Nevada Senator Marilyn Dondero Loop’s Corporate-Sponsored Hawaii Junket Adds to Pattern of Ethical Concerns

Nevada State Senator Marilyn Dondero Loop (D-Las Vegas), already no stranger to scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest, has drawn fresh criticism for accepting a corporate-backed trip to Hawaii in 2025—ironically billed as “education on SNAP”—while representing a district where many constituents rely on food assistance programs. In a time of fiscal uncertainty and calls for accountability, such privately- funded, luxury getaways continue to raise doubts about whose interests are truly being served.

Public records from Dondero Loop’s 2026 Annual Financial Disclosure Statement, filed with the Nevada Secretary of State, reveal she accepted special interest-funded trips totaling more than $5,800 last year. One standout was a junket to Maui (with events in Kona), sponsored by the Senate Presidents’ Forum, an organization funded by major corporations including Amazon, Apple, Google, Eli Lilly, Novartis, PhRMA, Altria, Diageo, and Walmart. 

The forum’s 2025 Fall Forum, held September 3-7 in Kona, Hawaii, featured sessions on Medicaid management, budget resiliency, trans-Pacific trade, Pacific Rim security, disaster mitigation lessons from the 2023 Lahaina wildfires, and workforce development. Discussions also touched on the evolving SNAP landscape amid federal funding uncertainties, including projected reductions.

The optics are glaring: a Nevada legislator flies over 3,000 miles to a luxury Hawaiian destination, courtesy of big-business sponsors, to purportedly learn about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which supports hundreds of thousands of low-income Nevadans grappling with high living costs and economic pressures. Critics call it emblematic of an out-of-touch political class that prioritizes corporate perks over the everyday struggles of constituents.

This latest episode fits into a broader pattern of ethical questions surrounding Dondero Loop. In 2023, amid the final chaotic days of the Nevada Legislature session, she played a key role—as chair of the Senate Finance Committee—in shaping “Christmas tree” bills (Assembly Bill 525 and Senate Bill 341) that distributed over $110 million in pandemic-era funds to more than 70 nonprofits and organizations. A Las Vegas Review-Journal investigation highlighted that at least 13 legislators, including Dondero Loop, had connections to recipient groups receiving more than $33 million collectively. Reports indicated Dondero Loop and then-Assemblywoman Daniele Monroe-Moreno “sat down and compared notes” to allocate funds to various entities, including a generous “donation” of $25 million to the Democrat-aligned, Culinary Union for an unknown “capital improvement project.”

Another notable recipient was the United Way of Southern Nevada, which received $1.2 million for public health, education, and economic mobility initiatives. At the time, Dondero Loop’s legislative biography listed her affiliation with the United Way as “current.” Following media inquiries and exposure of these ties, the reference was abruptly removed from her official bio—a move that sparked accusations of scrubbing her record to avoid scrutiny. The Better Nevada PAC, aligned with Governor Joe Lombardo, publicly questioned: “When Democrat Senator @donderoloopnv got caught engaging in corruption by the @reviewjournal, she scrubbed her website. What is she hiding?”

When Democrat Senator @donderoloopnv got caught engaging in corruption by the @reviewjournal, she scrubbed her website.

What is she hiding?https://t.co/2nxGUdfdHt #NVleg #CultureOfCorruption pic.twitter.com/87yuW8ignX

— Nevada War Room – Better NV PAC (@BetterNevadaPAC) October 31, 2023

These events, detailed in Nevada Globe coverage at the time, contributed to a wave of ethics scandals that prompted several Democratic lawmakers to exit races or face investigations. While no formal charges resulted from the 2023 funding controversy, the incidents fueled ongoing calls for greater transparency and stricter rules on legislator ties to funded organizations—issues Nevada’s Demcocratic-majority legislature has resisted by killing Republican-sponsored bills to increase transparency, as the legislative body remains exempt from many open records requirements.

Dondero Loop, a former educator and UNLV graduate representing Senate District 8 (including parts of Las Vegas such as Spring Valley and Summerlin), has built her career around public education. She currently serves as Senate President pro Tempore.

The Senate Presidents’ Forum, much like the Attorney General Alliance that has funded extensive trips for Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, operates as a non-partisan platform for policy discussions—but one heavily supported by industries with stakes in healthcare, trade, and consumer policy. Nevada law mandates disclosure of such gifts for transparency.

As Nevada continues debating budget priorities and social safety net programs like SNAP, Dondero Loop’s Hawaii excursion revives questions about special interest influence in state politics.