Latest news with #AssemblyBill215
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Regional rail study, wrong-way driving bills among those signed into law
(Photo: Jeniffer Solis/Nevada Current) Teenagers won't be able to flip burgers at midnight. Newborns will be screened for more rare diseases. Cities will have to consider heat mitigation when drafting master plans. Those are just a few of the real-world outcomes of the hundreds of bills passed by the Democratic-controlled Nevada State Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. The session officially adjourned June 2 but won't truly be over until the governor signs or vetoes each bill that passed. Lombardo has until Friday to approve or reject the bills or else they automatically become law. In 2023, the first-term governor did not allow any bills to automatically become law, opting instead to take a stance on each piece of legislation that came across his desk. (Lombardo's predecessor, Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak, did the same.) As of Friday morning, the Legislature's website listed 515 bills as signed and an additional four bills awaiting approval or veto. Eighty-seven bills were vetoed. Here's a look at more than a dozen bills the Nevada Current has previously covered that have now been signed into law: Working teens Teenagers will soon be prohibited from working between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. before a school day, thanks to Assembly Bill 215, sponsored by Assemblymembers Daniele Monroe-Moreno and Brian Hibbetts, a Democrat and Republican, respectively. Teachers and students pushed for the change, citing the negative impact lack of sleep has on learning, mental and social health. The new restrictions, which do include some exemptions, go into effect on Oct. 1. Regional rail group Nevada will soon form a Regional Rail Transit Advisory Working Group to assess the need for regional rail systems in Southern and Northern Nevada and look at potential funding sources for such systems. The group was created by Assembly Bill 256, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Selena La Rue Hatch of Reno. The working group will be composed of lawmakers, transit experts and county representatives. They are expected to deliver to lawmakers a report in July 2026 with 'an actionable plan' for achieving regional rail transit and recommendations to the 2027 Legislature. Wrong-way driving Driving on the wrong side of the road will soon be a misdemeanor crime, following the passage of Republican Assemblymember Brian Hibbetts's Assembly Bill 111. Previously, wrong-way driving was only a civil offense. Nicknamed 'Jaya's Law' after 3-year-old Jaya Brooks who died in a wrong-way crash in Las Vegas last year, AB111 was unanimously supported by lawmakers and goes into effect Oct. 1. Protections for health care providers Employees and volunteers of reproductive health care facilities, as well as their spouses, domestic partners or minor children, will soon be able to request a court order that keeps their personal information confidential on otherwise public records within the offices of county recorder, county assessor, county clerk, city clerk, Secretary of State, or Department of Motor Vehicles. Democratic Assemblymember Erica Roth's Assembly Bill 235 saw some bipartisan support in the Legislature before being signed by the Republican governor. The legislation goes into effect July 1. Right to Contraception Assembly Bill 176, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Selena Torres-Fossett, strengthens protections against a state or local government burdening access to contraceptive measures. Newborn screenings Nevada will expand the number of rare but treatable conditions newborn babies are screened for, thanks to Senate Bill 348, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Julie Pazina. The expansion is being funded through an increase in the fee hospitals pay the Nevada State Public Health Lab. The prior rate had been the same for more than a decade and kept Nevada behind what the federal government recommends for newborn screening. Raises for elected officials Many county elected officials will get a raise with the passage of Senate Bill 116, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Skip Daly. The bill establishes a formula to elevate the pay for the elected district attorney, sheriff, county clerk, county assessor, county recorder, county treasurer and public administrator of each county. The formula keeps those public servants' pay above the highest paid person in their office. Meanwhile, commissioner salaries across the state are also being bumped up by a set amount, followed by 3% annual increases for five years starting in 2026. The changes will go into effect in July with the new fiscal year. Foster parents People with criminal records of marijuana possession for amounts that are currently legal are now eligible to become foster parents. Democratic Assemblymember Tracy Brown-May sponsored Assembly Bill 107 for Clark County, which told lawmakers that otherwise qualified Nevadans are being needlessly turned away. The state faces a critical shortage of foster homes. Water rights Nevada will establish a Voluntary Water Rights Retirement Program that allows willing landowners to sell their water rights back to the state through the year 2035. The program was established by Assembly Bill 104 and unanimously supported. Charters behind on PERS With Senate Bill 418, the Nevada State Superintendent of Public Schools will be able to withhold a charter school's state-funded per-pupil dollars if the charter school is more than 90 days delinquent in retirement contributions to the Public Employees' Retirement System of Nevada (better known as PERS). Administrators for PERS told lawmakers a mechanism for recouping the contributions is needed because of the unique quasi-public nature of charter schools. Local input on tax abatements Companies seeking massive tax abatements will have to enter into agreements to defray the costs of the government-provided services they require. Storey County, home to the heavily abated Tesla Giga Factory, sponsored Senate Bill 69. Heat mitigation Cities and counties with populations exceeding 100,000 people must include 'heat mitigation' as part of their master plans, following the passage of Assembly Bill 96. Inmate firefighters Democratic Assemblymember Jovan Jackson sponsored a bill, Assembly Bill 321 to require the Nevada Department of Corrections to create a program to allow formerly incarcerated people to work as firefighters within the Division of Forestry. The program is expected to help recidivism rates. Medical respite care Nevada's Department of Health and Human Services will apply for a federal waiver to amend the state Medicaid plan to cover medical respite care for people experiencing homelessness. The requirement was passed in Senate Bill 54. Net proceeds of minerals The Net Proceeds of Minerals Bulletin will soon be public again. Long made publicly available by the state, a new interpretation of state law resulted in the bulletin being kept private. Assembly Bill 277 makes the bulletin public again. The bill was sponsored by Republican Assemblymember Rich DeLong and had the approval of the mining industry. Tax increment areas Senate Bill 28 creates 'tax increment areas' in which a portion of future property tax revenue can be used to pay interest on bonds used to finance affordable housing development and public transit. The bill, sponsored by the City of Las Vegas, saw some bipartisan support in the Legislature. Mental health The Medicaid reimbursement rate for mental health providers will increase through Senate Bill 353, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop. Immigration guardianship Assembly Bill 460, sponsored by Assemblymember Cecelia González, streamlines the process for selecting a temporary guardian for minors prior to any immigration action. Insulin costs Assembly Bill 555 prohibits private insurance companies from charging people more than $35 for a 30-day supply of insulin. The bill, sponsored by, Democratic Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, received broad bipartisan support, with only Senate Republicans John Ellison and Robin Titus opposing. Democratic Assemblymember Joe Dalia's Assembly Joint Resolution 8, which would let voters in 2028 decide whether Nevada should establish a dedicated business court, also passed the legislative finish line. Resolutions are not subject to vetoes by the governor. AJR1 is now set to return to the 2027 Legislature for consideration. If lawmakers pass the resolution again, it will appear in front of voters on the 2028 general election ballot for final approval. A dedicated business court could entice large companies to incorporate in Nevada and settle their corporate litigation here, Dalia and other proponents of the resolution have argued. Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Doug Herndon announced the court would try to establish a dedicated business court on its own as early as next year. Herndon said in a statement he didn't believe AJR1 to be necessary.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nevada Teachers, Students Push to Restrict Late Work Hours for Teens on School Nights
This article was originally published in Nevada Current. Teenagers could be protected from working late-night shifts before school days, thanks to a bipartisan trio of lawmakers and a group of high schoolers who say businesses are exploiting them. Assembly Bill 215 would prohibit high school teenagers from working between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. before a school day. Teens aged 14 and 15 are already prohibited by federal law from working between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., but the Nevada proposed law would put in place restrictions for 16-, 17- and 18-year olds who are enrolled in public or private school. Emancipated teenagers, lifeguards, arcade workers, farm workers, and theatrical performers would be exempt from the hourly restrictions. Additional exemptions could be granted on a case-by-base basis. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The bill would also lower the maximum number of hours a child under 16 can work: from 48 to 40 hours per week. 'Every single day in my classes I have kids who are too tired to participate,' said Matt Nighswonger, a teacher at Shadow Ridge High School on the northern edge of the Las Vegas Valley. 'When I wake them up and ask them why they're so tired, they tell me they had to close, or had to work late last night. Many of them have to work until 1 or 2 in the morning.' The business community, he said, is taking advantage of vulnerable teenagers. 'As a government teacher, I try to teach my students that the government is here to protect its citizens,' he added. 'AB215 helps to protect our exploited high school workers.' Karissa Murdoch was one of those teens. The Shadow Ridge senior began working at a local ice rink at 15. She started with a reasonable workload, then she asked for more hours because she wanted more money, then she was asked by her bosses to stay late after her official shift to do extra work. That's how she found herself regularly working until midnight Monday through Thursday. After the commute home, eating and showering, she was going to bed at 1 or 2 a.m. and sleeping a paltry few hours before school started up again at 7 a.m. Her grades slipped. She says she went from being a student who 'almost never turned in an assignment late' to a student who couldn't stay awake in class and turned in everything late. Murdoch said she came to her senses on her own and now wants to advocate for her younger self. 'At 15, I was nowhere near mature enough to prioritize school over money,' she told Assembly members during the bill's first hearing, which she traveled to Carson City for over spring break in March. 'I wish the adults around me would have thought about more than just using me for business gain.' Teagan Clark, another Shadow Ridge student, testified that working closing shift meant driving home late at night tired — a potentially dangerous scenario for anyone but especially an inexperienced driver. It also resulted in her skipping breakfast in order to get an extra few minutes of sleep, drinking too many caffeine-filled energy drinks, and feeling isolated socially. Nighswonger said he surveyed working high school seniors at Shadow Ridge and found that 48% regularly work past 10 p.m. on school nights. Many of the students were worried they would lose their job if they shared their own stories, though a few hand-wrote letters for him to deliver to lawmakers. 'I work at a car wash and every night we close at 8 and I stay after hours to clean the vacuum trays and sewage out of the tunnel where the cars are washed,' read one. 'It's too much for a 17 year old kid, but I don't want to lose my job.' Equipo Academy Assistant Principal Erik Van Houten said a quarter of 16- and 17-year-olds at the East Las Vegas charter school have jobs, and 1 in 5 of them work over 40 hours a week. 'These students are ill equipped to advocate for themselves to leave work at reasonable hours,' he said. 'Many are holding their very first job.' AB215, he continued, would 'put guardrails in place to protect our kids and make clear that a high school education should be their number one priority.' Nighswonger, Murdoch and other Shadow Ridge students pitched the proposed law to Democratic Assemblymember Daniele Monroe-Moreno and Republican Assemblymember Brian Hibbetts, whose districts cover the school's enrollment area. Both signed on to sponsor a bill on the issue. Independently, Democratic Assemblymember Cinthia Zermeño Moore was working on similar legislation inspired by concerns raised by Van Houten from Equipo, which is located in her three Assembly members decided to combine their bills and work together. AB215 passed the Nevada State Assembly with unanimous bipartisan support earlier this month and is now making its way through the Senate. If passed, the bill will head to Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo's desk for final approval. Hibbetts acknowledged that some might see the inclusion of protections for 18-year-olds as a problem because it means they are being considered adults in some legal contexts and not adults in others. But he said there is precedent. High school students are not allowed to sign off on their own school paperwork just because they turn 18 during their senior year, he said. They still need parental signatures. 'This is, in my vision, just going along with that same type of mentality,' he said. 'I think this is something that we need to offer them. Just because you're 18, it doesn't mean your employer can make you work until 2 a.m. because you have to be at school at 7 a.m.' Monroe-Moreno added that the inclusion of 18-year-olds was specifically asked for by Shadow Ridge students who said their managers target them for late shifts because they are 18. Several lawmakers in the bill's two hearings raised concerns about the impact the legislation might have on lower income families whose teens contribute to essential household bills. Moore said she understands that reality, adding that her first job was at age 14 selling CDs at the Indoor Swap Meet in East Las Vegas. But she argued the state needs to support students with their education because, without it, 'they may not be able to seek the opportunities they may have' that could lift them, and their families, upward. Teresa Benitez-Thompson, a former state lawmaker, spoke in personal support of the bill, saying she wished such restrictions were in place two decades ago when she was a teenage hostess whose paychecks helped support her single mom, who worked as a waitress, and her sister, who was a teen mom at 15. She said she fell behind her junior year and had to do credit recovery to get back on track. 'A low-wage job for a teenager is not going to solve poverty,' she said. 'Education is what breaks the cycle of poverty. Education is absolutely what has to be prioritized.' Groups in support of AB218 included the Vegas Chamber, Nevada Resorts Association, NAACP, City of North Las Vegas, and ACLU. No groups publicly opposed AB218 during its two bill hearings, but the Nevada Restaurant Association testified in neutral. 'We support efforts to balance student well being and academics with valuable work experience,' the group's lobbyist, Peter Saba, said. 'Many restaurants rely on student workers, and we encourage ongoing discussions to ensure these small businesses can adapt smoothly.' Monroe-Moreno acknowledged that concessions were made to appease business groups. The bill originally sought to prohibit teens from working past 10 p.m. on school nights but the time was amended to 11 p.m. Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Teachers, students push to restrict late work hours for teens on school nights
() Teenagers could be protected from working late-night shifts before school days, thanks to a bipartisan trio of lawmakers and a group of high schoolers who say businesses are exploiting them. Assembly Bill 215 would prohibit high school teenagers from working between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. before a school day. Teens aged 14 and 15 are already prohibited by federal law from working between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., but the Nevada proposed law would put in place restrictions for 16-, 17- and 18-year olds who are enrolled in public or private school. Emancipated teenagers, lifeguards, arcade workers, farm workers, and theatrical performers would be exempt from the hourly restrictions. Additional exemptions could be granted on a case-by-base basis. The bill would also lower the maximum number of hours a child under 16 can work: from 48 to 40 hours per week. 'Every single day in my classes I have kids who are too tired to participate,' said Matt Nighswonger, a teacher at Shadow Ridge High School on the northern edge of the Las Vegas Valley. 'When I wake them up and ask them why they're so tired, they tell me they had to close, or had to work late last night. Many of them have to work until 1 or 2 in the morning.' The business community, he said, is taking advantage of vulnerable teenagers. 'As a government teacher, I try to teach my students that the government is here to protect its citizens,' he added. 'AB215 helps to protect our exploited high school workers.' Karissa Murdoch was one of those teens. The Shadow Ridge senior began working at a local ice rink at 15. She started with a reasonable workload, then she asked for more hours because she wanted more money, then she was asked by her bosses to stay late after her official shift to do extra work. That's how she found herself regularly working until midnight Monday through Thursday. After the commute home, eating and showering, she was going to bed at 1 or 2 a.m. and sleeping a paltry few hours before school started up again at 7 a.m. Her grades slipped. She says she went from being a student who 'almost never turned in an assignment late' to a student who couldn't stay awake in class and turned in everything late. Murdoch said she came to her senses on her own and now wants to advocate for her younger self. 'At 15, I was nowhere near mature enough to prioritize school over money,' she told Assembly members during the bill's first hearing, which she traveled to Carson City for over spring break in March. 'I wish the adults around me would have thought about more than just using me for business gain.' Teagan Clark, another Shadow Ridge student, testified that working closing shift meant driving home late at night tired — a potentially dangerous scenario for anyone but especially an inexperienced driver. It also resulted in her skipping breakfast in order to get an extra few minutes of sleep, drinking too many caffeine-filled energy drinks, and feeling isolated socially. Nighswonger said he surveyed working high school seniors at Shadow Ridge and found that 48% regularly work past 10 p.m. on school nights. Many of the students were worried they would lose their job if they shared their own stories, though a few hand-wrote letters for him to deliver to lawmakers. 'I work at a car wash and every night we close at 8 and I stay after hours to clean the vacuum trays and sewage out of the tunnel where the cars are washed,' read one. 'It's too much for a 17 year old kid, but I don't want to lose my job.' Equipo Academy Assistant Principal Erik Van Houten said a quarter of 16- and 17-year-olds at the East Las Vegas charter school have jobs, and 1 in 5 of them work over 40 hours a week. 'These students are ill equipped to advocate for themselves to leave work at reasonable hours,' he said. 'Many are holding their very first job.' AB215, he continued, would 'put guardrails in place to protect our kids and make clear that a high school education should be their number one priority.' Nighswonger, Murdoch and other Shadow Ridge students pitched the proposed law to Democratic Assemblymember Daniele Monroe-Moreno and Republican Assemblymember Brian Hibbetts, whose districts cover the school's enrollment area. Both signed on to sponsor a bill on the issue. Independently, Democratic Assemblymember Cinthia Zermeño Moore was working on similar legislation inspired by concerns raised by Van Houten from Equipo, which is located in her three Assembly members decided to combine their bills and work together. AB215 passed the Nevada State Assembly with unanimous bipartisan support earlier this month and is now making its way through the Senate. If passed, the bill will head to Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo's desk for final approval. Hibbetts acknowledged that some might see the inclusion of protections for 18-year-olds as a problem because it means they are being considered adults in some legal contexts and not adults in others. But he said there is precedent. High school students are not allowed to sign off on their own school paperwork just because they turn 18 during their senior year, he said. They still need parental signatures. 'This is, in my vision, just going along with that same type of mentality,' he said. 'I think this is something that we need to offer them. Just because you're 18, it doesn't mean your employer can make you work until 2 a.m. because you have to be at school at 7 a.m.' Monroe-Moreno added that the inclusion of 18-year-olds was specifically asked for by Shadow Ridge students who said their managers target them for late shifts because they are 18. Several lawmakers in the bill's two hearings raised concerns about the impact the legislation might have on lower income families whose teens contribute to essential household bills. Moore said she understands that reality, adding that her first job was at age 14 selling CDs at the Indoor Swap Meet in East Las Vegas. But she argued the state needs to support students with their education because, without it, 'they may not be able to seek the opportunities they may have' that could lift them, and their families, upward. Teresa Benitez-Thompson, a former state lawmaker, spoke in personal support of the bill, saying she wished such restrictions were in place two decades ago when she was a teenage hostess whose paychecks helped support her single mom, who worked as a waitress, and her sister, who was a teen mom at 15. She said she fell behind her junior year and had to do credit recovery to get back on track. 'A low-wage job for a teenager is not going to solve poverty,' she said. 'Education is what breaks the cycle of poverty. Education is absolutely what has to be prioritized.' Groups in support of AB218 included the Vegas Chamber, Nevada Resorts Association, NAACP, City of North Las Vegas, and ACLU. No groups publicly opposed AB218 during its two bill hearings, but the Nevada Restaurant Association testified in neutral. 'We support efforts to balance student well being and academics with valuable work experience,' the group's lobbyist, Peter Saba, said. 'Many restaurants rely on student workers, and we encourage ongoing discussions to ensure these small businesses can adapt smoothly.' Monroe-Moreno acknowledged that concessions were made to appease business groups. The bill originally sought to prohibit teens from working past 10 p.m. on school nights but the time was amended to 11 p.m.
