Ivan Lopez, who works as a casino porter at a Strip resort, was one of a half dozen members of Culinary Workers Local 226 who joined other Nevada union leaders last week in supporting AJR5, which would repeal the state’s 159-year-old constitutional ban on lotteries.
Proponents, including the Nevada AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union, said tax revenue from lottery ticket sales should be directed toward youth mental health programs.
In backing the legislation proposed by Assemblyman Cameron “C.H.” Miller (D-North Las Vegas), Lopez told members of the Assembly Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections of his personal struggles with mental health issues growing up.
“Youth mental health is a crisis in Nevada. Something has to change,” Lopez said.
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The Culinary’s lottery support was boosted by UNITE HERE President D. Taylor, head of the union’s parent organization, who was critical of how casino operators spent profits from last year’s record-setting $14.8 billion in statewide gaming revenue.
“Clark County [said it had] 10 straight months of $1 billion [in gaming revenue] and 2023 will be off the charts,” Taylor said in rapid-fire remarks that seemed to hint toward the arguments he will make when he leads the negotiation for new labor agreements between the union and dozens of Strip and downtown resorts covering some 60,000 non-gaming employees. The contracts, negotiated in 2018, expire at the end of May.
Taylor said government data for employment levels in February showed there were 148,400 Nevadans employed in the state's casino hotels, nearly the same total as in January 1994.
“No jobs have exponentially increased [in line] with the profits that they've made,” Taylor said. “I will just ask you to please pass AJR5. It's for our state. It’s for our citizens. It’s for our kids.”