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2-Minute Preview: Lawmakers scheduled to hear Office of New Americans proposal, vote on abortion bill

Riley Snyder
Riley Snyder
Megan Messerly
Megan Messerly
Michelle Rindels
Michelle Rindels
Legislature
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Photo of the Nevada Legislature building

Lawmakers will vet Gov. Steve Sisolak’s plan to create an Office of New Americans and take a committee vote on removing felony penalties for abortion when they reconvene on Monday.

They’ll also consider proposals to study wildfires and the working conditions at legal brothels, and discuss adding anxiety to the list of conditions that qualify a person for a medical marijuana card.

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:

AB166: Criminalizing the advancement of prostitution

Sponsored by Republican Assemblywoman Jill Tolles, this bill would create a new felony crime of “advancing prostitution,” targeting individuals who own or manage a business and don’t report illegal prostitution. The measure passed on a 39-2 vote in the Assembly on April 23.

It’s up for a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee at 8 a.m.

ACR4 + ACR6: Studies on wildfires, brothels

Members of the Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections are set to hear two measures requiring interim studies on wildfires and working conditions at brothels.

ACR4, backed by the interim Legislative Committee on Public Lands, would create an interim legislative committee required to study how to reduce wildfire fuels, issues related to early wildfire response and the economic impact of wildfires on the state and local communities.

ACR6, which is sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Lesley Cohen, would also require creation of an interim legislative committee to study rules and working conditions in the state’s licensed brothels, as well as whether legal sex workers should be classified as independent contractors or employees.

Both bills are up in the Senate Legislative Operations and Elections, which meets after the Senate Commerce and Labor, Education and Government Affairs committees adjourn.

SB481 + SB482: Affordable Care Act stabilization bills

Sponsored by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, SB481 would place additional restrictions on association health plans and short-term limited duration plans.

A second bill sponsored by the committee, SB482, would direct the state to apply for a federal innovation waiver to allow it to explore other options to stabilize the individual health insurance market.

Both bills will be up for a hearing in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee at 12:30 p.m.

SB538: Office of New Americans

One of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s top priorities, this bill would create an Office of New Americans in the governor’s office to oversee policies affecting immigrants in the state. The bill also requires regulatory bodies in the state to create online resources for immigrants with information on how to apply for occupational licenses.

It’s up for a hearing in the Senate Government Affairs Committee at 1 p.m.

SB430: Expanding medical marijuana access

If approved, this bill would expand the list of medical conditions under which a person can apply for a medical marijuana card.

The bill adds anxiety, autism spectrum disorder, autoimmune diseases, opioid addiction, anorexia, neuropathic conditions and any disease related to HIV or AIDS to the list of diseases or conditions under which a person can apply for a medical marijuana card. It also lowers thresholds for individuals with muscle spasms and nausea to apply for medicinal marijuana cards.

It’s up for a hearing in the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee at 12:30 p.m.

SB262: Asthma drug pricing transparency

This bill expands a landmark diabetes drug transparency bill sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Yvanna Cancela and passed by the 2017 Legislature to cover asthma drugs. The legislation would require manufacturers of essential asthma drugs to submit information to the state related to the cost of the pricing of the drug and, if the drug has increased by more than a certain amount in the past year or two, explain to the state why the price of the drug increased.

It also would require pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen in the drug pricing process, to submit certain information to the state on the rebates they keep and profits they make on the sale of essential asthma drugs.

It will be heard in the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee at 12:30 p.m.

SB179: Decriminalizing abortion and changing informed consent

Up for a vote in the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee, SB179 proposes to remove a felony penalty on abortions performed outside the scope of Nevada’s abortion statute, though such abortions would still be punishable as a misdemeanor under existing law. It also proposes to remove penalties on anyone who sells drugs to produce a miscarriage and repeals a statute relating to whether someone has to testify against themselves in an abortion-related prosecution.

The bill would also make changes to the state’s informed consent law for abortions by removing a requirement that doctors must explain the emotional implications of undergoing the procedure.

The bill will be voted on at 12:30 p.m.

AB317: State trauma center designations

Sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, this bill would shift the responsibility of determining whether to add an additional trauma center from the local level to the state.

It also will require every off-campus facility a hospital operates, such as a community hospital, to have a unique national provider identifier number in order to better track utilization of such facilities.

It’s up for a hearing in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee at 2:30 p.m.

AB219, AB304 + AB490: Votes on English language learner programs, student discipline reporting

The Senate Education Committee will be voting on a long list of bills, including AB219, which allows English language learners to attend schools they’re not zoned for if the other school has more services for them.

They’ll also consider AB304, which calls for nonbinding student-to-counselor ratios and more reporting of class sizes, and AB490, which calls for more reporting on student discipline in schools.

The committee meets at 2 p.m.

Budget closings

A joint meeting of the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committees are set to hear details from budget subcommittees on multiple state agencies, including:

  • Department of Administration
  • Department of Education (excluding several budget accounts, such as the Distributive School Account)
  • Department of Agriculture
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training
  • Department of Public Safety
  • Department of Corrections
  • Legislative Counsel Bureau

The committee is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m.

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