Author: Sarah Johnson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: rserrano@axiomstrategies.com

LAS VEGAS – Nevada State Treasurer candidate Drew Johnson today released a three-part plan to save Nevada’s Governor Guinn Millennium Scholarship program. Johnson’s plan reforms future eligibility, protects students already counting on the program, and dedicates a portion of residual unclaimed-property revenue to a permanent scholarship endowment.

The Governor Guinn Millennium Scholarship provides eligible Nevada high school graduates up to $10,000 in tuition assistance to attend qualifying Nevada colleges and universities, including the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the University of Nevada, Reno, and the state’s community colleges.

About $38 million in Millennium Scholarship funds are awarded in a typical year. But the scholarship fund is expected to fall to approximately $21.1 million by the end of FY2027. That insolvency will strip the scholarship from 10,600 current students.

By 2028, the program will be bankrupt, unable to pay for any scholarships because of incompetence and mismanagement by the program’s director and Johnson’s opponent for State Treasurer, Tya Mathis-Coleman.

“The Millennium Scholarship is one of Nevada’s best ideas, but its survival cannot depend on taxpayer bailouts,” Johnson said. “We can honor our promise to current students, restore the scholarship as a meaningful merit award, and build a financial structure that can support it for generations.”

Johnson’s plan to save the Governor Guinn Millennium Scholarship program has three parts:

1. Restore merit. Beginning with the 2028-29 graduating class, eligibility would generally go to students in the top 20 percent of each qualifying Nevada high school class who complete the required core curriculum and earn at least a 3.0 unweighted core GPA. Scholarship recipients would then need to maintain a 3.0 college GPA to remain eligible.

   The plan would include fair, objective alternatives for homeschool students and other students who do not receive a traditional class ranking.

2. Protect current students and set reasonable limits. Students who have already qualified would be grandfathered. Future recipients would have four years, rather than six, to use the scholarship, with a limit of eight semesters or 120 credits, while keeping the current $10,000 lifetime cap and reasonable exceptions for military service, disability, and medical hardship.
3. Build permanent funding. Nevada would keep the existing tobacco-settlement funding and current $7.6 million annual unclaimed-property transfer. After valid owner claims, program costs, and other statutory obligations are satisfied, 25 percent of the remaining unclaimed-property money that would otherwise automatically be swept into the General Fund would instead support the Millennium Scholarship.

During the transition, that revenue would help stabilize the program, ensuring existing recipients continue to receive their scholarships. Once the program is financially stable, excess revenue would be invested in a permanent Millennium Scholarship endowment, creating an increasingly reliable source of investment income to help fund scholarships for future generations.

The plan would not raise taxes, and all unclaimed property funds would remain fully available for their rightful owners to claim at any time.

Johnson contrasted his proposal with the record and approach of his opponent, Mathis-Coleman.

“Tya Mathis-Coleman has bungled the Millennium Scholarship for 6 years. Her gross mismanagement has left tens of thousands of Nevada’s most promising students wondering if they’ll receive the scholarships they were counting on,” Johnson said. “She has had plenty of time to produce a serious, long-term solution, and we still don’t have one.”

Mathis-Coleman said she would attempt to save the scholarship by asking taxpayers to fund additional bailouts and trying to shake down private businesses to support the scholarship.

“Another taxpayer bailout might keep Millennium alive for a few more years. A few corporate donations might help around the edges. But neither is a mature, responsible solution that fixes the fundamental problem: the scholarship is promising more money than its recurring revenues can sustain,” Johnson said.

“As Treasurer, I will protect the Millennium Scholarship for current students, ensure it is reserved for Nevada’s best and brightest students, and put it on a financial foundation built to last for generations — all without asking Nevada’s already struggling taxpayers to foot the bill.”

Drew Johnson is the Republican nominee for Nevada State Treasurer. He has spent his career in government finance and as a government watchdog exposing waste, fraud, and abuse and fighting to save taxpayers billions of dollars. He intends to continue fighting to protect taxpayers as Nevada’s Treasurer.

For more information about Drew Johnson’s campaign for Nevada State Treasurer, visit DrewForNevada.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: rserrano@axiomstrategies.com

LAS VEGAS – Nevada State Treasurer candidate Tya Mathis-Coleman accepted a $1,000 campaign contribution from disgraced former Las Vegas City Councilman Ricki Barlow, more than eight years after Barlow pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud involving stolen campaign funds.

Barlow admitted to secretly diverting $49,125 in campaign money for his personal use, keeping another $17,000 in unreported cash contributions, and causing his campaign to file false campaign-finance reports with the Nevada Secretary of State.

According to recent state campaign-finance records, Barlow’s March 26, 2026, contribution to Mathis-Coleman was his only reported political contribution of the 2026 election cycle, illustrating the convicted felon’s enthusiastic support for having Mathis-Coleman oversee more than $11 billion of taxpayers’ money.

“The State Treasurer is a position of trust: you’re promising Nevadans you are honest and responsible enough to protect their hard-earned dollars,” said Drew Johnson, the Republican nominee for Nevada State Treasurer. “Mathis-Coleman’s decision to accept money from a criminal convicted of stealing supporters’ donations raises legitimate questions about whether she has the judgment and integrity to serve as Treasurer,” Johnson said.

Barlow was sentenced to one month in federal prison, three months in a halfway house, eight months of home confinement, three years of supervised release, and a $66,125 fine.

“I would never dream of accepting a donation from a felon whose crime involved stealing campaign funds and falsifying financial reports,” Johnson said. “But apparently, Mathis-Coleman is comfortable putting self-interest above sound moral judgment, and that’s exactly the type of person who has no business serving as Treasurer.”

Johnson’s campaign has asked Mathis-Coleman to answer two questions: Why did she willingly take a contribution from a felonious financial fraudster? And will she return Barlow’s shady contribution?

Drew Johnson is the Republican nominee for Nevada State Treasurer. He has spent his career in government finance and as a government watchdog exposing waste, fraud, and abuse and fighting to save taxpayers billions of dollars. He intends to continue fighting to protect taxpayers as Nevada’s Treasurer.

For more information about Drew Johnson’s campaign for Nevada State Treasurer, visit DrewForNevada.com.

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LAS VEGAS – Nevada State Treasurer candidate Drew Johnson today released a new policy report outlining a plan to eventually eliminate Nevada’s 23-cent-per-gallon state gas tax by saving and investing a portion of future state budget surpluses and tax revenue from new lithium and critical-mineral development.

If elected Treasurer, Johnson said he will propose legislation to the Nevada Legislature to establish the Nevada Permanent Fund within the Treasurer’s Office and axe the state’s unpopular and outdated gas tax.

State gas-tax revenue would be replaced with investment earnings, allowing Nevada to eliminate the tax without reducing state or local road funding.

The plan does not create a new tax, increase Nevada’s existing mining-tax rate, or cut funding from any existing programs or services.

“Nevadans are already paying too much just to get to work, take their kids to school, and live their lives,” Johnson said. “Our state has a chance to start building toward a future where drivers no longer pay the state’s unfair and regressive gas tax—and we can do it without asking Nevadans to pay a dime more in taxes.”

Johnson’s proposal would fund the Permanent Fund from two sources: 50 percent of qualifying state budget surpluses in strong years, after required reserves and Rainy Day Fund transfers, and the eligible state share of taxes generated by new lithium and critical-mineral projects after existing local-government, education, and debt obligations are protected.

“Nevada has seen mining booms and busts for more than a century,” Johnson said. “This time, instead of spending every dollar while the boom lasts, we should save part of it, invest it, and create something that keeps benefiting Nevadans long after the minerals are gone.”

The fund would need roughly $5.4 billion in invested assets plus a two-year, $540 million reserve fund before the full gas tax could disappear. Under the report’s estimates, those financial tests could be reached in roughly 10-12 years, although the proposal sets no guaranteed repeal date.

The full 23-cent gas-tax package currently generates about $270 million a year for state and local roads. Under Johnson’s plan, that funding would be replaced before the tax is eliminated, and existing highway-bond obligations would also be protected.

“The minerals will eventually run out,” said Johnson. “The benefits they create for Nevada don’t have to.”

Read the full report, “A New Road for Nevada: Using Surpluses and Critical Minerals to Replace the Gas Tax,” at DrewforNevada.com.

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Drew Johnson is a fiscal policy expert, government watchdog, and the Republican nominee for Nevada State Treasurer. For more information about Drew Johnson’s campaign for Nevada State Treasurer, visit DrewForNevada.com.

CARSON CITY, Nev. – Drew Johnson’s campaign for Nevada State Treasurer announced today that Sherman Tylawsky has joined the team as Campaign Director for Northern and Rural Nevada.

A Carson City resident with experience in public service, policy research, communications, education, and grassroots political engagement, Tylawsky will lead the campaign’s outreach and organization throughout Northern Nevada and the state’s rural communities.

“Sherman brings intelligence, energy, and a genuine commitment to public service to our campaign,” Johnson said. “Northern and rural Nevada deserve a Treasurer who listens to them, understands their priorities, and recognizes the vital role they play in Nevada’s economy and identity. Sherman will help us build a campaign that shows up, listens, and earns support in every corner of the state.”

Tylawsky is the founder of The George Washington Institute, an organization focused on applying lessons from American history and leadership to contemporary civic life. He also hosts the Friends & Fellow Citizens podcast, where he has produced nearly 200 episodes featuring civil discussions about current events, American history, public policy, and citizenship.

His professional experience includes working with elected officials at the municipal and congressional levels, including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tylawsky earned a bachelor’s degree in politics from King’s College London, where he received the Principal’s Global Leadership Award, and a Master of International Affairs from the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Political Science at the University of Alabama.

“I’m honored to join Drew’s campaign and help carry his message of accountability, transparency, and responsible financial leadership across Northern and rural Nevada,” Tylawsky said. “Drew has spent his career protecting taxpayers and challenging government waste. I look forward to meeting Nevadans and helping elect a State Treasurer who will safeguard their hard-earned money.”

As Campaign Director for Northern and Rural Nevada, Tylawsky will coordinate regional outreach, grassroots organization, community events, volunteer engagement, and relationships with local leaders throughout the region.

To contact Sherman Tylawsky or connect with the campaign in Northern or rural Nevada, email sherman@drewfornevada.com.

For more information about Drew Johnson’s campaign for Nevada State Treasurer, visit DrewForNevada.com.