The Future of the Live Entertainment Tax in Southern Nevada

The Live Entertainment Tax (LET) in Nevada generated nearly one billion dollars during the 2019-2020 fiscal year. LET revenue all goes to the State General Fund, even though 97 percent of LET revenue is generated in Clark County. Nevada is experiencing an economic crisis, particularly in the tourism industry. Solutions from various fields suggest the best way to boost the local economy is to reinvest revenue in its original county. One policy solution Nevada policymakers should consider is to carve out a percentage of revenue generated by the LET to return directly back to Clark County to revitalize tourism

Strengthening The Southern Nevada Workforce Pipeline

Workforce development has been a keystone in the discussion of economic diversification of Las Vegas for decades. The leisure and hospitality industry is the lifeline for the Southern Nevada economy due to the reliance on tourism as the city’s main economic driver. The leisure and hospitality industry requires physical labor and more face-to-face customer interaction than other employment sectors. Thus, these jobs often do not require high educational attainment, but rather sharp soft skills like effective listening, nonverbal communication, and negotiation strategies. While these are valuable traits, the lack of educational attainment within the leisure and hospitality workforce suppresses employees’ wages when compared to their higher educated counterparts in Las Vegas. This report analyzes five leisure and hospitality occupational clusters: food service & preparation, entertainment & recreation, gaming, lodging, and sales. Within these five clusters, entry-level wage, mid-level wage, and upper-level wage occupations are identified to show the change in compensation and employment as a worker moves through the ranks. Next, this report utilizes the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance’s 2022 Workforce Blueprint to identify the top 15 in-demand occupations for Southern Nevada. These four occupational clusters include computer analysts & developers, engineering, business & management, and other. All these occupations require at least a bachelor’s degree and earn significantly more than the leisure and hospitality clusters. Finally, three policy recommendations that address the wage disparities within the Southern Nevada workforce are discussed. A case study example of the MGM College Opportunity Program (COP) is presented to demonstrate an existing workforce training program that promotes upward mobility of leisure and hospitality employees in the community. Policy recommendations include creating more private-public partnerships like the MGM COP, expanding outreach from workforce development agencies, and increasing funding for higher education. These recommendations require collaboration between key contributors to the Las Vegas economy in order to strengthen the regional workforce pipeline

Strengthening the Southern Nevada Workforce Pipeline

This report analyzes the Southern Nevada employment ecosystem by utilizing occupational clusters recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor. The first section examines occupations in the tourism industry using three occupational clusters: hospitality and leisure; arts, audio/video technology and communications; and the transportation, distribution, and logistics. Next, this report utilizes the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance’s 2022 Workforce Blueprint to identify the top 15 in-demand occupations for Southern Nevada and occupational clusters. A case study of the MGM College Opportunity Program (COP) is presented to demonstrate an existing workforce training program that promotes upward mobility of leisure and hospitality employees in the community. Policy recommendations include creating more private-public partnerships like the MGM COP, aligning state and local governments’ workforce development priorities, and increasing funding for higher education. These recommendations require collaboration between key contributors to the Las Vegas economy in order to strengthen the regional workforce pipeline

The State of Mental Health in the Mountain West

How do the Mountain West states (Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah) perform in the quality of mental health care services? How prevalent are mental health issues in the Mountain West? How accessible is the mental health workforce to adults and youth?https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/durep_podium/1034/thumbnail.jp

COVID-19 and Nevada Counties: Employment Data, May 2019 and May 2021

This fact sheet displays county-level employment data and unemployment rates for 17 counties in Nevada, as reported by The Daily Yonder article “Rural Employment Grew in May, but Fewer People Are Seeking Jobs” in July 2021. Bill Bishop and Tim Marema compiled data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for each county in the United States for May 2019 and May 2021

The Gender Wage Gap in the Mountain West

This fact sheet examines data on the gender wage gap, or the discrepancy in pay between female and male workers, in Mountain West metros. The Pew Research Center report, “Young Women are Out-Earning Young Men in Several U.S. Cities,” includes data on the gender wage gap for people under the age of 30 in various metropolitan areas across the United States in 2019. The Census Bureau’s 2020 American Community Survey explores male and female occupational earnings by job sector for workers 16 and over

Public University and College Enrollment in the Mountain West, 2019-2021

On June 10, 2021, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released the Spring 2021 Current Term Enrollment Estimates (CTTE) report. The report provides estimated postsecondary enrollment numbers based on the Clearinghouse universe of institutions. The impact of COVID-19 related disruptions has caused higher education enrollment to fall to what the National Student Clearinghouse suggests are “new lows.” This fact sheet explores trends in higher education enrollment at Mountain West colleges during the 2020 and 2021 Spring semesters

2014-2019 National Science Foundation (NSF) Rankings by Total R&D Expenditures

This fact sheet presents National Science Foundation (NSF) funding data for 10 individual research universities in addition to the combined funding received by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) for the years 2014 to 2019

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA): City and County Budget Allocations in the Mountain West

This fact sheet details how city and county governments within the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah allocated funds from the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) portion of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Brookings Metro in partnership with the National League of Cities and the National Association of Counties created the “Local Government ARPA Investment Tracker” to display how communities across the country allocate this financial resource. This interactive site allows budget information from cities and counties to be added as such decisions are made

The Desert Southwest: Population Growth 2010-2020

In 2021 the United States Census Bureau identified the Desert Southwest as one of the fastest growing regions in the country. The Desert Southwest encompasses portions of five states (Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas) including forty counties and ten metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). Using data from the Census Bureau, this fact sheet showcases population growth within Desert Southwest counties and metropolitan statistical areas from 2010 to 2020