Major rollback of bill curbing police collaboration with immigration officials; other bills die at deadline

Attorney General Aaron Ford warned Nevadans Monday about scammers selling fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards and said “awareness” is the first line of defense against those scams.

The Clark County School District plans to offer in-person learning five days a week for the 2021-2022 school year, though families can choose a full-time distance learning option if they wish.

The months-long shutdown severely hampered the state’s hospitality and entertainment industries, as closed venues were unable to attract travelers, resulting in tens of millions fewer visitors to Las Vegas in 2020 than the year before. The loss of tourism, as well as local crowds spending on entertainment, led to thousands of lost jobs and millions in lost revenue.

Amid continuing attempts by a Democratic-led Legislature to grapple with the effects of the energy industry on the climate, a handful of Nevada’s largest energy companies shelled out more than $401,000 to legislative campaigns through the 2020 cycle.

The state’s Green Building Tax Abatements program is still in heavy use — a state report estimated more than $25 million in property taxes were abated through the 2020 fiscal year, with $105 million in property taxes abated since 2010. State budget analysts say that more than 160 buildings in the state — from Park MGM, Wynn/Encore and even the T-Mobile Arena — enjoy partial property tax abatements through the program.

Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, during a budget subcommittee meeting on Thursday, suggested that lawmakers plan for the extra federal health care funding to exist for an additional six months beyond the current date it is set to expire, June 30. Her recommendation comes as the federal government has indicated that the current public health emergency will “likely” extend through the end of the calendar year, which would, in turn, mean that the enhanced federal matching dollars would be available through March 2022.

The bill, AB62, passed unanimously out of the Senate on Tuesday would enable the state Treasurer’s Office to provide startup money for people with disabilities to open an ABLE account, a tax-advantaged savings account. It now awaits a signature by Gov. Steve Sisolak to become law.

Although Democratic lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a 2050 net-zero emissions goal two years ago, the two pieces of natural legislation — and the debates around them — show that tensions remain in the party (which controls both the legislative and executive branches) over how to best move forward on facilitating a transition toward decarbonization.

Amidst the safety restrictions, the Entertainment Capital of the World went dark, with a shuttered arts industry contributing to record-breaking unemployment in Southern Nevada.