In today’s edition: 

• A state lifeboat for nonprofits?
• Should workers get time off when skies are smoky?
• Officials grilled about slow broadband spending

---

From the Capital Bureau Chief:

Happy April Fools’ Day! 

There’s the Interim Finance Committee meeting on Thursday, a medical-aid-in-dying hearing Wednesday and about 11 days (including today) until the first committee house passage deadline. Does that mean we’re officially in the thick of the legislative session? Or is there still time to have innocuous hallway conversations?

One major issue this week is the governor’s housing proposal, AB540. It would put $200 million in state money toward affordable housing projects. Sources indicate the bill is up for a hearing this week.

The bill also creates a new tier of affordable housing eligibility referred to as “attainable housing” for households earning between 120 percent and 150 percent of an area’s median household income (traditional affordable housing is geared toward people with lower incomes). 

This doesn’t sound too controversial, but the rub lies in a provision that would exempt attainable housing developed with funding from the more than $200 million in proposed funds and the Nevada State Infrastructure Bank from existing prevailing wage requirements. The bank provides low-cost financing for infrastructure projects; prevailing wage is a kind of minimum wage for construction workers tied to compensation for similarly employed workers in the area of intended employment.

The bill gives preference to projects with prevailing wage requirements.

Wendy Colborne, chief of staff for the Building & Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada, said the council always favors developing affordable housing but exempting affordable housing development from the prevailing wage isn’t the way to do that. 

“You actually make the problem worse because you’re not paying people enough to live in the very homes that they’re building,” Colborne said. “We’re already doing this in Northern and Southern Nevada … and there is a demonstrated history of supporting transformation, affordable housing projects in our state.”

Colborne noted that the state infrastructure bank has already financed the largest affordable housing project in state history in Las Vegas (which is estimated to be about 1,600 new units) and financed the development of more than 200 affordable senior housing units in Reno. 

“[Those were all] built with prevailing wage, all union labor,” she said. “You can do this right if you want to.”

As always, please send us your questions, thoughts and suggestions. You can reach me at [email protected].

---

Bill spotlight: A new state nonprofit grant program?

Nevada nonprofits face an unprecedented level of uncertainty amid potential federal funding cuts, but a bill in the Legislature could help their bottom lines.

Here’s what you need to know:

• AB254, sponsored by Assm. Erica Mosca (D-Las Vegas), would establish a nonprofit grant program in the state’s Office of Federal Assistance, which is housed in the governor’s office. The bill itself doesn't allocate any money, but creates an account to accept donations that would then be funneled to nonprofits applying for merit-based grants.
  • The initial version would have put the Legislature in charge of the program, with legislators submitting grant applications on behalf of nonprofits in their districts.
    • Mosca told The Indy that this was amended so that the bill had a higher chance of passage and because the Legislature does not meet year-round.
  • “We know that our nonprofits cannot do the work on their own, and that the government can't do the work on their own,” Mosca, the chair of the Legislature's nonprofit caucus, said. “So, trying to find a pragmatic solution, where maybe we could use the state mechanism to have a public-private partnership, really trying to let people know this is what's available.”
• Many Nevada nonprofits rely heavily on federal funding, but the Trump administration’s push to slash federal spending has caused concern.
  • Context: A recent survey of 160 nonprofits by the United Way of Southern Nevada found that 80 percent of respondents believed their funding was at risk because of the Trump administration. Some have already lost it.
• While the idea for the bill dates back to before the start of the funding cuts, Mosca said it spurred her decision to amend the bill to give it a greater chance of passage.
  • “They're all very scared,” Mosca said. “It just really crystallized that I really needed to get something through … I didn't want to just do something to say that I did it.”
• Something that Mosca said didn’t play a role? The Legislature’s so-called “Christmas tree” appropriations to nonprofits in 2023 that drew controversy.
  • The distributions — possible thanks to a favorable revenue forecast at the end of the 2023 session — spurred accusations from a PAC affiliated from Gov. Joe Lombardo over lawmakers’ potential conflicts of interest.
• Mosca has another bill to increase nonprofits’ involvement with state-affiliated programs: AB226 would require businesses that receive state-provided tax abatements to establish a community benefits plan that could involve nonprofits.

— Eric Neugeboren

---

What we’re reading and writing

Clark County’s legal street vendors are in the single digits. That could soon change. by Isabella Aldrete

To ease licensing burdens or to keep the current system in place — that is the question.

Indy Explains: What are open enrollment policies, and what do Nevada lawmakers want to change? by Rocio Hernandez

A look at the school choice policy Lombardo highlighted instead of Opportunity Scholarships.

Follow the Money: Real estate, development groups gave record $1.8M to Nevada legislators by Eric Neugeboren

Ensuring lawmakers won’t be Burning Down the House.

---

Should Nevada's outdoor workers be protected from wildfire smoke?

A bill seeking to protect outdoor workers from poor air quality, particularly during wildfires, drew strong support from worker protection groups while business groups argued protections should instead be created through regulations.

SB260 — heard March 26 in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee — would require employers to provide worker protections when the air quality index is above 150, a level considered unhealthy. At 201 or higher, employees would not be required to continue working if their employer couldn’t mitigate the hazard. 

The bill’s protections would apply to public and private employers while exempting businesses with 10 employees or less and certain industries. Any time off would not be paid.

• Opponents argued to lawmakers that worker protections that would affect nearly all the state’s businesses should be developed through a regulatory body such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). 
• Proponents disagreed.
  • “We have not addressed it in regulations,” said Sen. Edgar Flores (D-Las Vegas), who championed the bill. “They haven’t gone to OSHA to create rules. This is why we’re bringing this conversation forward.” 

— Amy Alonzo

Culinary support for a state lottery resurfaces

With two months left in the legislative session, the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 renewed its support of removing a 159-year-old prohibition on Nevada operating a lottery. 

Here’s what we know:

• The union released a poll last week that found 84 percent of Nevadans support the creation of a state lottery.
  • Voters also favor the labor organization’s request to use lottery proceeds to fund youth mental health and education services. 
  • “Nevadans deserve a chance to vote on this issue,” Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said in a statement. 

• AJR5, which would change the state’s Constitution, easily passed in both legislative chambers in 2023, but it requires a second approval before it can be sent to Nevada voters in 2026.

• The bill has yet to receive a hearing this session. 

• The Nevada Resort Association opposes the lottery.

— Howard Stutz

---

 Keeping Tabs

😠 State grilled over slow broadband spending — Legislators questioned officials in the Office of Science, Information and Technology on Friday about why the state has only spent $2.6 million of the $135 million it received from the American Rescue Plan to increase broadband access in rural areas.

“On paper, it looks like nothing’s happened, or very little has happened,” said Assm. Daniele Monroe-Moreno (D-North Las Vegas). Legislators were particularly concerned because money must be spent by the end of 2026 or it will revert to the federal government, and because the Trump administration decided last week to cut off certain pandemic relief grants early.

But Brian Mitchell, the office’s director, remained confident that the money will be spent in time — in part because of the quicker nature of broadband construction — and said he expects spending to speed up this summer. He also said he has received reassurance from the federal government that existing broadband grants would not be slashed.

🧑‍⚕️Medicaid could cover vasectomies?  — Under current law, Medicaid only covers select contraceptive services, but AB482, heard in the Assembly Committee on Health and Human Services on Monday, could expand that. Medicaid already covers getting “tubes tied” and vasectomies for those older than 21, but the bill would further codify this mandate as a law rather than just a policy. It would also cover the cost of clinical services, such as counseling, related to contraception. 

— Eric Neugeboren and Isabella Aldrete

Looking Ahead

• Tuesday, April 1, 3:30 p.m: SB234, set to be heard in the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, would expand emergency Medicaid coverage for some undocumented people. 
• Wednesday, April 2, 5 p.m.: The Assembly Select Committee on End-of-Life Care is set to hear AB346, which would legalize medical aid in dying.

Days until: 

• First committee passage deadline: 11
• First house passage deadline: 22
• Sine die: 63

---

And to get you going into the week, a few social media posts that caught our eye: 

• X: Things are mooving at the Legislature.
• Instagram: When three speakers walk into a bar …
• X: Welcome to Reno!

We’ll see you Thursday.

---