Why it matters that northern Nevada is a federally designated ‘Tech Hub’

By Gabby Birenbaum

The Nevada Independent

The House finally picked a new speaker this week, meaning the chamber can finally begin to pick up spending bills with the next government shutdown date 20 days away.

Meanwhile, Reno received a designation from President Joe Biden’s administration that positions the area for federal investment, and Nevada’s two senators split on a few key amendment votes.

Biden admin selects Reno as Tech Hub

The Biden administration named Reno one of its 31 Tech Hubs Monday, making the city eligible for federal investment amid Northern Nevada’s transformation into the nucleus of the lithium battery supply chain.

The Tech Hubs program was created by the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, a bill boosting U.S. investment in semiconductor manufacturing, a globally competitive industry. Designated Tech Hubs, selected based on the presence of key industries and geographic diversity, will receive extra support and resources from the Economic Development Administration and will be eligible for $10 billion in grants over the next five years.

Reno was selected from among 370 applicants under the banner of “strengthening our critical minerals supply chain,” one of just two designees in that category along with south-central Missouri. The application was led by UNR and outlined plans to continue building a self-sustaining lithium battery life cycle industry, from manufacturing to recycling.

The Reno-Sparks area has become a major beneficiary of Biden’s industrial and climate policies — lithium batteries are used in electric vehicles, the production and sales of which were incentivized in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Northern Nevada is the largest source of lithium in North America and home to several companies that mine, process and recycle lithium batteries.

The designation was met with praise from Nevada’s senators, who both voted for the CHIPS and Science Act, Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) and UNR president Brian Sandoval.

Dick Bartholet, UNR’s regional innovation officer for the Tech Hub, said the federal program’s goal is to spur not just research and development, but also to provide wraparound services that the industry’s growth will necessitate.

“A lot of the industry involves rural Nevada,” Bartholet said in an interview. “[So] you have to have housing. You have to have infrastructure, education, health care and so forth.”

He said UNR’s consortium, which came together to apply for the program, includes the regional development authority, local Native American tribes, labor unions and nearby colleges. While the Tech Hub is headquartered in Reno, the application included all of Nevada outside Clark County, making projects throughout the state eligible for funding.

Now, the consortium is working on its application for the second phase of funding. The EDA will select five to 10 Tech Hubs for implementation funds, with a total of $40 million to $70 million per hub for between three and eight projects. That application is due at the end of February.

Rosen, CCM split on mask mandates

As the Senate moves forward with consideration of a “minibus” — a legislative package combining three spending bills — Nevada’s two Democratic senators split on three amendments, a rare phenomenon.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who is up for re-election this cycle, broke with Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) to support a Republican-introduced amendment restricting criminal background checks for veterans seeking to buy a gun, and another Republican provision to require Congress to stay in session seven days a week until an appropriations package is passed if the fiscal year ends without a new funding deal.

Both of those provisions failed to clear 60 votes; in each case, Rosen was joined by other vulnerable Democratic senators up for re-election next year.

But an amendment from Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) targeting mask mandates did pass. Vance’s amendment would prohibit the Department of Transportation from enforcing any mask mandates with federal funds on flights, trains or public transportation in the next fiscal year.

The amendment passed with the support of all 48 voting Republicans and 10 Democrats — Rosen, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT).

Of those senators, seven (including Rosen) are running in 2024, many in highly competitive races.

In a statement, Rosen said the pandemic is “behind us.”

“Anyone who chooses to wear a mask still has that option, but we’ve reached a point where a federal mask mandate is no longer necessary for travel,” she said.

Nevada delegation takes on retail crime

Cortez Masto, Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) participated in a press conference Thursday morning to discuss efforts to fight organized retail crime — a focus area for law enforcement in Las Vegas.

All three are sponsors of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, a bipartisan and bicameral effort to create an office within the Department of Justice to develop a coordinated law enforcement strategy on the issue.

At the press conference, held with the National Retail Federation for Fight Retail Crime Day, Cortez Masto cited statistics and her own experience with rising retail crime rates.

“I cannot walk out into my community, into a retail establishment, without hearing from somebody — whether it’s a friend or family or somebody that works there — that has experienced this,” she said. “It is a crime, and people are taking advantage of the retail establishments.”

Titus described being in a Walgreens and seeing someone steal eyelashes and learning from an employee that management was concerned about attempting to stop them for fear of escalating the situation. She added that retail crime has cost over $80 million in Nevada in lost tax revenue in 2020, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Lee added that both parties realize that individual police departments cannot solve such a transnational problem by themselves.