HENDERSON (KLAS) — Leaders at Southern Nevada’s largest labor unions are calling out Republican U.S. Senate candidate and former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt over his opposition to the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Membership and leadership from the Nevada AFL-CIO, IBEW 357, Southern Nevada Building Trades Unions (SNBTU), and the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters of Nevada held signs saying, “Adam Laxalt is a threat to Nevada jobs.”

Laxalt, who became the country’s youngest attorney general in 2014, announced his candidacy Monday. He unsuccessfully ran in 2018 as a Republican against now-governor Democrat Steve Sisolak. Laxalt’s grandfather is former Nevada governor and U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt.

Last week in a bipartisan vote, the Senate approved the Biden administration’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan. It faces an unclear future in the U.S. House. While specifics have not been released, the plan would bring billions of dollars to Nevada, which union leadership said means jobs.

Leadership praised Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto for her vote supporting the spending plan.

“Who in their right mind would take a stand against putting Nevadans to work, putting food on their tables, and keeping a roof over their children’s heads?” Bill Stanley with the SNBTU said. “I’ll tell you who. Adam Laxalt and his main political benefactor, the former president, Trump.”

Trump opposed the plan, which is estimated to bring several billion to Nevada to pay for road and broadband projects.

Laxalt told 8 News Now his main concern and why he is against the bill is that it would add to the nation’s debt.

“Let’s be very clear. I would have been pushing to try to get a more narrow bill that only included bridges and roads and tunnels. What people really believe are infrastructure,” Laxalt said. “This bill was a Christmas list of lots of other liberal wish lists from Washington and unfortunately, we can’t afford it.”

Laxalt, who worked as Trump’s Nevada campaign chair, said if he had been in the Senate when Republicans passed the president’s tax cuts, he would have voted “yes.” However, he stressed he did not know the specifics of the law.

“I certainly would have supported the tax cuts,” he said. “They certainly helped the economy.”

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the tax cuts are adding to the nation’s debt, with a pre-pandemic estimate of an additional $1 trillion over a decade due to lost revenue.

Under former President Barack Obama, the national debt rose $8.6 trillion, a nearly 75% increase, according to the Office of Management and Budget. The debt rose $6.7 trillion under Trump, a 33% increase.

Before the 44th and 45th presidents took office, the national debt doubled under former President George W. Bush, increasing $5.9 trillion, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

Laxalt is running for the Republican nomination against at least two other candidates. The primary election will be held Tues., June 14, 2022. Whoever wins that race will go on to face Cortez Masto.

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