Nevada’s New Governor Vilified Lobbyist’s Influence in COVID Lab Scandal, Then Asked Him to Help With Budget – By Anjeanette Damon (ProPublica) / Jan 25, 2023
Gov. Joe Lombardo once called his predecessor’s support of an error-prone COVID-19 testing lab the “biggest scandal in our history” but then brought in the lobbyist who pulled strings to get that lab licensed to help prepare his state budget.
Co-published with The Nevada Independent
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During his contentious campaign to become Nevada governor, Joe Lombardo accused the Democratic incumbent of catering to the family of a donor and their lobbyist who helped an error-prone COVID-19 testing lab get licensed in the state.
Shortly after he won the race, Lombardo, a Republican, quietly turned to that same lobbyist for help building the state budget, giving him access to confidential documents and putting him in a position that allowed him to advocate for state funding sought by his clients.
Lobbyist Mike Willden’s name doesn’t appear on the list of people Lombardo appointed to his transition team as he takes the reins from former Gov. Steve Sisolak. But emails and budget documents obtained by ProPublica show Willden was invited to budget meetings with each of Lombardo’s department directors, provided advice on health care spending and was involved in discussions on changes to the spending plan worth nearly $30 million a year to his clients — though not all of those changes were ultimately approved.
CONTINUE > https://www.propublica.org/article/nevada-lombardo-northshore-covid-sisolak-willden
