The 120-day Nevada legislative session ended on June 5. Here is a look at some of the legislation KUNR has been following that’s been signed into law or vetoed.
Bills now law
SB 35 increases the punishment for distributing fentanyl from more than 400 grams to 42 to 100 grams as high-level trafficking. The legislation isn’t as severe as originally written, which proposed 28 grams or more of fentanyl as high-level trafficking.
SB 368 allows homeowners, HOAs, nonprofits, and academic institutions to petition the court to remove racist covenants in home deeds. The legislation also requires county recorders to maintain the original record with discriminatory language.
SB 10 makes changes to the State Infrastructure Bank, including expanding the types of projects it can fund, such as the construction of rural K-12 school facilities and workforce housing.
SB 375 appropriates $10 million from the state per year for the next two fiscal years to expand undergraduate and graduate nursing programs at Nevada System of Higher Education colleges and universities.
SB 412 increases the Medicaid reimbursement for doulas from $450 per client to $1,500 in urban areas and $1,650 in rural Nevada. Doulas are non-medical professionals who provide physical, emotional, and spiritual support to pregnant people before, during, and shortly after childbirth.
SB 155 allows local judges to waive fines for people experiencing homelessness who commit misdemeanors and are cited for crimes such as as public nuisance, public urination, and open container of an alcoholic beverage, and could instead order them to attend a treatment program.
AB 128 appropriates $500,000 from the state for the next two years to fund the Outdoor Education and Recreation Grant Program. The initial bill proposed $1 million. The goal of the program is to fund outdoor recreation and educational activities for students from underserved backgrounds.
AB 45 creates a loan repayment program through the Nevada State Treasurer’s office for health care workers, including doctors, dentists, and mental health care providers who work in underserved areas. They can receive up to $120,000 in yearly increments over five years.
SB 163 requires insurance to cover medically necessary treatment, including physical and mental health care, for conditions related to gender dysphoria, which is when someone’s gender identity conflicts with the sex that they are assigned at birth.
AB 184 establishes an incentive program for businesses and school districts to purchase large electric trucks and buses. There are higher monetary incentives for small business owners and minority-, veteran-, LGBTQ- and tribal-owned businesses. The funding would come from a federal program. An amendment removed the $4 million appropriation from the state.
AB 161 allows people to voluntarily indicate if they have special communication needs on their driver’s licenses and/or registration. This includes someone who is deaf, has a speech disorder, or is neurodivergent.
SB 232 extends Medicaid coverage for postpartum care from 60 days, as required by the federal government, to 12 months.
AB 112 appropriates $5 million from the state to fund wildlife migration corridors so animals such as mule deer, bighorn sheep, and desert tortoises can cross either under or over major roads safely. An amendment reduced the amount from $15 million.
AB 400 allows cities and counties to sponsor a charter school and provides an appropriation to fund charter school transportation. It also reinstates Read by Grade 3, a policy that would hold third graders back from advancing to fourth grade if they cannot pass a reading test. A proposed expansion of Opportunity Scholarships for private education was cut.
AB 226 allows recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to qualify for in-state tuition at all public colleges and universities after living in Nevada for 12 months.
AB 73 allows students in public schools to wear cultural and religious regalia at graduation ceremonies. A student can petition for an appeal if an item isn't allowed.
AB 140 makes Juneteenth a state holiday to commemorate June 19, 1865, the day enslaved people in Texas were informed of their freedom more than two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Congress recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday in 2021.
AB 285 and AB 330 backed by Democrats and the governor respectively, gives teachers and administrators more leeway to suspend, expel, or temporarily remove disruptive or violent students in some cases. Now, a student at least eight years old must be suspended or expelled for battery against a teacher.
SB 406 makes it a felony to harass or intimidate election workers with the goal of interfering with an election. This law also makes it a felony to disseminate personal information about election workers.
SB 92 creates legal avenues for street vending in Washoe and Clark counties. There are restrictions on where vendors can sell, and allows local governments to impose fines if a vendor doesn’t have a permit or doesn’t follow the licensing rules.
SB 131 prohibits the governor from issuing an arrest warrant for someone charged in another state for providing or receiving reproductive health care, like an abortion, in a state that has banned the procedure, as long as it’s not in violation in Nevada.
SB 153 requires the Nevada Department of Corrections to create regulations for the security, supervision, medical, and mental health treatment of incarcerated people who are transgender or gender non-conforming. Correctional staff will also be expected to go through cultural competency training.
SB 172 allows minors to access services that prevent sexually transmitted diseases without a parent’s consent.
AB 356 makes it a misdemeanor to place a location tracking device on someone’s vehicle without their consent, except for law enforcement if they have a warrant or court order.
SB 391 prohibits Nevada counties, cities, and unincorporated towns from sounding sirens, bells, or alarms commonly known as “sundown sirens,” which warned Indigenous and people of color to leave city limits before the sun went down or face punishment. Each violation will cost $50,000. And an alarm cannot be tested more often than every six months.
Vetoed by the governor
SB78 would’ve required a landlord to refund money from an application fee if the unit was rented to a different prospective tenant and prohibited landlords from collecting application fees for minors.
SB419 would’ve provided state-funded insurance for postpartum care for those who are ineligible for Medicaid due to immigration restrictions. The bill originally intended to allow people, regardless of immigration status, access to Medicaid coverage.
AB 250 would’ve lowered prescription drug costs by expanding a policy under the federal Inflation Reduction Act, which will allow Medicare to negotiate the price of certain drugs starting in 2026. The prices negotiated at the federal level would’ve been available for all Nevadans, regardless of insurance in most cases.
SB 239 would’ve allowed medical aid in dying where terminally ill residents with a diagnosis of six months left to live can take life-ending medication. This was the fifth time the bill had been before the legislature and the first time it made it to the governor’s desk.
SB 133 would’ve made it a felony to be a so-called fake elector by signing paperwork stating that a presidential candidate that lost has won in the state.
AB 354 would’ve made it illegal to have firearms within 100 feet of election polling sites, where ballots are counted, and at drop-off boxes.
AB 355 would’ve prohibited people under 21 from owning a semiautomatic shotgun and/or rifle.
SB 171 would’ve prohibited people convicted of attempting to or carrying out a hate crime from owning a firearm for 10 years.
You can find a complete list of bills signed and vetoed by the governor here and then click on “Bill Reports” and then “Governor’s Actions on Bills.”
KUNR’s Jose Davila IV and María Palma contributed to this bill tracker.
