2-Minute Preview: Bills reducing the number of regents, amending laws on bench warrants for traffic tickets up for hearings
Reducing the number of regents, making it illegal to park in a spot reserved for electric vehicle charging and amending laws on bench warrants for traffic tickets are all up for discussion at the Legislature on Tuesday.
Lawmakers are continuing to work through the hundreds of bills that survived the deadline for first house passage but need to be passed out of their second committee by the May 17 deadline — including measures on residential golf course development, requiring two-person crew minimums on freight trains and a special license plate commemorating the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas.
Also on the horizon for lawmakers is Wednesday’s meeting of the Economic Forum, a panel of five private-sector economists who approve the amount of tax revenue projected in come into state coffers over the next two years — a key component of closing out the state’s budget and determining how much leeway lawmakers have in approving funding for the numerous projects and bills currently pending in legislative budget committees.
For more information on the status of bills working their way through the Legislature, check out The Nevada Independent’s bill tracker. And for the bills in committee today, check out the Legislature’s website for committee times and links to watch live committee meetings and floor sessions.
Here is what to watch for on Tuesday at the Legislature:
Budget closings
A joint budget subcommittee will start closing education budgets, including accounts for the Achievement School District — which could be abolished if several bills working their way through the system pass — and the State Public Charter School Authority.
A separate budget subcommittee will close budgets from the Department of Corrections and the Division of Parole and Probation.
The subcommittees both meet at 8 a.m.
AB424: Parole for people convicted of murder as a minor
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider AB424, a bill that would make inmates eligible for parole after 20 years if they committed a crime as a minor that involved the death of one or more persons.
The committee meets at 8 a.m.
SB9: No staute of limitations on sexual assault and murder
This bill, which is backed by the attorney general’s office, would remove the statute of limitations for sexual assault in cases where the crime was committed at the same time as a murder.
The current maximum statute of limitations for sexual assault is 20 years. The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate on April 18.
It’s up for a hearing in the Assembly Judiciary Committee at 8 a.m.
SB428: Illegal parking in electric vehicle charging stations
If approved, this bill would make it illegal to park in a space designated for an electric vehicle charging stations, punishable by a moving violation and a minimum fine of $100.
The bill would create an increasing fine for subsequent violations maxing out at $750, and requires any parking space used for electric charging to have a sign or marking explaining the rules. It passed unanimously out of the Senate on April 23.
It’s up for a hearing in the Assembly Growth and Infrastructure Committee at 1:30 p.m.
AB333: “One October” speciality license plates
Sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Lesley Cohen, this bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to create a special license plate “commemorating the strength, solidarity and resilience” of Las Vegas after the mass shooting on Oct. 1, 2017.
Funds from the special license plate will go towards the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center, which provides resources to individuals affected by the mass shooting and is managed by the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada. It passed unanimously out of the Assembly on April 23.
It’s up for a hearing in the Senate Growth and Infrastructure committee at 1:30 p.m.
AB337: Two-person rail crew minimums
Proposed by Democratic Assemblywoman Susie Martinez, this bill would require any train or locomotive operating on a major railway have at least a two-person crew operating the machine at all times.
The bill creates a fine structure, starting at $5,000 and topping out at $25,000, for any violation of the bill. A similar bill was vetoed by Gov. Brian Sandoval in the 2017 legislative session; the current version passed out of the Assembly on a party-line 29-12 vote.
It’ll be heard in the Senate Growth and Infrastructure Committee at 1:30 p.m.
AB110: Bench warrants for traffic citations
Lawmakers will consider AB110, a measure that came out of an interim committee studying whether to make traffic tickets civil infractions rather than minor criminal matters that can escalate into arrest warrants.
Among other things, the bill requires the DMV to share the mailing address and contact information it has on file with a court, upon request, to ensure the person receives notification of a citation. It also authorizes law enforcement to request a person’s email and cellphone number during a traffic stop to ensure they receive details about the pending proceedings related to the traffic violation.
The bill allows a person who cannot physically appear in court to enter a plea in a traffic case using email or other electronic means, and it prevents parking tickets from turning into bench warrants if the mail notification was undeliverable.
The bill will be heard by Senate Growth and Infrastructure at 1:30 p.m.
SB251 + SB354: Golf course study and reducing the number of members on the Board of Regents
The Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections Committee will hear a bill sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Joyce Woodhouse, SB251, that would require an interim study on the development of residential golf courses. The proposed study replaces more sweeping legislation that would have required public meetings, an environmental impact study, and a requirement that golf courses be deemed no longer financially viable before any development on residential golf courses be approved.
Another Woodhouse bill, SB354, would reduce the number of Nevada System of Higher Education regents from 13 to nine and cut their terms from six years to four. The legislation initially called for making four of those regents appointed but that provision was ultimately amended out before the bill passed the Senate.
The legislation will only go into effect if voters also approve a constitutional amendment that would remove the board of regents from the Nevada Constitution. Lawmakers voted earlier this session to forward that proposal to the ballot for voters to decide in 2020.
Both bills will be heard in the Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections Committee at 4 p.m.
SB164 + SB410: Exempting bitcoin from taxation and repealing tax credits used by Faraday Future
SB164, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, would exempt virtual currencies from taxation. Those currencies include digital representations of value that are created, issued and maintained on a public blockchain, are not attached to any tangible asset or fiat currency, is accepted as payment and may only be transferred, stored or traded electronically.
Another bill sponsored by Kieckhefer, SB410, proposes to repeal language allowing the Governor’s Office of Economy Development to offer $38 million in initial transferable tax credits and $7.6 million in recurring transferable tax credits for any company or business that spends at least $1 billion on capital expenditures or construction on a business in the state of Nevada.
The tax credits were approved during a special session of the Legislature in 2015 to lure electric car manufacturer Faraday Future to the state. The company later abandoned plans to open a factory in Nevada amid ongoing financial trouble.
Both are up for hearings in the Assembly Taxation Committee at 4 p.m.
AJR7 + AJR8: Resolutions objecting to the Fallon Range Training Complex expansion and opposing eliminating the Nevada State Office of the BLM
AJR7, sponsored by the Assembly Natural Resources, Agriculture and Mining Committee, proposes to express the Legislature’s opposition to an expansion of the Fallon Range Training Complex on the grounds that it would eliminate public recreation access, restrict the area’s potential use for mining and grazing and reduce livestock grazing areas.
A second resolution, AJR8, would express the Legislature’s opposition to a proposed reorganization of the Department of Interior, which would eliminate 49 regional offices that roughly correspond with state lines and replace them with 12 “unified regions” defined by landscape features — primarily rivers and watersheds.
The resolutions will be heard by the Senate Natural Resources Committee at 4 p.m.