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2-Minute Preview: Lawmakers consider removing criminal penalties for abortion, lifting statute of limitations for sexual assault

Megan Messerly
Megan Messerly
Michelle Rindels
Michelle Rindels
Legislature
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Lawmakers on Monday will consider lifting the statute of limitations for more sexual assault cases, requiring life in prison for people who solicit someone under the age of 14 for prostitution and repealing criminal penalties for abortion.

Monday also marks the final day for introducing bills sponsored by individual lawmakers. Bills sponsored by committees have another week before their introduction deadline.

Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen will be delivering an address to the Legislature at 5 p.m. She’ll be the first of the congressional delegation to give a speech to lawmakers, a tradition that the Legislature carries out each session.

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’s what to watch for on Monday at the Legislature:

Indigent defense budgets

Joint Senate and Assembly money committees will hear from staff at the Governor’s Office of Finance, including about the budgets of the Office of Indigent Defense and the Nevada Sentencing Commission.

The committee meets at 8 a.m.

SB7: Life in prison for soliciting someone under 14 for prostitution

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear several bills related to child sex trafficking. Among them is SB7, which raises the penalty for soliciting a child under the age of 14 for prostitution from a Category E felony the first time — punishable by 1 to 4 years in prison — to a Category A felony punishable by life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 15 years.

The committee meets at 8 a.m.

AB216: Database on scholarships

Members of the Assembly Government Affairs Committee are reviewing AB216, a bill that requires the state treasurer to set up a public, online database of grants and scholarships that can help students with higher education or career advancement. The treasurer would also be required to disseminate the information.

Republican Assemblywoman Jill Tolles is the bill’s chief sponsor.

The committee meets at 9 a.m.

AB142: Removing statute of limitations on sexual assault

Members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee are considering AB142, which would alter the statute of limitations on reporting a sexual assault. There’s no statute of limitation for prosecuting a sexual assault if the victim or someone acting on that person’s behalf filed a report with law enforcement within 20 years of the alleged crime.

The bill would also remove the statute of limitations if there’s DNA evidence that can identify a suspect.

It’s sponsored by Republican Assemblywoman Lisa Krasner and Democratic Sen. Pat Spearman.

The committee meets at 9 a.m.

SB94: Family planning funds

Senate Health and Human Services will consider a bill that clarifies that state dollars allocated toward family planning services can be used to pay for services offered by community health nurses, who are the main family planning providers in rural Nevada. In the wake of the 2017 legislative session, there was some confusion whether $1 million in state planning funds could be granted to the nurses.

The bill also initially proposed to appropriate $12 million in family planning funds, but after Gov. Steve Sisolak allocated $6 million in his budget, a proposed amendment is reducing that ask to $6 million. The amendment will also add a new subsection prohibiting the state or any entity that receives a family planning grant from the state “from discriminating against a provider of family planning services because the provider offers any legal family planning service, including abortion.”

The state-level discussion on family planning comes as the Trump administration recently released a rule blocking groups that provide abortions or refer to abortion providers from receiving any federal dollars through a federal family planning grant program.

The bill will be heard by Senate Health and Human Services at 2:30 p.m.

SB179: Decriminalizing abortion and changing informed consent

This bill, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Yvanna Cancela, proposes to repeal criminal penalties for abortions performed outside the scope of Nevada’s abortion statute, including self-induced abortions. It also would remove other criminal penalties for anyone who sells drugs to produce miscarriage.

The legislation will also make changes to the state’s informed consent policy, striking a requirement that doctors describe the “physical and emotional implications” of having an abortion in favor of having them just explain the procedure, discomforts and risks. The legislation also spells out the process for obtaining informed consent and when an interpreter should be provided.

Cancela plans to propose an amendment to the bill that would leave the state’s parental notification law, which was found unconstitutional in a 1991 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit, on the books.

The bill will also be heard by Senate Health and Human Services at 2:30 p.m.

SJR5 + AJR5: Annual legislative sessions and removing the Board of Regents from the Constitution

The Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee will hear SJR5, a bill that calls for annual legislative sessions. They’ll also discuss AJR5, which would remove the Board of Regents from the Nevada Constitution.

Both bills will be heard at 2:30 p.m.

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