Governor hopefuls weigh in on Medicaid, homelessness at forum hosted by faith-based groups

Three of the four major Nevada governor candidates took the stage at a Catholic church parish hall on Tuesday night, answering for a standing room-only crowd questions about their positions on issues ranging from the expansion of Medicaid to their ideas for increasing paratransit services and tackling homelessness.

Democratic Clark County Commissioners Chris Giunchigliani and Steve Sisolak, along with Republican Treasurer Dan Schwartz, participated in the forum hosted by Nevadans for the Common Good. The group said they invited Republican primary frontrunner and Attorney General Adam Laxalt but it wasn’t clear why he didn’t attend.

The group, comprised of dozens of faith-based charities and churches, distributed scorecards to audience members to take notes on how candidates answered the questions. At the end of the forum, audience members were asked to stand if they were willing to share what they learned with their friends and vote in the primaries.

Volunteers from the group made short presentations during the first half of the gathering, sharing personal stories they’d gathered from the community that illustrated the way the Medicaid expansion had helped families, how the lack of affordable housing forced people to live paycheck to paycheck and how spotty public transportation services left some with hours-long commutes or forced people with disabilities to show up late to doctor appointments.

Read more: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/governor-hopefuls-weigh-in-on-medicaid-homelessness-at-forum-hosted-by-faith-based-groups