This interview has been translated from Spanish and revised from its original version for clarity and length.

June 5 is drawing near -- the day in which the 79th legislative session concludes in the Silver State’s capital. Democratic Senator Yvanna Cancela spoke to The Nevada Independent En Espanol about the fate of several of her bills and the projects she still has in mind for the immigrant community.

Question (Q): How are you settling into your new role? What has this experience meant to you so far?

Answer (A): I've been thinking about this quite a bit, because the truth is that it has been difficult. I never expected it would be so difficult, because I have worked in Carson City in various capacities, however, a lot needs to be learned about several issues in a very short time.

Apart from that, I've been focused a lot on the importance of having more Latinos here, more younger people, and I want to dedicate myself to opening the doors for more people like me to be here filling these seats.

Q: I would like to know a little more about one of your bills, SB223. Could you provide a summary of its content and explain why it had caused so much controversy?

A: For me it was a very important and very straightforward bill. It was about the police doing their work as the police and ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) doing the work of ICE and, also, that the federal government could not come to Nevada to tell us what we should do with our police.

And, honestly, it was designed to safeguard not only the resources of the police, but also so that the community didn’t feel like that the police would come looking for them as ICE does, because that’s not their job.

After much controversy, because many people gave it the title of “Sanctuary” or “this is to make Nevada a sanctuary state,” I changed the bill and said, “OK. Let's leave that to one side -- we're not ready for that -- and let's say that the bill simply says that the police cannot not ask anyone about their immigration status when they respond to a call, or if it has to do with traffic regulations because someone didn’t turn their lights on their car or something like that, so that papers would not be asked for under any situation.” This is what Metro Police is doing now, so it would be to implement this same practice across the state.

Due to the political environment in which we find ourselves, there was the need for people to see that this is not a sanctuary policy. And there's much, much fear with everything that is going on at the federal level. Unfortunately, it became far too politicized and it was not possible to have a discussion on the policy, without it becoming “you are on the side of immigrants or you are against immigrants” and we couldn’t step away from this to have a genuine dialogue.

Q: You first presented the bill, then amended the text, as you have already said, yet it never got to be heard. Is this correct?
A: No, it never got a hearing.

Q: What will specifically happen to this bill? Is it over or do you have time to prepare a similar one?

A: This bill will not move forward. In other words, this piece of legislation will not be heard again during this session. But there are other bills to protect immigrants. We're looking for places in different bills where we can insert language that can better protect immigrants. I began my career here, in Carson City, as the voice of the immigrant community and I will finish my career in Carson City as the voice of immigrants. I will not stop this fight because now, more than ever, we have a very strong voice so that people who usually cannot defend themselves can be heard. Yes, there is a lot to be done and not much time to do it, but we will find various means of protection that we can put into law -- this is what I am working on right now.

Q: Another bill you presented was SB265, concerning medication. Tell us more about this bill.

A: One thing that I learned when I was working in the Culinary Union was the importance of health insurance. Not that I did not know, but since I'm young, I hadn’t given it much thought. What I learned is that if someone is working, they must have medical insurance to be able to take their children to the doctor, to pay for their medication and live without the fear that they will get sick and go into financial ruin.

One of the areas where medication costs have risen more than anywhere else is for diabetes. Costs have risen almost 150 percent during the last five years. Over the past 20 years, it has been by almost 400 percent.

For someone who has diabetes, who is dependent on insulin to stay alive, this is a tremendous cost to their pocket. So, what’s behind SB265 is that it says that, only with regard to insulin, we must have a way so that, if companies are increasing prices without these having the need to increase them, people who are paying for this medicine must have a way to have the money reimbursed due to the unnecessary increase.

After that, it says that companies that make this medicine have to report as to why these prices have risen and to provide more information on how they substantiate the increase.

Thirdly, the bill says that there must be a logbook for representatives who go to doctors’ offices and explain the different types of medicine, which details which doctors they have been visiting, what type of medicine they are saying is better than another, and to have a comprehensive view of what's going on here, not only with diabetes, but also with all pharmaceuticals.

Q: The bill also generated a lot of noise in the Legislature. What will happen now since you have already presented the bill?
A: I presented it before the committee. Now, the committee is expected to vote on the bill so it may progress to the Senate for voting and, then, the process is repeated in the Assembly.
Q: Do you foresee a good outcome for this bill?

A: Yes, I do. Nonetheless, it will be difficult because the pharmaceutical companies do not want to disclose this information and they do not want any enforceable regulation, although it is very apparent that they are increasing prices. And, they are putting them up so much that, in Massachusetts, people are filing a lawsuit before the courts against the three companies that manufacture insulin, because prices have risen so much that people cannot pay for their insulin. So, this is not only a problem for Nevada, but across the country.

Photo caption: Democratic Senator Yvanna Cancela talks with a reporter before the first floor session of the 2017 legislative session at the Legislature in Carson City, NV. Photo by David Calvert.