Nevada Politics

The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled in favor of state Senate Republicans in a 2019 dispute over extended payroll taxes and DMV fees, setting clear limits on legislative efforts to avoid the constitutional two-thirds majority requirement for tax increases while also blowing a substantial hole in the state budget.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Mark Amodei (NV-02) announced Wednesday the introduction of the Lake Tahoe Restoration Reauthorization Act, along with original cosponsors: Reps. Dina Titus (NV-01), Susie Lee (NV-03), Steven Horsford (NV-04), and John Garamendi (CA-03).

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Board of Examiners, which Gov. Steve Sisolak chairs, approved the State’s first collective bargaining agreement with the Nevada State Law Enforcement Officers’ Association.

The Nevada System of Higher Education announced late Thursday that it was in the process of drafting a mandate for COVID-19 vaccinations for students returning to college campuses this fall “with some limited exceptions.”

Driven by a better-than-expected rollout of the COVID vaccine, a flood of federal stimulus dollars and pent-up demand to spend and travel, revenues flowing to Nevada’s general fund are projected to be more than $910 million more than what forecasters had predicted back in December.

CARSON CITY — Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak announced Monday his intention to create a special joint committee to allow the continued analysis and exploration of Innovation Zones beyond the 2021 Legislative Session.

Carson City Assemblyman P.K. O’Neill represented Carson City from 2014 until 2016, and has now served again beginning in 2020. He took some time to discuss legislation that is important to Carson City, being back in session during a pandemic, and more.

One bill that O’Neill feels is especially important to Carson City is a bill he is proposing himself, Assembly Bill (AB) 270.

Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske’s office has finished its review of the Nevada Republican Party’s alleged evidence of massive voter fraud in the 2020 election and found the concerns “do not amount to evidentiary support for the contention that the 2020 general election was plagued by widespread voter fraud.”

For decades, lawmakers and lobbyists have haggled over bills aimed at addressing Nevada's affordable housing crisis, participating in a game of give and take — hoping to appease all sides just enough to get a piece of legislation onto the governor's desk.

Lawmakers have passed a bill allowing the state to develop a pilot program to seed contributions into a tax-free savings account for people with disabilities.

Leaders in the Legislature say they are considering a way to speed up the backlogged process of distributing hundreds of millions of dollars of federal rental assistance, but no bill has been introduced with 10 weeks left until a government eviction moratorium lifts.

Members of the state Senate voted Wednesday to advance a trio of criminal justice reform bills sponsored by Sen. Dallas Harris (D-Las Vegas) that would add more limits on police use of deadly force, require additional record keeping on hate crimes and place rate caps on calls made to and from inmates.

The Nevada Republican Party Central Committee has voted to censure the state’s GOP secretary of state, Barbara Cegavske, over claims that her office failed to do its job and “put the reliability of our elections in Nevada in question.”

On April 15, 2021 at the Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting, the Board will review a plan to transition from State control of COVID response and recovery to local control. If approved, the plan, titled the Douglas County COVID-19 Recovery Plan, will be submitted to the State COVID-19 Task Force in accordance with the Nevada Roadmap to Recovery Transition Plan.

Friday marks the do-or-die moment for hundreds of legislative proposals — bills must pass out of their first committee unless they have a special exemption.

Lawmakers began Friday by holding marathon committee meetings throughout the day on Friday, working to process backlogged bills or cut last-minute deals on controversial legislation.

One of the 2021 legislative session's hot button issues has been the effort to expand tenants' rights and protections amid pushback from homebuilders and landlords who say some proposed changes could lead to increased home construction prices.

A panel of community members and advocates will talk about the history of dis-enfranchisement policies throughout the United States, including current laws that strip formerly incarcerated citizens and other marginalized people from their right to vote.

Between July 2019 and June 2020, Nevada police reported seizing more than $4 million worth of personal property, ultimately holding on to more than $3 million worth of cash, vehicles and jewelry involved in criminal activity.

U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced Monday that the state of Nevada will receive $6,754,852 in Housing Trust Fund grants, more than double what the state usually receives. These grants are a direct result of Cortez Masto’s advocacy during the previous administration, which tried to cut funding for this vital program.

Nevada lawmakers hope this session will be the one where they resolve a “vexing” problem that has lingered since 2017 — it’s legal to consume marijuana recreationally, but not in a public place.

Earlier this month, Jeff Berns, the CEO of Blockchains LLC, a tech company that is pushing an ambitious legislative proposal to create a new type of local government outside Reno, said he pitched Gov. Steve Sisolak on the idea after developing a “friendship” with the Democratic governor.

Legislators are looking to update Nevada laws that could lead to people being convicted of driving under the influence of marijuana even if they were stopped by police long after they last consumed.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak signed bills Monday related to education and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Landlords would be barred from charging fees for rental applications, would be restricted from adding certain extra fees beyond the base rent and would have to make a stronger case if they want to keep a tenant’s security deposit under a bill Sen. Julia Ratti (D-Sparks) presented on Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) is seeking to lower barriers to birth control in a state ranked the third-worst for access to primary care doctors and with an

For at least the fifth session in a row, Nevada lawmakers are looking to decriminalize traffic tickets — an action proponents say would move the state away from the vestiges of a Victorian-era debtor’s prison but that local governments continue to oppose because of how it might affect their budgets.

Enter just about any private business in Nevada, and if a “No guns allowed” sign is posted outside the premises, it doesn’t carry much legal weight.

Beefing up that section of law, and banning sale or possession of privately assembled “ghost guns” without serial numbers are the point of AB286, a bill by Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) that attracted hours of impassioned testimony during a Wednesday morning committee meeting.

Assemblywoman Susie Martinez (D-Las Vegas) isn’t really a cat person. Her daughter is allergic — something she found out while visiting her sister, a cat owner, and her daughter’s eyes got so swollen she “looked like Rocky (Balboa).”

The secretary of state’s office wants to transition from a county-led to a state-led top-down voter registration system that could speed up the time-consuming process of verifying that people who take advantage of a new same-day voter registration law haven’t already voted in the same election.

Nevada children and the responsible adults who love and care for them are one step closer to being afforded legal rights and protections that ensure family relationships are recognized by law, helping to create stable and safe environments for children.