressman Mark Amodei’s voting record” and to “call on him to reject deep spending cuts that will harm Nevada’s working families, children, veterans and Indigenous communities.”
The event was sponsored by For Our Future Nevada, a self-described “progressive value” organization whose members said Amodei “and his Republican colleagues will shut down the federal government, which will result in harmful consequences for hardworking Nevadans.”
Organizer Madisen McGrath told This Is Reno that it has been over a year since the Inflation Reduction Act was passed, legislation that has resulted in billions of dollars being received by Nevadans for “environmental justice” as well as “tens of thousands of good, clean energy jobs.”
“Nevadans deserve better and … [Amodei] needs to do his job,” McGrath said. “Representative Amodei needs to side with working families and Nevadans in our community and not these MAGA extremists that are going to hold the government hostage.”
Placards at the gathering said to shut down Amodei, not the federal government. The congressional House on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, passed a bill in a bipartisan vote to keep the government open for 45 days.
Amoedi has been quoted as opposing the Inflation Reduction Act due to its policies in regard to IRS agent hirings and increased taxes on businesses in the state.
“If you think 87,000 new IRS agents is good policy when there are only 19,500 border patrol agents on the Southern border, I disagree,” Amodei said in 2022.
Randi Lone Eagle, Summit Lake Paiute Tribe chair, was also in attendance at the gathering. Lone Eagle said she was approached in regards to the event and decided to speak out on her opposition to what she called Amoedi’s hypocrisy and ineffectiveness. Lone Eagle stated,
“I’ve only met him (I think) twice in all the years that I’ve sat in my seat (as Chair) for less than five minutes meetings, then it’s just on to the next person,” Lone Eagle said.
Lone Eagle’s message to Amodei: “We’re listening, we’re watching and we have a voice as well.”
Attempts to reach Amodei and his representatives for comment by This Is Reno were unsuccessful.
