Lawmakers file rush of bills that meet priorities, extend filing deadline in some cases

By John Sadler

Wednesday, March 20, 2019 | 2 a.m.

Lawmakers introduced a flurry of bills for the 2019 session before a Monday night deadline, but both the Senate and the Assembly passed a resolution leaving the door open to additional legislation being introduced this session.

The Democratic majority in both chambers agreed to push the deadline slightly, citing “certain internal organization issues” — the recent resignations of Senate Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson and Assembly Whip Mike Sprinkle — as the rationale.

Atkinson, D-Las Vegas, resigned from the Senate earlier this month after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations. Sprinkle, D-Sparks, resigned his Assembly seat after allegations of sexual harassment were raised against him.

The Nevada Republican Party released a statement criticizing the decision and calling for Gov. Steve Sisolak, also a Democrat, to veto any bills originally sponsored by Atkinson or Sprinkle that reach his desk.

Atkinson was the primary sponsor of 17 bills and was the co-sponsor of 18 bills. Sprinkle was the primary sponsor of eight bills and a co-sponsor on 16. Neither legislators’ name will appear on any of these bills if they are picked back up.

Regardless of the extension, the number of bills filed Monday was sizable — around 140 bills were filed in both houses combined.

“And to make matters worse, this end-around to get their bills passed was added to a resolution to extend the deadline to get bills drafted and introduced that was needed after the chaos and disruption caused by their resignations,” the GOP statement read.

The surge of bills filed fit into both parties’ legislative priorities, but Republicans are still facing a steep wall in passing any right-leaning bills due to their minority status in both houses.

Here are some of the bills filed Monday that fit party priorities. They are not indicative of all bills filed on the issues by the parties.

Health care

Democrats filed legislation that calls for lower prescription drug prices, pre-existing condition protection, tackling “surprise billing” and increasing mental health and women’s health services. Here’s some of what party members sponsored on health care Monday:

• Senate Bill 315 would, among other things, create the Rare Disease Advisory Council in the Department of Health and Human Services. The Council would be made up of medical professionals and members of the public who have either personally had a rare disease or have children with a rare disease. The council would be charged with researching rare diseases, raising awareness of the same and establishing a comprehensive management plan of the diseases in the state.
• Senate Bill 334 would require the State Plan for Medicaid to reimburse for family planning services at a specialized clinic at the current rate of reimbursement or 105 percent of the reimbursement or the current Medicare fee schedule for the service.

Republicans called for lower health care costs and transparency, ensuring residencies exist to keep doctors in Nevada and greater access to mental health services.

• Senate Bill 290 would require a health carrier to reimburse for “unanticipated” health care services that the insurance holder would get at an out-of-network hospital or medical center. The policyholder would still have to pay the deductible but would get back any money paid to the out-of-network center when the bill was reimbursed. This would cover circumstances in which a person may not have the ability to select where they get medical services or would have to get emergency services at an out-of-network center by necessity.

Education

Republicans labeled education a “top priority” and called for new workforce-development policies and school choice.

• Senate Bill 351 would add an additional $10 million to the Nevada Educational Choice Scholarship Program, a favorite program of school-choice advocates.
• Assembly Bill 311 would give medical schools at both UNLV and UNR $650,000 to support four medical residents in the 2019-2020 fiscal year and $1.3 million to the schools to support eight medical residents in the 2020-2021 fiscal year. The money would come from the state general fund.

Democrats outlined priorities such as raising teacher pay, reducing classroom size and making college more affordable.

• Assembly Bill 289 would change requirements for passing into the fourth grade. Currently, if a student does not receive the reading score required by the State Board of Education in the third grade, they must be held back. This bill would require parental consent, as well. It would also require the Board of Trustees of each public school district to prepare a literacy improvement plan for all grades of an elementary school, rather than just kindergarten through third grade, as it is currently, among other changes.
• Assembly Bill 304 would create a maximum teacher-pupil ratio that would have to be in effect entirely by the 2028-2029 school year, with mandatory class size reductions starting in the 2022-2023 school year. Any teacher who teaches a class higher than the maximum ration will be entitled to a higher paycheck.
• Senate Bill 354 would redefine the Board of Regents if an amendment to the state Constitution giving the Legislature control of the state university system passes this session and is ratified by voters. It would decrease the number of members on the board from 13 to 9 — five of which would be elected from districts defined by the Legislature and four of which would be appointed by the governor.

Business

Both parties have touted the importance of economic development in Nevada, with Democrats calling for creating a welcoming small-business climate and Republicans calling for job creation and economic diversification.

• Assembly Bill 306 is a bipartisan bill that would ban cooperatives from using the term “veteran-owned cooperative” unless 51 percent of either the directors or the members are veterans.
• Assembly Bill 308 is a Democrat-filed bill that would allow certain employers to receive a tax credit if the employer pays for academic or vocational instruction for an employee. The employer must be based in the state, have no more than 30 employees and have made no more than $3.5 million a year for the last three years before the credit is claimed. The credit would be half of the educational cost or $500, whatever is less.
• Senate Bill 312 would fulfill the Democratic goal of providing paid sick leave. The bill would require an employer with more than 25 employees in the state to provide sick leave — gained at one hour of leave per 30 hours worked. Employees wouldn’t be able to use sick leave until 90 calendar days of employment.

Other

Democrats filed another comprehensive gun bill after filing a comprehensive background check bill earlier in the session.

Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui, D-Las Vegas, filed a bill that would ban bump stocks, decrease the blood-alcohol content allowed when possessing a gun to .08 percent from 0.1 percent, would overturn the ban on municipalities setting their own gun regulations and would allow local governments to bar guns in their buildings.

A bill filed by Republican leadership would require any individual donor making a donation of $1,000 or more to report the donation to the secretary of state. They also filed a bill that would require polling places for early voting to be equally divided by assembly districts in a municipality with multiple districts and locate the polling places near residential areas in every geographic region of a municipality.