Las Vegas business leaders head to D.C. to meet with lawmakers

WASHINGTON — Traffic snarls, high-speed rail and nuclear waste transportation and storage are on the agenda for Las Vegas business leaders headed to the nation’s capital this week.

“It’s a very thorough trip,” said Mary Beth Sewald, president and chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Sewald will be leading a group of 150 members — the largest ever — who plan meetings with lawmakers and Trump administration officials about projects and needs in Southern Nevada.

With 20 percent of Las Vegas visitors coming from Southern California on weekends and holidays, addressing routine traffic backups on Interstate 15 tops the list of issues for Nevada business leaders.

Joining the Las Vegas chamber will be Glenn Hamer, the chief executive officer of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, who has joined forces in seeking funding for Interstate 11, which would tie Nogales, Arizona, to Las Vegas and later Reno.

Sewald said the chamber was also working with Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., a subcommittee chairwoman on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and other members of the delegation on transportation needs.

Despite promises by President Donald Trump and House and Senate leaders to produce an infrastructure bill, legislation has been stymied in Congress.

“It’s a challenge any time you’re talking about the federal government,” Sewald concedes.

Meanwhile, California and Nevada are trying to sell bonds to build a “bullet train” to ease congestion. The bonds would allow the states to seek federal participation and funding for the project.

It’s one of the many items Nevada business leaders will be pressing lawmakers on as they spread across Capitol Hill.

The transportation and storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, also is an issue from the Nevada contingent who worry establishing the repository could put the nation’s premier tourist destination at risk.

“It’s something we could never support,” Sewald said.

Despite being designated in 1987 as the nation’s sole site for nuclear waste produced by power plants, the project has been tied up by litigation and political opposition for more than 30 years.

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. That company is one of several sponsors of Chamber events.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter