Carson City – Before the beginning of a biennial legislative session, Nevada lawmakers and various other governmental entities submit Bill Draft Requests (BDRs) to the Legislative Counsel Bureau (LCB), and LCB staff draft the measures for introduction during the upcoming session.
An LCB drafting attorney, “translates the concept assuring clear meaning and compatibility with the Nevada State Constitution and other laws.”
The number and timing for submission of BDRs is regulated. Incumbent members of the Assembly get 10 each. Newly elected Assembly members get 6. Incumbent Senators get 20, and newly elected Senators get 12. Standing Session Committees get 60 BDRs per house.
Speaker of the Assembly and Majority Leader in the Senate can submit 25 BDRs, and minority leaders in the Assembly and Senate get 13.
The Nevada Supreme Court can submit 10. The governor’s office can submit up to 125. All state offices from Attorney General to Controller can submit requests for legislation to be drafted. Cities, depending on size, can submit a certain number of BDRs.
Other than asking the lawmaker or LCB staff about the details of a bill, divining the intent of BDRs amounts to guess work based on a single independent clause and history, but the nature of Bill Draft Requests is telling, and for the wonky, fun to consider.
We are following up for details on some of these draft requests, but in the following list, we offer BDR’s that garnered our attention. Some BDR sponsors did not win reelection or won other office, so according to the Director of the LCB, the BDRs will remain on the list and may find a different sponsor or just never be introduced. With a new governor and bevy of state officers yet to be sworn in, some of the BDRs on this list will be withdrawn and many more will be added, but for now, here is a look ahead to the 2019 session as it exists on November 13, 2018 with 553 BDRs in the cue.
18-5 Senator Spearman – D
Makes various changes relating to pay equity.
Note: is this a gender equity bill?
6 Assemblyman Daly – D
Revises provisions relating to workers’ compensation.
Note: Is this a minimum wage bill?
21 Senator Cancela – D
Joint Requester: Senator Atkinson – D, Assemblyman Frierson – D, Assemblyman Brooks – D
Revises provisions relating to firearms.
Note: is this a background check bill or some form of ban?
35 Assemblyman Hansen – R
Makes various changes relating to mountain lions.
15-41 Assemblyman Wheeler – R
Revises provisions governing school safety.
Note: could this be a bill to arm teachers? There are several Republican BDRs regarding school safety.
44 Assemblyman Oscarson – R
Designates the pomegranate as the official fruit of the State of Nevada.
Note: Even though Assemblyman Oscarson did not win the Republican primary earlier this year, we wanted to include this request for legislation.
S-50 Assemblyman Kramer – R
Revises provisions governing the Carson City Airport Authority Act.
Note: KNVC and NCN are based in Carson City and will follow Assemblyman Kramer’s legislative actions closely. Al Kramer represents Assembly District 40.
68 Senator Cannizzaro – D
Revises provisions relating to net neutrality.
79 Senator Settelmeyer – R
Revises provisions relating to taxation of marijuana.
Note: unusual for a Republican lawmaker to propose cannabis legislation.
94 Assemblyman Thompson – D
Creates the Nevada Interagency Council on Homelessness.
58-108 Senator Atkinson – D
Makes certain changes relating to renewable natural gas.
Note: “renewable natural gas” … hmmm.
20-110 Senator Hardy – R
Prohibits prostitution throughout the State of Nevada.
14-118 Assemblyman Fumo – D
Revises provisions governing bail in certain criminal cases.
Note: could this be a bill intended to revise the cash bail system in Nevada?
133 Senator Cancela – D
Revises provisions relating to cannabis.
Note: with the departure of Senator Tick Segerblom, who will carry cannabis bills in 2019? Is this a bill to remove tax from medical marijuana sales?
134 Senator Atkinson – D
Provides for the creation of a Nevada state bank.
Note: cannabis businesses in Nevada must conduct their business in cash and do not have access to banking services due to the federal prohibition on marijuana. Could Nevada license and indemnify a bank to serve the cannabis industry?
54-180 Senator Spearman – D
Revises provisions relating to the medical use of marijuana or industrial hemp.
Note: because hemp is mentioned, this bill might regard the sale and regulation of CBD from hemp as well as cannabis that contains THC.
18-186 Hearings Division of the Department of Administration
Provides for removal of certain gubernatorial appointees to boards, commissions and other public bodies for neglect of duty, incompetence or misconduct.
16-201 Department of Corrections
Revises provisions governing the duties of the Director of the Department of Corrections to establish programs of treatment and aftercare for offenders who have been diagnosed with a substance use disorder.
48-213 Division of Water Resources of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Revises provisions governing the management of hydrologically connected groundwater and surface water resources.
48-214 Division of Water Resources of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Revises provisions governing the appropriation of water.
46-218 Division of Environmental Protection of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Revises provisions governing the process of adopting mining regulations.
34-243 Senator Kieckhefer – R
Revises provisions relating to education funding.
S-244 Senator Kieckhefer – R
Revises provisions relating to county boundaries.
245 Senator Kieckhefer _ R
Revises provisions relating to conservation funding.
23-251 Assemblyman Wheeler – R
Revises provisions relating to collective bargaining.
19-252 Assemblyman McArthur – R
Designates English as the official common language of the State of Nevada.
Note: Assemblyman McArthur lost in the November election to Democrat Connie Monk, though a similar bill has been introduced in the past, and this measure may well find another lawmaker to make the request.
R-257 Assemblyman Hansen – R
AJR: Urges Congress to require the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service to include Cheat Grass in their forage estimates.
271 Senate Committee on Judiciary
Makes certain changes relating to marijuana, including revising provisions governing the transferability of medical marijuana establishment registration certificates, providing for dual licensing of medical and recreational marijuana facilities, providing for state certification of marijuana products sold in Nevada, appropriating $1 million to study the feasibility of creating a marijuana stock exchange in Las Vegas, appropriating $1 million from the existing 10% excise tax on marijuana for medical marijuana research grants to be given out by the Department of Health and Human Services, authorizing local governments to issue offsite marijuana licenses to marijuana dispensary owners to allow for tasting and sale of marijuana products in certain settings such as coffee shops, revising state laws concerning driving while under the influence of marijuana to provide a rebuttable presumption when a person’s blood level is over the legal limit, authorizing District Attorneys to expunge misdemeanor convictions relating to marijuana from a person’s criminal record, and prohibiting employers, under certain circumstances, from testing for marijuana pre-employment or without probable cause post-employment.
32-275 Assemblywoman Jauregui – D
Proposes to exempt sales of adult and infant diapers from sales and use taxes and analogous taxes.
57-277 Assemblywoman Spiegel – D
Revises provisions relating to prescription drugs.
40-292 Senator Parks – D
Enacts the Nevada Death with Dignity Act.
58-301 Assemblyman Brooks – D
Revises provisions governing renewable energy and the renewable portfolio standard.
Note: Ballot Question 6 passed in 2018 and will need to pass again in 2020 to become law. Assemblyman Brooks is a noted champion of renewable forms of energy, and might this be a bill to raise the state’s RPS goals in case Question 6 fails in 2020?
302 Assemblyman Brooks
Revises provisions governing electric utilities.
32-330 Office of Economic Development in the Office of the Governor
Revises provisions governing the partial abatement of various taxes imposed on aircraft, components of aircraft and other personal property related to aircraft.
34-331 Department of Education
Makes various changes relating to school safety.
34-336 Department of Education
Revises provisions governing Turnaround Schools.
16-341 Department of Corrections
Revises provisions governing the penalty for unlawful acts related to human excrement or bodily fluids committed by prisoners.
19-357 Division of Emergency Management of the Department of Public Safety
Creates the Nevada Resilience Commission.
43-358 Office of Traffic Safety of the Department of Public Safety
Revises provisions governing the use of stationary automated traffic enforcement cameras by local governments and state agencies.
370 Senate Committee on Judiciary
Enacts an interstate compact with California regarding marijuana banks in both states.
Note: California, like Nevada, has legalized the production, sale and use of medical and adult use cannabis, but due to the federal prohibition on cannabis, businesses in both states are forced to operate using cash only, so the notion of starting state-based banks to serve the marijuana industry has been a topic in both state houses.
25-378 Committee to Study Issues Regarding Affordable Housing (S.C.R. 1, 2017)
Connects information about affordable housing collected by local governments to the statewide low-income housing database maintained by the Housing Division of the Department of Business and Industry.
22-379 Committee to Study Issues Regarding Affordable Housing (S.C.R. 1, 2017)
Revises the methods a local government may use to assist in the development of affordable housing.
32-381 Committee to Study Issues Regarding Affordable Housing (S.C.R. 1, 2017)
Provides for the creation of an affordable housing tax credit program.
34-386 Legislative Committee on Education (NRS 218E.605)
Establishes a long-term stakeholder group to develop a statewide vision and implementation plan for Nevada’s educational system.
34-387 Legislative Committee on Education (NRS 218E.605)
Revises provisions relating to review of the equity allocation model used to calculate a basic support guarantee for each school district.
Note: see the “Nevada Plan” for school funding.
34-388 Legislative Committee on Education (NRS 218E.605)
Revises provisions relating to the licensure and employment of veterans, military personnel and their spouses in Nevada’s public schools.
399 Assemblywoman Benitez-Thompson
Revises provisions governing certain homeless populations.
S-435 Legislative Committee for the Review and Oversight of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Marlette Lake Water System (NRS 218E.555)
Provides for the release of the next phase of bonds to carry out Nevada’s portion of the Environmental Improvement Program for Lake Tahoe for the 2019-2021 biennium.
S-440 Legislative Committee for the Review and Oversight of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Marlette Lake Water System (NRS 218E.555)
Revises provisions relating to the convention center to be built and operated by the Tahoe-Douglas Visitor’s Authority.
441 Legislative Committee for the Review and Oversight of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Marlette Lake Water System (NRS 218E.555)
ACR: Expresses support for finding innovative transportation solutions in the Lake Tahoe Basin and for the efforts of the Bi-State Transportation Consultation Group.
R-506 Legislative Committee on Public Lands (NRS 218E.510)
_JR: Expresses the opposition of the Nevada Legislature to the elimination of the Nevada office of the Bureau of Land Management.
535 Assemblyman Kramer – R
Provides for a feasibility study relating to further development of a museum at the Nevada State Prison.
541 Senate Committee on Natural Resources
Revises provisions relating to appropriations of water in water basins.
543 Assemblywoman Neal – D
Revises provisions governing loan practices.
Note: tightening the regulations for payday loan lenders have been the object of legislation in previous sessions.
548 Senator Gansert – R
Requires training for members of certain educational governing bodies and requires additional transparency for school expenditures.
553 Legislative Counsel
Makes an appropriation to the Legislative Fund for the costs of the 80th Legislative Session.
