Tuesday was later night than most for the Legislature, with lawmakers working overtime to pass out more than 200 bills and beat a deadline for bills to pass out of their house of origin.

With budget committees meeting early in the morning and floor sessions not starting until midday, lawmakers still have a packed schedule between now and the end of Tuesday.

The Senate wrapped up early on Tuesday just after 5 p.m. after passing 55 bills, including eight party-line votes on issues from a grant program for family planning services to allowing counties to approve the use of marijuana at special events or at public businesses. Between Monday and Tuesday, senators approved just under a quarter of the more than 250 bills and resolutions pushed through the Senate over the last 78 days of the session.

Assembly members faced a much tougher task on Tuesday, passing 133 bills in a floor session that stretched past 9 p.m.. That total marked more than half of the bills passed out of the legislative body throughout the entire session.

And like earlier sessions, the vast majority of votes on Tuesday were unanimous. Senators voted unanimously on 39 bills, while splitting votes on only 15 measures.

Assembly members were slightly less agreeable, voting as a block on 61 measures with 72 votes attracting at least some opposition. There were eleven party line votes in the Assembly Tuesday on bills from taxes to support school construction to codifying certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act into state law.

Nonetheless, 16 bills and resolutions formally died by the deadline.

For a full list of bills that passed and by what margin, check out our comprehensive spreadsheet.

EDUCATION/CHILD CARE:

AB320: Student achievement data out of teacher evals

Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson’s bill would eliminate statewide test results as a measure but allow local assessments to account for 20 percent of the total evaluation.

Several people who testified in support of AB320 pointed out that standardized tests don’t take into account chronic absenteeism or high transiency rates — both of which affect student learning.

Under the current law, teacher evaluations this school year are based 20 percent on student achievement. That will increase next school year to 40 percent: 20 percent from statewide tests and 20 percent from local assessments that are picked by the county school board, such as a system of personalized “student learning goals.”

The Assembly passed the bill 27-15 on party lines Tuesday night.

AB188: Reducing credits needed to receive the Silver State Opportunity Grant

In a rare party-line vote, Assembly members voted 27 to 15 to reduce credit requirements for the state’s college need-based scholarship.

Nevada’s new need-based scholarship, the Silver State Opportunity Grant, requires students to take at least 15 credits a semester to retain the award. But that’s not always easy for the students at community colleges and Nevada State College who are eligible for the award, and many drop off when they can’t maintain that course load.

Assemblywoman Olivia Diaz initially pushed for reducing the credit requirement down to 9 per semester, but an amendment to her bill raises it to 12.

But Republicans argued money in the program is limited, and it should be assigned to students who are most likely to take the heavy course load they need to complete a degree. They all voted against the bill.

Lawmakers are trying to encourage students to take a course load heavy enough that they will graduate in a timely manner, while also providing the grant to students who most need it because they’re weighed down with work and family obligations.

SB369: Professional development for teachers

Senators voted unanimously on Tuesday on a measure requiring large school districts establish professional development courses for support staff and teachers.

SB369, primarily sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, requires a 75,000 student plus school district to provide training to teachers and principals on working collaboratively with school support staff and parents.

The bill also allows for an investigation by the board of trustees into a school’s engagement if petitioned by 5 percent of parents, 50 percent of licensed and classified employees or a majority vote of a School Organization Team.

AB346: Background checks at small child care centers

Requires background checks and state registration for people providing child care to four or fewer children. Sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Amber Joiner.

Concerned that bad actors can slip through the cracks and take advantage of the high demand and low supply of child care, some lawmakers are pushing for more providers to get background checks. Democratic Assemblywoman Amber Joiner is targeting unregulated, small-time providers who take care of four or fewer children.

“We specifically tried to just make it for people who are running daycare centers essentially out of their homes,” Joiner said about her bill.

The informal child care sector includes people who might be taking care of a handful of neighbor children and may not even make enough money to require a business licenses. State officials have no clear idea how big the industry is; Joiner’s bill requires small-time providers to register with the state and could help officials get a better grasp on it.

Joiner said she strived to ensure the provisions aren’t too heavy-handed for people just trying to find care.

“There are exemptions for family members. And, if you’ve seen the bill, we’re not trying to stop people from helping friends for short term,” Joiner said. “But there are a certain number of days that they have to be watched, for profit, not in their own home, who are not family members.”

The bill passed on a 29-13 vote, with Republican Assemblywoman Jill Tolles and Assemblyman Keith Pickard voting with Democrats to support the bill.

MARIJUANA:

AB259: Allowing courts to vacate convictions of certain marijuana-related crimes

The Assembly voted along party lines on a bill to vacate certain marijuana-related convictions and seal the records relating to the case late Tuesday afternoon.

The bill provides that if a person is convicted of a misdemeanor for the possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana or a violation of any law concerning certain offenses involving marijuana, which is now legal in Nevada as of January 1, 2017 because of the legalization of recreational marijuana through the Question 2 ballot initiative, the person may petition the court to vacate the judgment and seal all documents relating to the case.

The legislation also provides that if a person is convicted of knowingly or intentionally possessing a controlled substance and the penalty for such possession requires a person to serve a minimum term of imprisonment, the court is authorized to depart from the prescribed minimum term if:

• The offense for which the person was convicted didn’t involve the use or attempted use of physical force against another person
• The person was not in possession of or state that they were in possession of a weapon
• The court states the reasons for imposing a particular sentence that departs from the prescribed minimum term.

The Assembly passed the bill 27-15 late Tuesday afternoon on a party-line vote.

SB236: Pot at special events and businesses

Senators approved a measure on a 12-9 party line vote allowing local governments and counties to issue licenses for businesses and special events for public use of marijuana.

SB236, which is sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tick Segerblom, would allow local governments to issue permits for using marijuana in public. It creates certain restrictions, including not allowing permits for any event that allows people under the age of 21 or within a certain distance of a “community facility,” school or public airport.

SB374: Marijuana Massages

Senators took a 12-9 party line vote on Tuesday to approve a bill that would allow massage therapists to administer a marijuana-focused massage.

SB374, which is sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tick Segerblom, would allow for massage therapists to administer marijuana or hemp-infused lotions or oil and exempt them from punishment from a professional licensing board. It would also prohibit professional licensing board from taking action against a health care provider for recommending or discussion medical marijuana.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM:

AB384: “Ban the Box” provision helping ex-cons get work

People with a criminal record would have a better chance at a government job under AB384, which passed the Assembly on a party line vote, 27-15, Tuesday night.

The so-called “Ban the Box” provision would prevent government employers from considering an applicant’s criminal history until after they’ve made a job offer. If the employer then decides not to hire the person based on their record, they have to send a letter to the applicant explaining why they weren’t chosen.

Critics wondered if it would take away too much discretion from employers who, for example, don’t want someone who committed a burglary to have a job that involves entering customers’ homes.

An amendment would exempt police officers and school from the “Ban the Box” provisions.

AB420: Prisoners using computers

After initially failing to pass the required two-thirds majority required for any tax or fee increase, Assembly members nevertheless persisted and got two Republicans to flip and approve a measure sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman James Ohrenschall allowing prisoners to use certain telecommunications and teleconferencing devices.

AB420 would allow the Nevada Department of Corrections to charge offenders for video-conference services, and create exceptions to the general ban on telecommunication devices for visits or correspondence, facilitating or participating in correctional activities or performing legal or educational research.

The measure initially failed on a party-line vote that failed to hit the required two-thirds majority for tax increases. After a recess, Republicans Ira Hansen and Jill Tolles flipped their votes and approved the measure.

HEALTH CARE/MENTAL HEALTH:

AB249: Codifying free contraception provision of Affordable Care Act into state law

A bill sponsored by Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson that would codify the requirement from the Affordable Care Act that insurance companies cover contraception free of charge into state law passed Assembly Health and Human Services on Friday as amended.

The amended bill includes language that allows the plan to require a person enrolled in Medicaid to pay a higher deductible, copayment or coinsurance for a drug or device for contraception if the person refuses to accept the therapeutic equivalent of the drug or device. The plan also must include at least one drug or device for each method of contraception approved by the Food and Drug Administration free or charge.

The amendment also requires a 12-month distribution of contraception all at once.

The Assembly passed the bill 40-2 late Tuesday afternoon, with Republican Assembly members John Ellison and Lisa Krasner in opposition.

SB122: Program to administer family planning grants

The Senate passed a bill that would establish a program to provide grants for family planning services to local governments and nonprofit organizations on party lines Tuesday morning.

The bill establishes the Account for Family Planning in the State General Fund and requires the administrator of the Division of Public and Behavioral Health to administer the account. The bill requires money in the count to be used to award grants to local governments and nonprofit organizations to be used to provide family planning services to people who would otherwise have difficulty obtaining them.

The legislation also authorizes the administrator to accept gifts, grants and donations to award such grants, though it does not allocate any money toward the grant program.

The Senate approved the measure in a party line 12-9 vote on Tuesday morning.

AB105: Suicide prevention & training for social workers

Assembly members voted overwhelmingly to require some licensed health care workers take suicide prevention and awareness courses

Democratic Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson’s AB105 would require social workers and advanced practice nurses licensed in Nevada to take at least two hours of training in evidence-based suicide prevention and awareness training, and an additional two hours of training every four years thereafter. It also removes an expiration date currently in state law for physicians and osteopathic physicians to complete a suicide prevention training course.

The bill passed on a 39-3 vote, with Republicans Lisa Krasner, Richard McArthur and Robin Titus opposed.

AB408: Codifies ACA into state law

Nevada Assembly Democrats are pushing to codify popular portions of the Affordable Care Act into state law amid a looming federal vote to dismantle the law.

Portions copied from the federal health insurance law by the bill include:

• Requiring all insurers to offer health insurance regardless of a person’s pre-existing conditions without denying, limiting or excluding a benefit or forcing them to pay a higher premium.
• Allowing children to stay on their parent’s insurance until the age of 26.
• Requiring all health insurance plans to include coverage for maternity and newborn care.
• Including coverage for preventative health services including screenings and tests for diseases, counseling, vaccinations and contraceptive drugs. Extends requirement to health insurance plans purchased by local governments and the Public Employees’ Benefits Program
• Prohibiting health care providers and insurers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, gender identity or expression or sexual orientation.

The bill passed the Assembly on a party line vote, 27-15, Tuesday night.

AB424: Brain death & family notification

Nevada lawmakers voted 41-1 to approve a measure that would allow doctors to declare a patient brain-dead without consent from a family member.

The bill, which is sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman Mike Sprinkle, would allow doctors to legally declare patients who have totally ceased brain function as legally deceased, without consent from a family member. Hospitals would be required to continue life-sustaining treatment if the deceased person is an actual or potential organ donor or is pregnant with a fetus expected to survive. Health care providers would also be required to notify family members of the death and to relay information on the cost of continuing care.

ELECTION REFORM:

SB144: Same-day voter registration

One of a handful of straight party-line votes came on SB144, a wide-ranging elections bill that would expand deadlines for voter registration and allow for people to register on Election Day.

The bill, which was sponsored by Democratic Sen. Pat Spearman, was slightly changed through amendments from when it was first introduced. The new version of the bill would:

• Allow people to register to vote at certain voting centers on the day of a primary or general election.
• Let 17-year-olds pre-register to vote.
• Require the the secretary of state develop a mobile app allowing for submission of election-related information.
• Requires Washoe and Clark counties to keep early voting sites open on Sundays.
• Authorizes a county clerk to establish “universal polling places” where anyone in a county can vote regardless of precinct.

Senators voted on party lines — 12-9 — to approve the bill.

SB447: Easier absentee voting

Making absentee voting easier for people with disabilities found wide support Tuesday in the Nevada Senate.

SB447, which passed unanimously, would allow for voters with disabilities or those over the age of 65 to request from a county clerk that they be sent an absentee ballot for all future elections they’re eligible to vote in. It would also allow anyone who requests an absentee ballot be allowed to receive an absentee ballot for all elections in that calendar year

TRANSPORTATION:

SB350: Restrictions on remote disabling of cars

A bill restricting use of devices made to remote disable motor vehicles was passed unanimously out of the Senate on Tuesday.

Democratic Senator Kelvin Atkinson’s SB350 would prohibit long-term lessors and creditors of motor vehicles unless a consumer agrees to it, and creates restrictions and rules on use of such a device with a violation considered a deceptive trade practice. The original version of the bill would have banned remote disable devices entirely, but it was amended to allow for some exceptions.

BUSINESS/UNIONS:

SB253: Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act

Nevada senators voted unanimously to make it illegal for an employer to refuse to provide a “reasonable accommodation” to a pregnant or breastfeeding woman under the so-called Nevada Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act.

The bill echoes parts of the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and would only apply to employers with 15 or more workers, as well as state and local governments.

Democratic Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro said her intent of the bill was to avoid having female workers have to choose between continuing a career and starting a family by providing accommodations for female workers.

The accommodations could include offering modified seating, allowing longer or more frequent breaks, allowing a transfer to less-strenuous duties or allowing a modified schedule. It doesn’t require the employer to create an entirely new position or promote an employee that is not qualified for a particular job.

AB350: State agency employee orientation includes meeting time with unions

Democratic Assemblyman Ozzie Fumo’s bill requiring state agencies to allow unions to present during employee orientation passed on a party line vote Tuesday night.

The bill requires state agencies to provide an in-person orientation to a new employee during his or her regular work hours within 30 days after the employee’s date of hire or within a reasonable amount of time. Agencies that have at least 100 members who make payments to a union must allow the union to give a presentation of at least 30 minutes during the orientation. The agency must also allow unions to meet with an employee who is unable to attend the employee orientation within the required time, either outside regular work hours or during breaks in designated areas at the employee’s place of work.

The Assembly passed the measure 27-15 on a party line vote.

AB294: Taxing Trivago

Assembly members split on Democratic Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams’ bill AB294. The amended version of the bill requires county commissions to oversee and force  "accommodations facilitators" such as Trivago that brokers or coordinates temporary rentals to collect taxes imposed on hotel room rentals.

The original version of the bill focused on "hosting platforms" such as Airbnb, but was amended to focus on third-party websites that handle booking and scheduling of hotel rooms.

The Assembly passed the bill on a 29-13 vote on Tuesday afternoon. All Republicans opposed it except for Assemblyman Paul Anderson and Assemblywoman Melissa Woodbury.

Update at 11:15 a.m. to correct description of amended version of the bill.

AB431: Raises production limits for craft breweries

Lawmakers unanimously approved a bill to limit the spread of brew pubs — where beer is brewed and sold at a single site that usually has a restaurant.

Existing law limits brew pubs to producing 15,000 barrels of beer each year in all the locations they own in a single county. Democratic Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams’ bill would raise the cap to 40,000 barrels each year, but limit the number of barrels that can be sold at retail to 5,000 a year.

Updated at 7:45 a.m. to correct description of AB431 to reflect the amended version of the bill.

DEAD BILLS

AB217: Shutting down motels that are hotbeds for prostitution

Republican Assemblyman John Hambrick’s bill that would have targeted hotels and motels that are hotbeds for prostitution has died.

The measure originally required municipalities to revoke someone’s business license if they knew or should have known that prostitution is happening there. It was later softened to say authorities may do so, and it allowed for a civil fine rather than outright license revocation.

The bill was amended on Monday but pulled from the vote list on Tuesday.

AB360: High-speed rail between Las Vegas to Reno

Lawmakers buried a bill that called for a $30 million study on high-speed rail between Reno and Las Vegas.

Republican Assemblyman Jim Marchant’s bill, AB360, would have the Department of Transportation do a feasibility study on how much a high-speed rail connection would cost and what impacts it would have on the environment.

Funding for the study was not included in Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget. The bill passed out of  committee but was sidelined before it could come up for a vote of the full Assembly.

AB226: Top two vote-getters in a primary advance to general election

Republican Assemblyman Ira Hansen’s bill changing the way Nevada does primaries has died.

Under existing rules, if there were multiple Republicans running for a seat but no other candidates, the contenders would compete in a primary and the winner would also be the de facto winner of the general election. Voters whose party didn’t put up a candidate would have just one choice.

Hansen’s bill would allow the top two vote-getters in a crowded primary to advance to the general election, so all registered voters could choose between the two Republicans.

The bill was originally scheduled for a vote Tuesday but then pulled from the agenda. Hansen said he wasn’t too upset his bill failed because the existing system has been favorable to Republicans.

AJR10 of the 2015 session: Setting new salaries for elected officials

A proposed constitutional amendment that passed its first hurdle in the 2015 session won’t make it to the finish line after it died on Tuesday.

AJR10 would have empowered a committee to do a comprehensive study on the pay and benefits of lawmakers, constitutional officers including the governor, judges and others. It would have compared their compensation to others in the private and public sectors, then set new levels of pay.

The measure needed to pass votes of the Legislature in two consecutive sessions, then get approval from voters before it could take effect. It was pulled from the vote list on Tuesday.

SB395: Cybersecurity infrastructure

A measure that would required the state’s Commission on Homeland Security to designate and require cybersecurity plans for “critical infrastructure” failed to advance on Tuesday.

SB395, which was sponsored by Democratic Sen. Pat Spearman, would have required designation of “critical infrastructure” for certain entities and for the entities to prepare and send their proposed cybersecurity plans to the commission and an independent cybersecurity evaluator. The bill was passed out of committee early in April with an amendment removing most of the bill and creating new language similar to existing state law governing data collectors that accept payment cards.

Senate Democratic leadership staff said a number of concerns had on brought up about the bill that were unable to be resolved before the deadline. They said they hoped to amend ideas in the bill into AB471, a measure backed by Gov. Brian Sandoval that would create Nevada Office of Cyber Defense Coordination.

SB342: Taxi & ride-sharing taxes

A bill proposed by Independent Sen. Patricia Farley that would have required the 3 percent excise fee on taxi rides and ride-hailing trips also apply to common motor carriers and be recoverable from passengers died on Tuesday.

SB342 was passed out of committee in early April but was left on the secretary’s desk after senators adjourned on Tuesday, meaning they can take no further action on the bill. It would have required taxicabs and ride-hailing companies to collect the excise tax, which was passed during the 2015 session, to assess the tax on passengers when they pay the fare.