Latest news with #AssemblyBill437
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Too busy fretting over you-know-who to follow the NV Legislature? The Current's got you covered.
(Photo: Jeniffer Solis/Nevada Current) The Nevada Current's small but mighty staff of five has so far covered dozens of bills introduced into the 2025 Legislative Session. If you've missed a story or two (or dozen) of them, we understand. (There. Is. A. Lot. Going. On.) Here's a look at the bills that caught our eye and where they are, complete with links to our prior coverage. The next major legislative deadline is Tuesday, April 22. By that date, non-exempt bills need to be voted on by either the full Senate or the full Assembly. * Notes: Bills exempt from legislative deadlines are marked with an asterisk. Lead sponsors are listed in parentheses. Bills with no lead sponsor listed are sponsored by interim committees. (State Sen. Dina Neal, D) would establish a corporate landlord registry and cap purchasing power for corporate owners. Status: Passed Senate Judiciary. Assembly Bill 121 (Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D) would require all non-optional fees, such as sewer and water, be listed in advertisements for rental properties. It would also require landlords to offer a free way for tenants to pay rent. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 201 (Assemblymember Erica Roth, D) would expand efforts to automatically seal eviction records. Status: Passed Assembly Judiciary. (Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D) would allow a third party to take over the property until repairs are made and living conditions improved. Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 223 (Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D) would give tenants more power to hold landlords accountable for failing to provide livable conditions. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 280 (Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui, D) proposes rent stabilization for seniors. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. (Assemblymember Max Carter, D) would restructure the eviction process. Status: Passed Assembly Judiciary. Assembly Bill 437 (Assemblymember Jill Dickman, R) would establish a Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 475* would provide funding for eviction diversion programs in Clark and Washoe counties. Status: Heard by Assembly Ways and Means, no action taken. * (Gov. Joe Lombardo, R) would allocate $250 million to build more housing and expand the definition of affordable housing to include people with higher incomes. Status: Heard by Assembly Commerce and Labor, no action taken. Senate Bill 218 (State Sen. James Ohrenschall, D) would adopt the Uniform Antitrust Pre-Merger Notification Act, requiring companies to submit to the state attorney general the same notices and information they are already required to provide federal agencies prior to mergers or acquisitions. Passed Senate Commerce and Labor. (State Sen. Rochelle Nguyen, D) would curb how much profit pharmacy benefit managers can make. Status: Passed Senate Commerce and Labor. mandates utilities report the number of disconnections due to non-payment. Status: Passed Senate Growth and Infrastructure. Assembly Bill 44 (Attorney General Aaron Ford, D) seeks to crack down on 'knowingly deceptive' price fixing. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 204 (Assemblymember Max Carter, D) would prevent collection agencies from threatening to arrest people for debt, obtain a lien against a primary residence, seek to foreclose on home, or garnish wages. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. Senate Bill 54 would require the state's Department of Health and Human Services to apply for a federal waiver and amend the state Medicaid plan to cover medical respite care for people experiencing homelessness. Passed Senate Health and Human Services. Senate Bill 244* (State Sen. Roberta Lange, D) would expand the types of obesity treatments covered by Nevada Medicaid, including approving weight-loss drugs like Ozempic for wider use. Status: Passed Senate Health and Human Services, referred to Senate Finance. Senate Bill 353* (State Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, D) would increase Medicaid reimbursement for mental health providers. Passed Senate Commerce. * (State Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro, D) would establish the right to assisted reproduction treatment, including in vitro fertilization. Status: Passed Senate Health and Human Services. (Assemblymember Selena Torres-Fossett, D), known as the Right to Contraception Act, would strengthen protections against a state or local government burdening access to contraceptive measures. Status: Passed Assembly Health and Human Services. Assembly Bill 235 (Assemblymember Erica Roth, D) protects employees and volunteers of reproductive health care facilities, as well as their spouses, domestic partners or minor children, by allowing them 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. Status: Passed Assembly Government Affairs. (Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui, D) would allow prescriptions for drugs used for medical abortions and miscarriage management to list the name of the prescribing health care practice, rather than the name of the specific individual providing the prescription. Status: Passed Assembly Health and Human Services. Initiative Petition 1, the Clark County Education Association-backed ballot measure that would give Nevada teachers the right to strike, passed the deadline for consideration by the Nevada State Legislature. That deadline was in mid-March but came and went with no fanfare because CCEA leadership has made it clear they are using it as a bargaining chip for their other legislative priorities. The 'A Teacher In Every Classroom' question is now slated to appear on next year's general election ballot unless the union voluntarily withdraws it. Senate Bill 172 (Senator Edgar Flores, D) seeks to bolster protections for farm workers and amend overtime pay laws to include agriculture workers. Status: Passed Senate Commerce and Labor. Assembly Bill 112 (Assemblymember Duy Nguyen, D) would allow workers covered by collective bargaining agreements to use their accrued leave to care for family members. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor. * (Assemblymember Natha Anderson, D) — give graduate assistants the right to collectively bargain for better pay and conditions. Status: Passed Assembly Government Affairs, referred to Assembly Ways and Means. Assembly Bill 388* (Assemblymember Selena La Rue Hatch, D) — requires private employers with more than 50 workers, as well as all public employers, to provide paid family and medical leave. Status: Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor, referred to Assembly Ways and Means. Assembly Joint Resolution 1* (Assemblymember Natha Anderson, D) would let voters in 2028 decide whether the taxable value of property should reset when a home is sold. Status: Passed Assembly Revenue. Assembly Joint Resolution 8 (Assemblymember Joe Dalia, D) would let voters in 2028 decide whether Nevada should establish a dedicated business court with the goal of enticing large companies to incorporate here. Status: Heard by Assembly Judiciary, then withdrawn and put on the Chief Clerk's desk. On Monday, taken off the Chief Clerk's desk and amended. Assembly Bill 256 (Assemblymember Selena La Rue Hatch, D) would create a Regional Rail Transit Advisory Working Group to assess the need for a regional rail system in the state's largest metro areas, as well as potential funding sources for such a system. Passed Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections. (Assemblymember Rich DeLong, D) would make the Net Proceeds of Minerals Bulletin public again. Status: Passed Assembly Revenue. would allow the Clark County Commission to extend fuel revenue indexing (FRI) an additional decade beyond its current sunset date. Status: Passed Assembly Growth and Infrastructure. (Storey County) would require companies seeking massive tax abatements to enter into agreements to defray the costs of the government-provided services they would require. Status: Passed Senate Revenue and Economic Development. (Assemblymember Natha Anderson) would bar most HOAs from prohibiting licensed home-based childcare operations within their communities. Status: Passed Assembly Government Affairs. Assembly Bill 238* (Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui, D) is known as the Nevada Studio Infrastructure Jobs and Workforce Training Act. It massively expands the state's film tax credit program to support a production studio in Summerlin in Las Vegas. Status: Heard by Assembly Revenue, referred to Assembly Ways and Means. Senate Bill 220* (State Sen. Roberta Lange, D) is known as the Nevada Film Infrastructure, Workforce Development, Education and Economic Diversification Act. It massively expands the state's film tax credit program to support a production studio in southwest Las Vegas. Status: Heard by Senate Revenue and Economic Development, referred to Senate Finance. Assembly Bill 376* (Assemblymember P.K. O'Neill, R) would create a 'regulatory sandbox' for the insurance industry. Passed Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee. * (Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D) seeks to close a potential loophole that can be used by corporate landlords to avoid paying the state's commerce tax. Status: Passed Assembly Revenue. Assembly Bill 487 would ban retail pet sales statewide. Status: Passed Assembly Natural Resources. Senate Bill 318 (State Sen. Skip Daly, D) would ban charter schools from contracting with for-profit education management organizations. Status: Passed Senate Education. * (Assemblymember Erica Mosca, D) would dedicate $100 million in state general obligation bonds for high-needs school construction projects in low-population counties that cannot fund them through typical means. Status: Passed Assembly Government Affairs, referred to Assembly Ways and Means. (Assemblymember Daniele Monroe-Moreno, D) would change how Opportunity Scholarships are administered. Status: Passed Assembly Revenue. Senate Bill 88* would discharge medical debt from those incarcerated once they leave prison. Status: Passed Senate Judiciary Committee, referred to Senate Finance. (Assemblymember Brian Hibbetts, R) would make driving the wrong way a misdemeanor crime. Status: Passed Assembly Judiciary. Assembly Bill 119 (Assemblymember Steve Yeager, D) seeks to crack down on paramilitary organizing and activities. Status: Passed Assembly Judiciary. Assembly Bill 320* (Assemblymember Jovan Jackson, D) seeks to stop judges from using dress codes to turn away defendants. Passed Assembly Judiciary. Senate Bill 457 (Gov. Joe Lombardo, R) is known as the Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act. Status: Referred to Senate Judiciary, no hearing scheduled. Senate Bill 199* (State Sen. Dina Neal, D) — would establish guardrails around artificial intelligence. Status: Passed Senate Commerce and Labor. would mandate that cities and counties with populations exceeding 100,000 people include 'heat mitigation' as part of their master plans. Status: Passed Government Affairs.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Two bills seek to address growing issue of home insurance cancellations over wildfire risk
Flames engulf the vegetation surrounding residential neighborhoods as the Pinehaven Fire burns on November 17, 2020 in Reno, Nevada. (Photo by) Thousands of homeowners in Nevada have seen their insurance policies canceled or not-renewed due to wildfire risk, prompting state lawmakers to warn that 'a crisis is brewing' and considering ways to combat it. Republican Assemblymember Jill Dickman from Washoe County believes Nevada should replicate a state-managed private insurance program already in place in 34 states and the District of Columbia. Dickman is sponsoring Assembly Bill 437, which would establish a Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan – an insurance program of last resort for homeowners who cannot reasonably obtain coverage through standard insurance providers. Her bill is one of two bills making its way through the Nevada State Legislature focused on home insurance availability amid increasing wildfire risk. FAIR plans, which have been around since the 1960s, provide coverage for homeowners who cannot find policies on the private market. The plans are managed by the state governments, but they are backed financially by a pool of the private insurers. California's FAIR plan has received the most public attention and criticism because of its size and the prevalence of wildfires in the state, but Dickman told the committee that Nevada's FAIR program would not look like its western neighbor's. Dickman wants Nevada's FAIR plan to remain 'a true market of last resort' that does not compete with the private market. To ensure that, she has drafted a conceptual amendment specifying that homeowners be denied by three standard insurance companies before being eligible for Nevada FAIR. They must also attempt to secure non-FAIR coverage every two years. Homeowners would also be required to undergo a wildfire risk assessment and implement its recommendations. The Nevada Fire Chiefs Association worked with Dickman on AB437. Representatives from the group emphasized the need to mitigate fire risk. Elko County Fire Chief Matthew Petersen estimated that once a week he receives a phone call from someone asking for help because their home insurance policy is getting canceled. Dickman has also capped what FAIR will insure – $5 million for commercial properties and $750,000 for residential properties. She acknowledged those limits are relatively low considering the cost of housing in many parts of the state. The median price of a home in Washoe County is currently around $550,000. 'We have to start somewhere,' said Dickman. 'We've been talking about this, and talking about this, and talking about it, and there's never any action taken. We're looking for the perfect plan.' Nevada, she argued, cannot afford to delay taking legislative action knowing it will also take time to implement any program. She noted Colorado passed legislation to create a FAIR plan in 2023 and is only beginning to offer coverage this year. 'If we put it off for two years, it'll be another two years, and by then we'll be in a crisis,' Dickman added. In 2023, 481 homeowners insurance policies were canceled or non-renewed due to wildfire risk — an 82% increase compared to the previous year, according to the Nevada Division of Insurance. That same year, nearly 5,000 applications for homeowners insurance were declined due to wildfire risk — a 104.8% increase over the previous year. Cadence Matijevich, a lobbyist for Washoe County, said there is a misguided assumption that wildfire insurance is 'an issue of the 1%' involving multimillion homes in Incline Village. 'That's not true,' she said. 'We've heard heartbreaking stories from senior citizens who've lived in homes for 50 years and are at risk of losing their homes because they couldn't get property insurance.' The American Property Casualty Insurance Association and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies oppose the FAIR plan proposal. APCIA in a letter of opposition wrote that a FAIR plan 'fails to address the underlying issues that result in less affordable or available coverage.' Instead, the industry is supporting a separate bill meant to give them more flexibility in the types of insurance plans they can offer Nevadans. Republican Assemblymember P.K. O'Neill is sponsoring Assembly Bill 376, which would create for insurance companies what's known as a 'regulatory sandbox' that allows them to test out new types of plans that don't fit under current state regulations. The sandbox program would exist for 4 years, after which the Nevada Division of Insurance would have to submit to the Legislature a report with information and recommendations. Nevada Insurance Commissioner Scott Kipper, who presented the bill with O'Neill, told the committee the idea is to incentivize companies to create 'innovative products' by giving them 'some flexibility to generate revenue that is needed to manage risk.' O'Neill, who represents Carson City and parts of Storey and Washoe counties, said his bill uses model language drafted by the National Council of Insurance Legislators. AB376 doesn't mandate any type of product be tested but does provide some potential options, including removing wildfire coverage from the standard homeowners policies and offering it as a standalone package. The bill received a mixed reaction from committee members. Democratic Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui said she is supportive of regulatory sandboxes to spur innovation. She pointed out that the Legislature passed one for the fintech industry in 2023. Democratic Assemblymember Max Carter expressed concern that insurance companies might be attempting to free themselves of having to cover wildfire damage. 'Are we turning everyone loose and letting the fires burn down our houses?' That concern was echoed by the Consumer Federation of America, which opposes the bill. 'This is a shoot first, ask questions later approach that is certain to increase premiums and put consumer financial security at risk,' the organization wrote in a letter of opposition. The Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee has taken no action on either bill. Dickman's FAIR plan bill must clear the committee by Friday or it will be considered dead. O'Neill's regulatory sandbox bill is exempt from legislative deadlines, meaning it has more time to advance. Kipper told the committee he is working on ways to get the bill's fiscal note ($237,000 over the upcoming biennium) removed. O'Neill and Dickman's bills are not mutually exclusive, and the latter assemblymember is listed as one of several sponsors on the former's bill. Washoe County testified in support of both bills. Nearly one-fifth of Nevada's land area has been burned by wildfire in the past 40 years, landing the state fifth in the nation for land area burned by wildfires. A new study by the Lied Center for Real Estate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas found that more than 18% of Nevada's land mass has been torched by wildfire from 1984 through 2024. Northern Nevada has experienced a significantly larger number and total acres burned by wildfires than Southern Nevada, due to the differences in climate, terrain, and the presence of forested land. Rural counties in Northern Nevada were the most affected by wildfires in the state. Elko County had the largest percentage of land area burned by wildfire at 41%, followed by Humboldt at 39%, according to the study. One fourth of Washoe County's land area has been burdened by wildfires. Carson City, the state's capital, also experienced noticeable burns with 15% of its land impacted by wildfire. In Lincoln County, a rural county in Southern Nevada, about 18% of land mass has been burned by wildfires since 1984. In Clark County, Nevada's most populous county, only about 5% of its total land burned by wild fires in the past 40 years. The Lied Center's study was based on Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity wildfire data, a joint program administered by the United States Geological Survey and the United States Forest Service to map wildfires across the country. Lied Center for Real Estate Research Director Nicholas Irwin, who co-authored the study, told the Current that as more people move into forested areas wildfires are likely to become much more economically destructive moving forward. 'Coupled with the climate change we're seeing, longer drought, increased temperatures— that's going to make wildfire seasons a lot a lot worse,' he said. While other states have experienced more economically destructive wildfires, the number of wildfires impacting infrastructure in Nevada has increased in recent years. In September, the Davis Fire broke out in Davis Creek Regional Park, about 20 miles south of Reno. The wind-driven fire rapidly burned through 5,824 acres of private, state, and federal lands, driving the evacuation of about 20,000 people from residential neighborhoods and businesses. The fire ultimately destroyed two commercial buildings and 14 residences. Nevada's fire season, once limited to late summer and early fall, now spans nearly the entire calendar year. High wildfire risk makes areas less attractive for developers, impacting housing development, said Irwin. Rural areas, which already deal with high construction cost and other barriers to development, could be disproportionately impacted As Dickman put it during the AB437 hearing: 'You can't sell a home you can't insure.' These concerns are contributing to this year's push for legislative action. Beyond the proposals currently being considered, Irwin said Nevada could take a more proactive role in monitoring wildfire risk as other states do. In Colorado, the Colorado State Forest Service maps wildfires in an effort to inform homeowners and business owners of the impending risk for their location based on fire conditions. 'It's very costly, but it is very informative, and there's research out there to suggest homeowners respond to that information,' Irwin said. 'Knowing the relative risk of that land is going to be really important so we can think about how to build strong and resilient homes that won't be at risk for future wildfires.'
