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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
15 quiet casualties of the 2025 legislative session
(Photo: April Corbin Girnus/Nevada Current) The pharmaceutical middlemen who play a role in inflating consumer drug prices escaped additional regulations by state lawmakers, after the Nevada State Legislature failed to pass a bill designed to curb how much profit they can make. Democratic state Sen. Rochelle Nguyen's Senate Bill 316 would have established 'guardrails' for pharmaceutical benefit managers, such as requiring PBMs to pass along to consumers rebate savings they receive from the drug companies. Nguyen led the legislative effort but a bipartisan group of eight other lawmakers signed on, including Republican state Sen. Jeff Stone, a pharmacist, and Senate Minority Leader Robin Titus, a medical doctor. The Senate and Assembly passed different versions of SB216, both with broad bipartisan support. Only Democratic state Sens. Dina Neal and Fabian Donate opposed. However, those votes came in the waning days of the legislative session, and the Senate did not get around to voting on whether to accept the Assembly's amendments. Here are 14 other bills the Nevada Current has covered that fell short (or really far) from becoming law during the 2025 Legislative Session. Pet store ban. Assembly Bill 487 originally sought to ban retail pet sales statewide, following the lead of several municipalities that banned them within their borders. The bill, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Natha Anderson, passed the Assembly with bipartisan support. It appeared stalled in the Senate but, right before a key deadline, was heard by a Senate committee and amended into a study bill. When it returned to the Assembly for concurrence, Anderson moved for the chamber to reject the amendment. A trio of lawmakers from both chambers were chosen for what's known as a 'conference committee' to try and reconcile the differences between the chambers. But it appears no action was taken. That means retail pet sales remain legal in municipalities without bans. Education management organizations. Senate Bill 318 (State Sen. Skip Daly, D) would have banned charter schools from contracting with for-profit education management organizations. The bill passed the Senate on party lines, with all Republicans opposing. It was referred to the Assembly Education Committee but was never given a hearing. That committee is chaired by Assemblymember Selena Torres-Fossett, who is also the executive director of a Las Vegas charter school contracted with Academica, the largest EMO in the state. Third-party ticket vendors. Senate Bill 431 originally attempted to remove an exemption Nevada-based sports teams have from the state's 8% live entertainment tax on tickets. That is an effort Democratic state Sen. Dina Neal has pushed in prior sessions. This year, the bill was amended into a bill to apply LET to tickets resold by third-party vendors like StubHub. Some of the funding would have supported public transit. The amended bill passed the Assembly with bipartisan support but was never given a floor vote in the Senate. Farm worker protections. Senate Bill 172 (State Sen. Edgar Flores, D) sought to bolster protections for farm workers and amend overtime pay laws to include agriculture workers. The bill passed the Senate on party lines, with all Republicans opposing, but got stuck in the Assembly. Free phone calls for prisoners. Senate Bill 323 (State Sen. Melanie Scheible, D) would have created a pilot program to provide free phone calls at Florence McClure Women's Correctional Center. The bill passed the Senate with 20-0, with one senator excused from the vote, but died on the Assembly side. Traffic cams in construction zones. Assembly Bill 402 (Assemblymember Selena Torres-Fossett, D) would have authorized traffic monitoring cameras in construction work zones when workers are present. The bill passed the Assembly with some bipartisan support, but then got stuck in the Senate Finance Committee. It was one of two 'red light camera' bills introduced into the session this year. The other missed a legislative deadline earlier in the session. Prison food study. Assembly Bill 246 (Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D) proposed a study on food quality, waste and nutrition within Nevada Department of Corrections prisons. The bill was considered and passed by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, but died in the chamber's Ways & Means Committee. Graduate assistant unions. Assembly Bill 191 (Assemblymember Natha Anderson, D) would have given graduate assistants the right to collectively bargain for better pay and conditions. The bill got stuck in the Assembly Ways & Means Committee. Commerce tax. Assembly Bill 276 (Assemblymember P.K. O'Neill, R) would have adjusted the commerce tax threshold to inflation. The bill got stuck in the Assembly Ways & Means Committee. Weight-loss drugs. Senate Bill 244 (State Sen. Roberta Lange, D) would have expanded the types of obesity treatments covered by Nevada Medicaid, including approving weight-loss drugs like Ozempic for wider use. The bill got stuck in the Senate Finance Committee. 'Second Look' Assembly Bill 91 (Assemblymember Erica Roth, D) is known as 'second look' legislation and would have created an avenue for those incarcerated to have sentences reviewed by the State Board of Parole Commissioners after they've served extended periods of time. The bill passed the Assembly on party lines, then died in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Lombardo's health care bill Senate Bill 495, known as the Nevada Health Care Access Act, was Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo's health care bill. It passed the Senate on party lines, with Senate Minority Leader Robin Titus urging her caucus to oppose the bill over amendments added by Democrats related to freestanding emergency rooms. The Assembly did not vote on the bill. SNAP app. Assembly Bill 474 would have required DWSS to create a 'Smart Surplus Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.' The bill was criticized by local food banks, but passed the Assembly 40-1. Only Democratic Assemblymember Venicia Considine opposed. It was heard by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee but never voted out. Artificial intelligence. Senate Bill 199 (State Sen. Dina Neal, D) would establish guardrails around artificial intelligence. The bill passed out of a Senate committee in early April but saw no activity after that.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Classism' in the capital at hearing on HOAs, Neal says
'There were just very interesting comments on the Senate side that I felt were just very classism,' Sen. Dina Neal said on Friday during the Assembly Judiciary hearing. (Photo: Richard Bednarski/Nevada Current) A legislative hearing on a bill intended to give homeowners some 'wiggle room' and avoid the onerous fines imposed by homeowners' associations exposed what state Sen. Dina Neal called 'classism' on the part of HOA industry representatives and opponents. Senate Bill 121 would, among other things, afford cash-strapped new homeowners three years rather than 180 days to landscape their backyards. An HOA could require that owners put down a single layer of rocks after 18 months, to prevent blowing dust. 'Most people have spent most of their money on the refrigerator, the blinds, the furniture, and they actually don't have the funds' to spend within six months on landscaping, Neal, a Democrat from North Las Vegas, said while presenting SB 121 to the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Friday. 'Home ownership is very important. Achieving the American Dream is very important. But not all people are walking into a home with the same amount of money in their bank account.' New homebuyers are 'fully informed' of their obligations, HOA attorney Adam Clarkson had earlier testified in opposition to the bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee in April on its way to passage in the Senate. 'When they purchase a home, they know whether or not they can do it. The bright line test is don't purchase these homes if you don't want to have to do this.' However, finding a home that's not in a HOA is a challenge in Nevada, where HOAs represent the owners of 623,917 housing units – half of the state's 1.3 million homes, according to the state. 'You're protecting people that bought something they couldn't afford in the first place, knowing that they couldn't afford it, while at the same time you're harming their neighbors,' Clarkson said. 'Now they're not going to be in this beautiful community, because you've taken that away from them, because now people don't have to do the landscaping, and they're going to have those blights in the neighborhood.' Mark Leon, president of the Mountain's Edge Master Association, agreed with Clarkson while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in April. 'If landscaping your backyard is too much of a burden for you to handle, then buy a house that was already landscaped,' Leon suggested, adding the provision 'only has the effect of pandering to homeowners too lazy or too unwilling to follow through on their obligation to the community, and that directly affects the property values of their neighbors who are working hard to build their new home.' 'There were just very interesting comments on the Senate side that I felt were just very classism,' Neal said on Friday during the Assembly Judiciary hearing. At the hearing in April, Neal said she 'slightly took offense to the idea that you shouldn't buy the home if you can't afford to landscape your backyard,' adding she doesn't 'believe that a homeowner should be labeled as lazy' or told to find another home if they don't like the rules. Failing to comply with HOA rules can be costly. The boards wield powers generally reserved for government tribunals. They can assess fines, deny property rights, and even foreclose. Neal's bill is intended to take the sting out of common complaints from homeowners. Current regulations permit an HOA to require a resident whose vehicle has a commercial logo or ad to cover it with a magnet. SB 121 would eliminate the requirement for all vehicles, with the exception of those with a 'sexual portrayal or depicting an image relating to the sale of a controlled substance.' The bill would prohibit an association from assessing late fees sooner than 30 days after an obligation becomes past due, and from reporting any past due obligation to a credit agency. There was no opposition to that provision. The legislation would also curtail an HOA from assessing a fine for an oil stain that is entirely on a homeowner's driveway, however, a homeowner could still be responsible for oil stains on the asphalt in front of their property. 'My vehicles do not leak but my neighbors' do,' testified Tanya Bates, an HOA community manager in Washoe County. 'I still clean the oil stains on my street to prevent oil from being tracked into my home. It's a maintenance obligation for homeowners.' An amendment offered by the HOA industry would, among other things, reduce the proposed landscaping deadline to 12 months to lay down rocks and 24 months to complete landscaping. 'I haven't decided if it is friendly or not,' Neal said when asked if she'd accepted it. 'There are provisions I appreciate and there are provisions I do not.' The committee did not take any action on the measure.
