Dina Titus

Titus was born in Thomasville, Georgia to parents of Greek descent and raised as Greek Orthodox. She grew up in Tifton. Her first exposure to politics came at an early age, when her father, Joe Titus, ran for the Tifton City Council. Her uncle, Theo Titus, served in the Georgia House of Representatives for many years. She attended a summer program at The College of William & Mary and was admitted full-time for the fall – without a high school diploma. There, she studied political science. After earning her bachelor's degree from William and Mary, Titus went on to earn a master's degree from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. from Florida State University.

After a year teaching at North Texas State University, Titus moved to Nevada and a faculty position in the Political Science Department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Over the past 30 years, her students have included a virtual who's-who list in Nevada government, public service and legal circles, and the popularity of her classes is reflected in the teaching-related awards she has received. She created and continues to coordinate the Legislative Internship Program at UNLV, which each session affords the opportunity for a group of students to work at the Legislature.

Titus in 2009

First elected in 1988, Titus served for 20 years in the Nevada Senate, representing the Clark 7th District. Her major achievements from the 2007 session included:

Access to vaccines

Titus authored a bill that requires health insurance companies to cover the costs of the HPV vaccine, Gardasil. Gardasil protects women and girls from 70% of cervical cancers. The bill passed both the Nevada Senate and the Nevada Assembly and was signed by Governor Jim Gibbons.

Regulation of credit card rates

Titus authored a bill banning "universal default clauses" that have enabled some credit card issuers to boost interest rates by 30 percent or more. The bill passed the Nevada Senate and Assembly, but was vetoed by Jim Gibbons. Credit Card providers Citibank and Chase rolled back or eliminated universal default clauses due to political pressure in the U.S. Congress.

Measure to care for pets in emergencies

Titus authored the bill that provides for the rescue of pets in a natural disaster emergency. The bill was co-sponsored by Senators Randolph Townsend and Valerie Wiener. Titus told Las Vegas television station Channel 3 KVBC: "We all remember heartbreaking scenes and stories from Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida... When lives are turned upside down by disaster, people seek comfort and normalcy. To exacerbate problems by forcing a disaster victim to leave behind a beloved pet – a member of their family – is both unconscionable and entirely unnecessary. Emergency responders can and should take into account pets and service animals in disaster rescue and recovery plans. Planning could save disaster victims from needless additional pain at a most difficult time." The bill was signed into law in June 2007.

Legislation

Titus has sponsored at least 59 bills, including:

111th Congress (2009–2010)

• H.R. 3164, a bill to expand the tax credit for classroom expenses for teachers, and to have the credit adjust to inflation annually, introduced September 9, 2009
• H.R. 3952, a bill to increase the allowable deduction from 50% to 80% of business meal and entertainment expenses for businesses that employee an average of less than 50 employees in a single taxable year, introduced October 28, 2009
• H.R. 5518, a bill to allow for an energy tax credit for expenses for investment in equipment used uses natural gas to heat or cool a structure, and to allow for a natural gas heat pump property credit for 30% of natural gas heat pump property (which the bill defines) expenses, introduced June 10, 2010

113th Congress (2013–2014)

• H.R. 2086, a bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide disability payments during any period in which an individuals disability is being adjusted for disabilities for which the Secretary has already made a decision of whether to provide benefits, introduced May 22, 2013
• H.R. 2527, a bill to extend the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) care and counseling program for military sexual trauma to veterans who experienced such trauma during active duty or training, introduced June 26, 2013. H.R. 2527 has passed the House but has yet to become law.
• H.R. 3441, a bill make eligible the spouses of post-9/11 veterans for veteran spousal education assistance, introduced October 30, 2013
• H.R. 3442, a bill to provide grants to non-profit organizations in the 75 most populated U.S. cities to establish clearinghouses to help veterans find employment, introduced October 30, 2013
• H.R. 3443, a bill to extend the program of assistance support services for caregivers of veterans to include all caregivers, introduced October 30, 2013
• H.R. 3568, a bill to establish a "STEM Education and Training Account" to be used to create a STEM scholarship program, to support K-12 STEM education, and to ensure STEM capacity building at minority-serving institutions, introduced November 20, 2013. This bill's fund is included as part of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, which has passed the Senate but has yet to become law.
• H.R. 4249, a bill to replace reduced-cost school lunches with free school lunches, to expand the free school lunch program to breakfast, and to award grants to help states provide food to students during summer months, introduced March 13, 2014
• H.R. 4942, a bill to establish medical residency programs at VA health care centers experiencing shortages of physicians or VA health care centers located in communities experiencing shortages of physicians, introduced June 23, 2014
• H.R. 5297, a bill to require tax-exempt organizations to submit their tax return in electronic form, to publicly disclose such returns in a machine readable format, and to require the Attorney General (AG) to maintain a database of charities or charity management officials who have been convicted of fraud, theft, or a financial offense, with States publicly releasing such information upon the request of the AG, introduced July 30, 2014

114th Congress (2015–2016)

• H.R. 5084, a bill to direct the Department of the Army to reserve 100 in-ground burial plots at Arlington National Cemetery for interment of deceased Medal of Honor recipients.
• H.R. 5083, a bill to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs' appeals process.
• H.R. 4990, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code to require tax-exempt organizations to file their returns in electronic form. The Internal Revenue Service must make the returns available to the public in a machine readable format as soon as practicable.
• H.R. 3419, a bill to authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs to make up to 50 grants in FY2016 to eligible educational institutions to provide child care services on campus for student veterans.
• H.R. 4430, a bill to require each air carrier providing passenger air transportation to provide flight attendants, pilots, and dispatchers who are employees or contractors of the carrier with training to combat human trafficking in the course of carrying out their duties. Such training shall cover: (1) common indicators of human trafficking, and (2) best practices for reporting suspected trafficking to law enforcement officers.
• H.R. 3264, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code to expand eligibility for the retirement savings tax credit by increasing income eligibility limits. Allows an annual inflation adjustment to such income levels for taxable years beginning after 2015.
• H.R. 2681, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish in the Treasury the STEM Education and Training Account.
• H.R. 1676, a bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture, subject to the availability of appropriations, to implement a pilot program providing commodities, on a competitive basis, to nonprofits for the provision of nutritious food to at-risk school children on weekends and during extended school holidays during the school year. (At-risk school children are those who participate in the school lunch program and reside in an area served by a school in which at least 50% of the students receive free or reduced price meals under the school lunch or breakfast programs.)
• H.R. 1519, a bill to direct the Secretary of Education to award National Classified School Employee of the Year Awards to classified public school employees within certain occupational specialties who provide exemplary service to students in prekindergarten through higher education.
• H.R. 3755, a bill to amend title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise provisions related to graduate medical education (GME) residency positions and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
• H.R. 3696, a bill to amend title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) prevent 2016 increases to Medicare Part B premiums and deductibles for enrollees, and (2) authorize federal funding to offset the corresponding reduction in aggregate monthly premiums.
• H.R. 3193, a bill to amend the Animal Welfare Act to require research facilities, dealers, exhibitors, intermediate handlers, and carriers (covered persons) to develop, document, and follow a contingency plan to provide for the humane handling, treatment, transportation, housing, and care of their animals in the event of an emergency or disaster.
• H.R. 2562, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the special expensing rules for certain film and television productions.
• H.R. 1414, a bill to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, prior to adjudicating a claim that requires decisions with respect to two or more disabilities, to make interim payments based on any disability for which the Secretary has already made a decision.
• H.R. 1598, a bill to amend the definition of "spouse" for purposes of veterans' benefits to require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to recognize a marriage based on the law of the state where the marriage occurred.
• H.R. 1364, a bill to prohibit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from authorizing construction of a nuclear waste repository unless the Secretary of Energy has entered into an agreement to host the repository with the following entities: the governor of the state in which the repository is proposed to be located, each affected unit of local government, any unit of general local government contiguous to the affected unit if spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste will be transported through that unit of general local government for disposal at the repository, and each affected Indian tribe.
• H.R. 857, a bill to withdraw 805,100 acres of federal land in Garden Valley, Nevada, from: (1) entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and (3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.
• H.R. 856, a bill to establish the Gold Butte National Conservation Area in Nevada, which shall consist of 348,515 acres of public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Withdraws public land within the conservation area from: (1) entry, appropriation, operation, or disposal under the public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and (3) disposition under the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and the geothermal leasing laws.
• H.R. 807, a bill to designate the peak of Frenchman Mountain in Nevada as the "Maude Frazier Mountain."
• H.R. 1108, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit the imposition of a tax on any wager on a sporting event if that wager is authorized under the law of the state in which it is accepted.
• H.R. 517, a bill to establish a task force to evaluate the backlog of appeals to claims submitted to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Committee assignments

Dina Titus in November 2008 in Las Vegas

• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (2009–2011; 2013–present)
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment
• Committee on Foreign Affairs (2017–present)
  • Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
  • Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade

Past

• Committee on Education and Labor (2009–2011)
• Committee on Homeland Security (2009–2011)
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs (2013–2017)
  • Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity

Nuclear issues

Titus is the author of Bombs in the Backyard: Atomic Testing and American Politics and Battle Born: Federal-State Relations in Nevada During the Twentieth Century.

Reproductive Rights

Titus received a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood's 2014 Congressional Scorecard for opposing a nationwide abortion ban after 20 weeks and supporting abortion access in the District of Columbia and through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Titus at the 2008 Nevada Democratic State Convention

2006

Incumbent Governor Kenny Guinn could not run in 2006 due to term limits. Titus won the Democratic nomination, but lost to Republican Congressman Jim Gibbons. While Titus won Clark County, her margin there was not enough to overcome a landslide margin in Gibbons' 2nd District.

2008

Democrats were heavily targeting 3rd district Republican incumbent Jon Porter. Their top candidate was Clark County prosecutor Robert Daskas, but in April, Daskas dropped out for family reasons. Democrats then quickly recruited Titus, who had won the district in her unsuccessful 2006 run for governor. Titus defeated Porter in November, 47% to 42%, becoming the first Democrat to represent the District. She was a major beneficiary of the overall anti-Bush sentiment in the Las Vegas area. She was elected Regional Whip in the 111th Congress.

2010

Titus was defeated by Republican former State Senator Joe Heck by a margin of less than 2000 votes.

2012

On October 31, 2011; Titus entered the Democratic primary for Nevada's 1st congressional district, where her home had been drawn in redistricting. The incumbent, fellow Democrat Shelley Berkley, gave up the seat to run for the United States Senate. While the 3rd is considered a swing district, the 1st is far and away the safest Democratic seat in Nevada. She initially faced a challenge from State Senator Ruben Kihuen in the Democratic primary. Kihuen dropped out in February 2012, reportedly due to Titus leading him in polls and fundraising. This all but assured Titus' return to Congress after a two-year absence. She easily defeated her Republican challenger, Chris Edwards.

Titus has been married to Prof. Thomas C. Wright for 30 years. Wright's studies in his field of expertise, Latin American history, has taken the couple on extended journeys throughout Central and South America and to Spain. He is a retired professor of history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Dina Titus is also a member of the Tortoise Group of Clark County, Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation, PEO International, National League of American Pen Women, Nevada Women's Lobby, Women's Research Institute of Nevada, Nevada Commission on Participatory Democracy, Clark County Neighborhood Justice Center, Las Vegas Little Theater, the Educational Commission of the States, National Wildlife Federation, and the Nature Conservancy. On April 13, 2009, she was named Outstanding Democrat of the Year by the Paradise Democratic Club of Las Vegas for the second time. President Obama sent her a congratulatory letter. In December 2010, Senator Harry Reid appointed her to a six-year term on the United States Commission on Civil Rights.