WASHINGTON -- Nevada Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval on Friday wrapped up three days of meetings with federal leaders, with the most notable episode of the week taking place during an audience with President Barack Obama.
While Obama was taking questions Thursday during a meeting with 23 new governors in the official White House guest house, incoming South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley challenged him on Yucca Mountain.
Haley, whose state is suing to revive the terminated project, asked whether Obama would reconsider his decision to shut down the proposed Nevada nuclear waste site.
"You might want to ask the Nevada governor about that," Obama quipped. At which point Sandoval jumped in. "I think I can answer that question for you, Mr. President," he piped up.
Like other elected Nevadans, Sandoval opposes the Yucca project. Obama turned to Haley and defended his decision before the new governors, saying his administration was looking for alternatives to the Nevada storage site.
"It was a fast exchange," Sandoval said afterward, but one that was welcomed by Nevada's new chief executive.
"It reaffirmed to me the president will not be supporting the long-term storage of nuclear waste in Nevada," Sandoval said. "I have the understanding the administration has not changed its position."
Beyond his comment on Yucca Mountain, Sandoval did not ask Obama questions. But he said it was clear that Nevada's concerns about the cost of Obama's signature health care reform was shared by others in the session that was held at Blair House.
Again, it was Haley who challenged Obama to repeal the health care legislation. He rejected the idea, but reportedly offered the possibility the states could opt out of some requirements under certain conditions.
During three days in Washington, Sandoval met with various Cabinet secretaries, Republican leaders in Congress and members of Nevada's delegation.
The newly elected Republican said the sessions were good first steps to establish relationships with federal leaders. He said Obama promised governors his administration would reciprocate.
"He said we can be very confident they will return our calls," Sandoval said.
In a meeting last month with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Sandoval asked the Senate majority leader about chances the government could pick up $215 million of Nevada's costs to run Medicaid, the free health care program for the poor.
Nevada has been hit hard by the recession and major cuts are expected in Sandoval's budget, which he will present to the Legislature in 2011. The state will be hit with a 17 percent drop in tax revenues over the next two years, according to this week's projection by the state Economic Forum.
Sandoval also expressed concern to Reid about Nevada owing the government $105 million in interest charges over the next two years on loans that have enabled the state to pay unemployment benefits.
Sandoval said Friday that he did not get into detail on those issues in meetings this week, including one with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. But he said he is scheduling a follow-up with her chief of staff that will get into the numbers.
"They said there may be ways that they can assist Nevada," Sandoval said. "We haven't gotten into the specifics but that was the objective of my trip, to meet with the respective Cabinet secretaries and talk about Nevada issues and to be able to follow up from there."
Sandoval also planned a follow-up meeting Friday with the chief of staff to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood after meeting with the Cabinet member on Thursday. The topic was to be high-speed rail, one of the issues Obama discussed with new governors on Thursday.
Sandoval said he wanted the government's view of competing proposals to serve the Las Vegas-Southern California corridor with magnetic levitation trains or conventional high-speed rail before deciding which plan his administration will support.
"What I want to do .... is sit down and see what there is to offer," Sandoval said. "I want to try to understand what the respective position of the Department of Transportation is in regard to the two projects.
"I think it's important we have high-speed rail in the state of Nevada but I am not going to pick one project over the other," Sandoval said. "It's a fact finding mission .... in seeing exactly where the Department of Transportation is. I did not realize how big a priority it is for the administration, and there are a lot of resources available to the states that will be participating."
