Nevada lawmakers introducing bills at a record-setting pace at start of session
In today’s edition:
- It’s not your imagination. Bills are moving faster than in the past.
- Second anti-President Donald Trump and Elon Musk protest at the capitol
- Legislature honors Neena Laxalt
From the Capital Bureau Chief:
We had a snow day last week, but the Assembly and Senate still gaveled in and quickly adjourned because the Legislature cannot go more than three days (not including Sunday) without having a floor session.
Because of the Monday holiday, the next edition will arrive on Friday. As always, please send us your questions and suggestions. You can reach me at [email protected].
The Legislature is … moving quickly??
The Legislature isn’t used to moving fast in the early days of the session — but this year, it’s proceeding at a (relatively) breakneck pace.
March 17 is the deadline for lawmaker bills to be introduced this session, while March 24 is the last day for committee bill introductions. This excludes emergency bills (which can be introduced at any time) or budget bills, which come at the end of session.
We got a tip from an observant lobbyist who believed there was a surge in bills introduced in the early days of the session — and the data backs it up.
- Through the first three days of this session, a whopping 438 bills were introduced — 170 more than any other session since 2017, according to our friends at the Legislative Counsel Bureau (LCB).
- Zooming out, nearly 1,000 measures were requested before the session, and more than 40 percent had been introduced by day three of the session, a rate much higher than past legislative sessions.
- Lack of advance planning can lead to problems down the road. In 2021, when the number of prefiled bills was particularly low, lawmakers had to push back bill introduction deadlines to allow LCB’s legal division more time to finish drafting bills.
- Context: A prefiled bill is a requested measure that has been drafted in full ahead of the session.
- Interim LCB Director Diane Thornton said this session’s surge was because of several factors, including process improvements and the support of caucus leadership, who ensured that members submitted bill details in a timely manner so that the LCB’s legal division could draft bills quickly.
- Thornton added that “improvements” such as LCB no longer accepting bills for prefiling after the first day of the session, helped contribute to the increase.
- Lorne Malkiewich, a former head of the LCB, said in an interview that the bureau has long tried to make its processes more efficient.
- “That is something that has been a constant effort on the part of the Legislative Counsel Bureau and the Legislature is to … try and get as much work in as early as possible,” he said.
- Assembly Minority Leader Gregory Hafen (R-Pahrump) said he attributed the increase to “the timing of how the bills get presented.”
— Eric Neugeboren and Isabella Aldrete
What we’re reading and writing
'Lives are at risk': Federal funding cuts threaten Nevada drug overdose research by Gabby Birenbaum
Cuts could undo years of scientific progress at UNR.
Freshman Orientation: Lisa Cole brings environmental expertise to Nevada Assembly by Eric Neugeboren
Cole has worked on water rights issues for more than 20 years.
Court strikes down parts of law compelling Elko County to send property tax to schools by Rocio Hernandez
The court sided with Elko County in its lawsuit against portions of the bill that required it to contribute to school construction or upgrades.
Second anti-Trump protest draws even larger crowds
Hundreds of people flocked to the Nevada Capitol on Monday for the second anti-Donald Trump protest in Carson City in two weeks. The Presidents Day protest was part of a larger movement of protests at capitol buildings in all 50 states across the nation. Here’s what a few attendees had to say:
- Jonathan Tomasevic, a 34-year-old with cerebral palsy, said that he came out in opposition to Trump’s use of executive action. Tomasevic criticized Trump for some of his statements against those with disabilities and proposed cuts to programs such as Medicaid that provide health insurance coverage for people with disabilities.
- “There's this odd notion that people with disabilities can't speak their own mind or think their own thoughts,” Tomasevic said.
- Rick Van Alfen, 73, said that the president lacks “accountability.” As a former union representative, Van Alfen said that he feels for the thousands of federal workers who have been laid off since Trump stepped into office.
- “Nobody's holding this guy accountable. We have a Supreme Court that is a joke, and I don't know how far the judges can say what they want,” Van Alfen said.
— Isabella Aldrete
Keeping Tabs
♥️ Legislature honors Neena Laxalt — The Nevada Senate and Assembly passed a resolution Tuesday memorializing longtime lobbyist Neena Laxalt, who died last month, with floor speeches from a bipartisan group of legislators.
- You can read our obituary on Laxalt here.
🖊️ A new noteworthy lobbyist registrant — Gov. Joe Lombardo’s former chief of staff and former state Sen. Ben Kieckhefer (R-Reno) registered as a lobbyist last week for the City of Reno.
📜 Legislation takes aim at big bounce houses – Six years ago, Wendy and Mitch Hammond’s 9-year-old daughter, Lizzie, attended a birthday party with a bounce house. There were four kids in the bounce house when a gust of wind lifted it into a power line and the impact killed Lizzie. The other three children survived.
- Wendy Hammond told the story during a bill hearing Wednesday on AB198, which proposes establishing regulations on inflatable devices such as bounce houses, including licensing, insurance inspection, proper anchoring and other operational safety requirements.
- “I can't imagine being another parent trying to explain to your 9-year-old why their friend Lizzie was killed in a bounce house,” Wendy Hammond said.
- Bill sponsor Assm. Tracy Brown-May (D-Las Vegas) said safety is a pervasive issue surrounding bounce houses, pointing to a study by the University of Texas at El Paso reporting 132 documented cases of wind-related bounce house incidents from January 2000 through December of 2001. She said the incidents caused at least 479 injuries and 28 deaths.
- “In the last year alone, we have three reported deaths from bounce houses,” Brown-May said.
☠️ Cold reception for bill that would slash cultural competency requirements — AB56 — which would remove mandated suicide prevention, opioid prescribing and cultural compotency courses for health care providers — was dubbed “offensive” by legislators during an Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee hearing last week. The bill was introduced by Nevada’s Board of Medical Examiners as a way to streamline what they called “burdensome” educational requirements for doctors and physician assistants. Lawmakers suggested the bill was untimely, emphasizing the spike in drug overdose deaths, poor mental health outcomes, and the state’s cultural diversity.
✨ Medical debt legislation introduced after Lombardo vetoed a similar bill — After Lombardo vetoed a 2023 bill that would have modified medical debt collection law, Assm. Max Carter (D-Las Vegas) has introduced a similar bill aimed at curtailing health care entities and collection agencies from reporting medical debt to a consumer reporting agency which could potentially hurting people’s credit scores and ability to get a home or car.
- 2023’s AB223 would have simply required creditors to issue debtors' letters detailing exactly how much debt is owed, but AB204 is more stringent than its predecessor. It will authorize the attorney general to institute legal proceedings against creditors who violate its provisions and restrict certain collection actions such as foreclosing on a property.
- While Lombardo called Carter’s 2023 bill “well-intentioned” in his veto letter, he said that there is already an established "process for complaining about unscrupulous creditors.
- Carter did not answer questions about his bill on Tuesday, referring a reporter to a spokesperson, who did not immediately respond to the inquiry.
— Isabella Aldrete, Tabitha Mueller and Eric Neugeboren
Looking Ahead
- Wednesday, Feb. 19:
- In the Senate Committee on Education, lawmakers are hearing SB177, which would change the process for determining whether a student is a habitual disciplinary problem, including a mandate that the principal take into account whether a student is in foster care or homeless.
- In the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee, lawmakers are hearing AB68, which would require landlords to report positive rental payments to at least one consumer reporting agency allowing renters to build credit.
- Thursday, Feb. 20
- In the Assembly Committee on Growth and Infrastructure, lawmakers are hearing AB20, which has drawn a significant amount of opposition. The bill expressly authorizes the longstanding option for drivers to have a numerical code on their license indicating that they have a medical condition such as food allergies, diabetes, deafness, depression, hemophilia or heart disease. Officials with the DMV said the practice of using codes has been in place for 20 years, and the intent has always been to help law enforcement be aware of medical conditions, but questions about its legality were raised in light of a 2023 bill dealing with licenses. Officials said medical conditions are never printed on a card/ID, and the customer can decide whether they’d like a code on their license.
- The Assembly Committee on Education is hearing AB195 on Thursday, which would give voting rights to appointed Clark County School District trustees. The Clark County chapter of Moms For Liberty is expected to oppose the measure.
Days until:
- Last day for bill introductions: 34
- First house passage deadline: 63
- Sine die: 131
And to get you going into the week, a few social media posts that caught our eye:
- X: Pretty sure this photo is next to the definition of bipartisanship in the dictionary.
- Instagram: Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager soft-launched a new series.
- Instagram: Donut Fridays > snow days.
- X: The egg puns won’t stop; please send help.
We’ll see you Friday.
This story was updated at 11:19 a.m. 2/19/2025 to clarify details surrounding AB20.