Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Here are the bills Nevada lawmakers are considering during the special session

Nevada Legislature Special Session, Day Two

David Calvert/The Nevada Independent, Pool

Members of the Assembly inside the chambers on the second day of the 31st Special Session of the Nevada Legislature in Carson City, Nev., on Thursday, July 9, 2020. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)

The special session of the Nevada Legislature, where lawmakers are working to fill the nearly $1.2 billion budget deficit caused by the coronavirus economic crisis, will enter its fifth day on Monday.

And, so far, no bills have been voted on by either chamber. A few have been introduced, including:

Assembly Bill 1: The bill would furlough some state employees for one day a month and freeze merit pay increases for the fiscal year that began July 1. The bill, which would save the state around $66 million, was brought forward for a hearing on Saturday in the Assembly.

State employees have expressed frustration with the proposal, as many remember similar measures that took place during the Great Recession to save the state money.

“Nevada employees are your first line of defense to protect Nevada,” said Robert Borchardt, who has worked for the state for more than 20 years and lost his house during furloughs of the late 2000s. “We are already shorthanded at work. Furloughs and pay cuts would further place Nevadans and tourists in danger.”

Assembly Bill 2: This bill would allow a school district with more than 100,000 students to use the year-end balance of local school precincts as unrestricted funds for the current fiscal year to shore up instructional programs losing funds.

Though the Clark County School District requested the bill, Superintendent Jesus Jara said he had told Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, that he did not want the bill to move forward.

This caused Frierson, who was visibly irritated, to say that Jara had withdrawn support for the bill two hours before the proclamation, and to criticize him for his changing position on the bill.

Assembly Bill 3: This bill lays out the massive cuts to both the Department of Health and Human Services, Higher education and K-12 education. Here’s a link to the specific cuts.

Senate Bill 1: This bill will cut funding to some capital improvement projects and save the state $70 million. These projects include building and equipment repairs to state buildings.

Senate Bill 2: This bill would allow the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents to temporarily waive grade point average, credit hour or “any other requirement” to receive the Millennium Scholarship, which provides up to $10,000 a semester for Nevada high school graduates to attend a state university. About 2,200 of the 17,000 students who rely on this scholarship are at risk of losing it because their college grade point average dropped under 2.75 during the pandemic.

Senate Bill 3: This bill would require mining companies to pay taxes in advance, which would bring up to $62.7 million to the state earlier than expected.

Senate Bill 4: This bill would allow the state to take out bonds to cover emergencies on the back of the state’s future revenues. The state could borrow up to $150 million through short term financing, though State Treasurer Zach Conine said monies would only be able to be used for prior set legislative expenditures and not for new projects.