Here are this year’s winners and losers among Nevada bills
(The Center Square) – Nevada’s 83rd legislative session has ended, and per usual, there was late drama as major bills were passed, chopped or left undecided on the floor.
Here is a look at the biggest moments, with a peek at what will head to Gov. Joe Lombardo’s desk following the early Tuesday conclusion to Nevada’s 180-day biennial session.
Heading to Gov. Lombardo’s desk
Assembly Bill 499 – Voter IDs and ballot boxes. A deadline-day bill passed that will see more mail ballot boxes added around the state, along with stricter voter ID regulations. The decision is largely seen as a compromise between Republican Gov. Lombardo and the Democratic majorities in the state Assembly and Senate. Lombardo vetoed a similar ballot box measure after the last session, and voters approved new voter ID regulations for the first round of what could become a constitutional amendment.
AB 597 – Primary elections open to nonaffiliated voters. The bill would allow Nevada’s largest voting block by party, nonaffiliated voters, to participate in Democratic, Republican or other primary elections. The change had been proposed in a state constitutional amendment in previous sessions, but was paired with a less popular measure to introduce a ranked choice voting system. The bill was passed along party lines in the Senate, with strong but ultimately futile Republican opposition.
AB 398 – Charter school teacher pay increases. The proposal was nearly approved unanimously.
AB 540 – Affordable housing budget allocation. Lombardo’s slimmed-down $133 million state-funded housing bill was passed. The increased funding is aimed at people in the middle income in an effort to further bring down Silver State housing prices that have steadily grown in recent years.
The passed bills are not guaranteed to become law, as they must still receive support from Lombardo. The governor vetoed 75 bills in the last session in 2023. While he has signaled a desire to work more with the Democrat-controlled legislature, some of the above approved bills are likely to be culled.
Which bills failed?
AB 238 – The $1.4 billion film tax credit is postponed once again. The 15-year film industry tax credit never received a vote in the Senate, a familiar fate after a similar bill died without a vote in the last legislative session. This year’s failure follows a blow to the state revenue projection and major questions around the tax credit’s economic benefit to the state. Supporters of the industry-backed bill, which would result in a new Las Vegas movie studio while financing the largest taxpayer-funded subsidy in Nevada’s history, can’t try again until 2027. The Nevada Legislature meets only during odd-numbered years, and Lombardo’s opposition to the measure makes a special session to consider AB 238 this year unlikely.
AJR 5 – State lottery. The Assembly joint resolution bill would have introduced a Nevada state lottery for the first time since 1899. But it never left its first committee and will once again have to wait for more momentum in a later session. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager told the Nevada Independent that the bill’s failure was somewhat of a surprise. “It was like no one ever worked on it.”
SB 457 – A more strict crime bill. Lombardo’s legislation died Monday despite support by Democratic majorities in both houses. The Assembly and Senate passed the Republican governor’s crime bill with some pushback, but last-minute amendments forced the Senate into review. Then senators ran out of time.
After yet another hectic end to the Nevada legislature’s 180-day biennial session, calls for a constitutional amendment to have lawmakers meet every year, as they already do in 46 states, will likely persist in the coming weeks.
