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Dozens of bills approved by Senate, Assembly a week out from first house passage deadline

Megan Messerly
Megan Messerly
Michelle Rindels
Michelle Rindels
Riley Snyder
Riley Snyder
Legislature
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The first major hurdle of the 120-day Nevada legislative session has come and gone, but state lawmakers still face a daunting task of moving hundreds of bills through each house of the Legislature ahead of an April 25 deadline.

With most committee meetings canceled on Monday, lawmakers spent more time than usual in floor sessions, passing dozens of bills ahead of the deadline a week from Tuesday.

Click here for a full list of bills that were possibly up for a vote on Monday in the Assembly and here for the Senate.

Here’s an in-depth look at a few of the bills that cleared their first house on Monday:

SB125: Ex-felon voter rights

Senators voted 12-9 on party lines to pass SB125, which would automatically restore voting rights to ex-felons one year into their probation or parole, unless they were convicted of certain crimes such as murder or rape.

Existing law requires that someone can have their civil rights restored if they have an honorable discharge from parole or probation, have their records sealed in court or are pardoned and specifically have their civil rights restored.

The bill, which is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, also reduces the waiting time before a person who is convicted of certain crimes can have the related criminal records sealed.

Republicans opposed the bill, including Sen. Becky Harris, who supported it at the committee level. She said she was concerned that other bills doing similar things are circulating, and it would be unclear which provisions would supersede others.

SB176: Mandatory police body cameras

Senators voted almost unanimously to approve a measure that would essentially require all police officers who routinely interact with the public to wear body cameras.

SB176, which is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, would require all law enforcement officers to wear body cameras and keep the footage for at least 15 days. It would allow county commissions to impose up to $1 in 9-1-1 surcharge fees for each access line to a telecommunications provider, including mobile phone numbers.

If approved by the Assembly and signed by the governor, the bill would take effect in July 2018.

SB165: Obesity as a chronic disease

A measure defining obesity as a “chronic illness” and reinstating data collection requirements for childhood weights and heights passed the Senate on a 16-5 vote.

Democratic Sen. Mo Denis’s bill would create a legal definition of obesity and require schools in Washoe and Clark counties to collect a representative sample and release a report of the height and weight of students in grades 4, 7 and 10. Denis said in an earlier interview that his goal was to make combating obesity a higher health care priority.

Five Republicans — Michael Roberson, Ben Kieckhefer, Don Gustavson, Scott Hammond & James Settelmeyer — voted against the measure. A similar measure passed 20-1 out of the senate during the 2015 session, but failed to advance in the Republican-controlled Assembly.

SJR17: Victim’s rights constitutional amendment

A constitutional amendment to add a victim’s bill of rights to the Nevada Constitution modeled after a 2008 amendment to the California Constitution known as Marsy’s Law passed the Senate with unanimous support on Monday.

The proposal would enact a number of “victim’s rights” into the state’s Constitution, including reasonable notice of hearings in the case and consideration of the victim’s safety in the bail-setting process.

The measure passed with bipartisan support in 2015, with six Democratic senators — Aaron Ford, Kelvin Atkinson, David Parks, Tick Segerblom, Pat Spearman and Joyce Woodhouse — and Democratic Assemblyman Elliot Anderson voting against the measure.

If approved by the Assembly, the measure will head to a vote of the people on the 2018 ballot for final approval.

AB33: No more advisory boards on garlic and onion growers and alfalfa seeds

Legislation to abolish the Garlic and Onion Growers’ Advisory Board, the Alfalfa Seed Advisory Board and the Advisory Council for Organic Agricultural Products passed the Assembly 36-4 on Monday, with Democratic Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams and Republican Assembly members John Ellison, Richard McArthur and Robin Titus against.

The bill also turns a requirement that the State Department of Agriculture levy a special assessment of no more than $10 an acre on all garlic and onions grown and harvested in the state for commercial use and no more than 50 cents per hundred weight of alfalfa seeds grown in the state into an authorization.

The legislation also transfers the powers and duties of the State Dairy Commission to the director of the State Department of Agriculture.

AB74: HIV testing for offenders

Members of the Assembly voted nearly unanimously to authorize rather than require the Department of Corrections to disclose the names of offenders who test positive for HIV, with only Republican Assemblyman John Ellison in opposition.

Existing law requires offenders in the Department of Corrections to be tested for exposure to the HIV virus. Under the legislation, if the test is positive, the name of the offender is now authorized rather than required to be disclosed to certain officials within the Department of Corrections including the director, administrative officers responsible for classification and medical treatment of offenders, the manager or warden or the facility and any other employees whose normal duties require the employee to come in contact with the blood or bodily fluids of the offender.

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