Latest news with #JoeLombardo
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nevada on track to up DUI penalties to maximum 25 years in prison
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — An amended version of Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo's crime bill would increase the maximum amount of prison time for a DUI driver who kills to 25 years. As initially written, Senate Bill 457 would also change Nevada law to charge DUI drivers who kill with second-degree murder. A version of the bill amended Monday would increase Nevada's DUI-with-death penalty to a maximum of 25 years, an increase from the current 20 years. As written, Nevada's DUI-with-death law carries a potential prison sentence of 2-20 years. However, a bipartisan 1995 law requires a judge to sentence a person to a minimum and maximum sentence, meaning in cases of DUI with death, the maximum amount of time a defendant will spend in prison without a parole hearing is eight years. The 8 News Now Investigators have found most drivers who kill serve those eight years, not 20. Should Lombardo's bill pass as amended, a DUI driver who kills could serve the minimum two years in prison or up to 10 years before they are released or go before the parole board. In essence, the maximum-minimum amount of time to be served would become 10 years — a change from the current eight years. However, a driver could, in theory, serve all 25 years. A 10-to-25-year sentence aligns with the penalties for second-degree murder. If a DUI driver who kills has prior convictions, the minimum would be increased from two years to five years, the amendment said. Senate Bill 457 passed the Nevada Senate with the amendment in a 20-1 vote. Democratic State Sen. James Ohrenschall was the only dissenting vote. Senate Bill 304, which would amend the state's vehicular homicide law to include all DUIs involving death, appeared unlikely to pass Monday. The proposal would carry a possible sentence of 10 to 25 years or 10 to life, also the same as the state's second-degree murder statute. The legislative session ends at midnight Tuesday. Lawmakers will not reconvene, except for special circumstances at the request of the governor, until February 2027. Opponents of the governor's crime bill, including the ACLU of Nevada, warn that other components in it violate a person's constitutional rights. Since February, the 8 News Now Investigators have explored Nevada DUI laws, including the fact that lawmakers proposed no immediate changes after a DUI driver killed two state troopers investigating a second DUI driver. Nevada prosecutors, including the Clark County District Attorney's Office, have tried to charge DUI drivers who kill a person and who speed and who drive with no care for another person's life, with murder, but the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled the DUI with death law is more appropriate. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Nevada Becomes the 21st State To Strengthen Donor Privacy Protections
On Thursday, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) signed Assembly Bill 197 into law, prohibiting state agencies from demanding or releasing personal information of nonprofit supporters—actions that could potentially chill speech or violate the right to privacy. With the bill's passage, Nevada becomes the 21st state to strengthen First Amendment protections for donors, volunteers, and members of nonprofit organizations. The A.B. 197, which was cosponsored by Assemblymembers Shea Backus (D–Las Vegas) and Gregory Hafen (R–Pahrump), clarifies that state governmental entities cannot require nonprofit organizations that have applied for or received a 501(c) tax-exempt status from the IRS to disclose personal information of their supporters, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and donation details. Only certain exceptions apply, such as when such information is required under federal law or a court order, in which case the state must keep the individuals' personal information confidential. Anyone harmed by a violation of this law may bring a civil action against the state and seek damages. Nonprofit donor privacy is constitutionally protected under the First Amendment, as was first determined in the Supreme Court's unanimous National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Patterson ruling. The 1958 decision blocked the Alabama state government from forcing civil rights organizations to release personal, identifying information of supporters, thereby preventing threats, harassment, and intimidation of individuals for their beliefs. The right was reaffirmed and further clarified in the Court's 2021 Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta opinion, which struck down a mandate from former California Attorney General Kamala Harris requiring nonprofits to provide certain donor information to remain registered with the state. The Nevada bill passed through both chambers of the Legislature with an overwhelming majority and only one vote against it. Even more strikingly, nonprofits from across the political spectrum, such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, Americans for Prosperity, Nevada Right to Life, and Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada, supported the measure. "Americans are fed up with the abuse of their privacy and First Amendment rights. No one should face threats, doxing, or retaliation simply for supporting a nonprofit organization," said Heather Lauer, CEO of People United for Privacy Foundation, a national privacy rights organization, in a press release. With the passage of A.B. 197, Nevada joins 20 other states across the political spectrum that have passed similar legislation since 2018. In a time of hyper-partisanship and regular free speech violations—especially from the federal government—it's encouraging to see some state governments still honoring the constitutional protections enshrined in the First Amendment. The post Nevada Becomes the 21st State To Strengthen Donor Privacy Protections appeared first on
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Still no green light for largest public subsidy in state history as Legislature hits adjournment day
A small army of lobbyists for film studios could be seen entering the Senate Democrats office after the lawmakers adjourned for the night. (Photo: Jeniffer Solis/Nevada Current) The Hollywood movie studios seeking $1.4 billion in transferable tax breaks over 15 years have clearly not received a red carpet rollout from the Nevada State Legislature. Assembly Bill 238, which proposes a twelvefold expansion of the state's transferable film tax credit program, passed the Assembly late Friday in a 22-20 vote, the thinnest margin allowable since a tie would mean not passing. That left the high profile bill three days to pass the Senate. However, two whole days came and went, leaving the bill with less than 24 hours to make it across the finish line. The Senate Finance Committee on Sunday appeared to be gearing up for a late night hearing on the film tax credit bill, but instead the full Senate withdrew the bill from the committee and allowed it to take a procedural step it needed in the full chamber. The bill would massively expand Nevada's film tax credit program to support the build out and operation of a 31-acre film studio currently referred to as the Summerlin Production Studios Project (after the Las Vegas neighborhood where it would be located). Hollywood giants Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery are attached to the project. Howard Hughes Holdings is developing. A small army of lobbyists for film studios could be seen entering the Senate Democrats office after the lawmakers adjourned for the night. Nevada's film tax credit program is currently capped at $10 million per year. AB 238 would raise that cap to $120 million per year, for 15 years, beginning in 2028. The majority of those tax credits, $95 million per year, would be reserved for productions at the Summerlin studio; $25 million per year would be for productions not attached to the studio. Altogether, that's equivalent to $1.8 billion in public subsidies for the television and film industry. If approved by the Senate and signed into law by Gov. Joe Lombardo, the legislation will be the largest public subsidy approved by the State of Nevada, surpassing the $1.25 billion approved by lawmakers in 2014 for Tesla Motors. While tax credits aren't issued to companies until they prove they've met the qualifications for them, the state must treat them as 'negative revenue' when forecasting expected state revenue. That means they do impact the state budgeting process. Here's where other high-profile bills stand going into the last day of the session: All five state budget bills have all passed the Nevada Legislature. Senate Bill 502, known as the capital improvement program (CIP) bill, crossed the legislative finish line on Sunday. The CIP bill must be passed by a two-thirds majority, so it is often used by the minority party as leverage in broader negotiations. That was the case in the 2023 session, when the CIP bill failed to pass the Senate before midnight on the last day. That forced a one-day special session. The state's other four budget bills (Senate Bill 500, Assembly Bill 591, Assembly Bill 592, and Senate Bill 501) all passed the Legislature within the last week and have been signed by the governor. Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Gov. Joe Lombardo reached a compromise on their competing omnibus education bills. Cannizzaro's Senate Bill 460 was amended to include components of Lombardo's Assembly Bill 584, including his proposal to establish a statewide accountability system and a salary incentive program for educators and administrators. Components of Cannizzaro's bill that made it past the amendment include revised evaluation procedures for educators and administrators and additional transparency and assessment requirements for schools receiving funding through the state's quasi-voucher system, known as Opportunity Scholarships. The Senate unanimously passed the bill Sunday, and the bill now heads to the Assembly. Cannizzaro said the bill represents the state taking 'significant strides' toward accountability and transparency. Senate Minority Leader Robin Titus also spoke on the floor in support. Also on the education front: Senate Bill 161, a Clark County Education Association priority bill carried by state Sen. Rochelle Nguyen (D-Las Vegas), passed the Legislature with some bipartisan support and was signed by Lombardo in the last week of the session. The bill establishes an expedited arbitration process for teachers unions and school districts, and, perhaps more consequentially, establishes a pathway for K-12 public school teachers to legally go on strike. With the passage of SB 161, CCEA will withdraw a ballot measure it had qualified for the 2028 general election ballot. That ballot measure, if approved by voters, would have given teachers the right to strike. The teachers union had previously said it was prepared to defend the ballot measure next year but would prefer to bypass it through legislative action. It marks the second time the union has pulled this move. In 2021, CCEA qualified two ballot measures — one to raise the gaming tax, another to raise the sales tax — only to pull them after the Legislature established a new mining tax that directly funds the state's K-12 per pupil education fund. Assembly Bill 540, Lombardo's housing bill, is currently in the Senate Government Affairs Committee. It has received a hearing but no action has been taken. The bill has already cleared the full Assembly. Senate Bill 457, Lombardo's criminal justice bill, passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sunday after receiving a major amendment. The bill needs to pass the full Senate and the full Assembly. Senate Bill 495, Lombardo's health care bill, is prepped for a vote by the full Senate. It will need to be approved by the Senate, then by the Assembly. Senate Bill 461, Lombardo's economic development bill, is currently in the Senate Revenue and Economic Development Committee. It received a hearing but no action has been taken. On Friday, a banking bill sponsored by Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager fell short of the required two-thirds approval it needed to pass the chamber. Assembly Bill 500 would allow for payment banks, a new type of financial institution that focuses solely on payment processing rather than lending. The Assembly vote was 25-17, a simple majority but three votes short of the two-thirds it needed because it would raise state revenue. On Sunday, AB500 returned to the Assembly floor with an amendment that removed the two-thirds requirement. The amendment was adopted but, in a bizarre turn of events, the vote failed 20-22. The vote was attempted a third time and also failed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
By thin margin, Assembly passes bill to provide $1.4b in tax credits for Summerlin movie studio
Among the 27 Democrats in the chamber, 15 voted in support and 12 voted against. Among Republicans, seven supported and eight opposed. The Nevada Assembly on Friday night approved what will likely be the state's largest ever public subsidy: $1.4 billion in transferable tax credits over 15 years to support a movie studio in Las Vegas. Assembly Bill 238 passed the Assembly by a razor-thin margin: 22 in support, 20 opposed. The bill now advances to the Senate for consideration in the waning days of the legislative session. The bill would massively expand Nevada's film tax credit program to support the build out and operation of a 31-acre film studio currently referred to as the Summerlin Production Studios Project (after the Las Vegas neighborhood where it would be located). Hollywood giants Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery are attached to the project. Howard Hughes Holdings is developing. How transferable tax credits cost the state money: A $50 million example Transferable tax credits sell for less than face value — a discount of about 10% isn't unusual. Let's say the state issues Sony $50 million of tax credits. MGM Resorts International buys them from Sony for $45 million. Then, instead of paying the state $50 million in gaming taxes that it owes, MGM gives the state the tax credits it bought from Sony. MGM gets a $5 million tax break. Sony gets $45 million. And the state, which otherwise would have received $50 million in tax revenue from MGM, gets nothing. — Hugh Jackson Nevada's film tax credit program is currently capped at $10 million per year. AB 238 would raise that cap to $120 million per year, for 15 years, beginning in 2028. The majority of those tax credits, $95 million per year, would be reserved for productions at the Summerlin studio; $25 million per year would be for productions not attached to the studio. Altogether, that's equivalent to $1.8 billion in public subsidies for the television and film industry. If approved by the Senate and signed into law by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, the legislation will be the largest public subsidy approved by the State of Nevada, surpassing the $1.25 billion approved by lawmakers in 2014 for Tesla Motors. Democratic Assemblymembers Sandra Jauregui and Danielle Monroe Moreno, who sponsored the bill, have pushed back on the characterization of their proposal as a public subsidy for massive corporations, instead framing it as an investment in a new industry that will bring thousands of new jobs and new revenue to the state. While tax credits aren't issued to companies until they prove they've met the qualifications for them, the state must treat them as 'negative revenue' when forecasting expected state revenue. That means they do impact the state budgeting process. Opponents have argued that the return on investment is low. An independent analysis commissioned by the Governor's Office of Economic Development, which houses the Nevada Film Office, determined that AB238 would stimulate the state economy but not enough to offset the massive expansion of the film tax credit program. An analysis commissioned by the backers of AB 238 offered a rosier projection, but even that acknowledged that most of the projected economic activity is indirect or induced. An amendment adopted by the Assembly will create a special tax zone around the Summerlin film studio that captures some of the local taxes generated and diverts it to the Clark County School District to fund pre-k programs in East Last Vegas. Additional guardrails were also amended into the bill. Support in the Assembly did not fall across party lines. Among the 27 Democrats in the chamber, 15 voted in support and 12 voted against. Among Republicans, seven supported and eight opposed. The Summerlin studio bill received less support in the Assembly than the bill two years ago that approved $380 million in public assistance for a proposed baseball stadium for the Oakland A's on the Las Vegas Strip. That bill passed the Assembly 25-15. (Two lawmakers were excused from that vote.) The razor-thin film tax credit bill vote was not the only dramatic moment in the Assembly Friday. Earlier in the floor session, Assembly Bill 500 fell short of the required two-thirds approval it needed to pass the chamber. The bill would have allowed for payment banks, a new type of financial institution that focuses solely on payment processing rather than lending. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, who sponsored that bill, believes the bill will create competition in the financial services industry and lower costs for businesses by cutting out financial middlemen. The Assembly vote was 25-17, a simple majority but three short of the two-thirds it needed because it would raise state revenue. Six Democrats and 11 Republicans opposed the bill. Four Republicans and 11 Democrats supported the bill. Immediately after the bill failed, a motion was made to reconsider the vote and move the bill to the chief clerk's desk. Yeager said afterward he wasn't surprised by the outcome, adding that he wasn't sure he had the votes it needed but decided 'to put it out there and see.' He dismissed the notion that some Democrats may have withdrawn support after learning that the Nevada Firearms Coalition PAC was privately urging Republicans to support the bill, something Yeager and others in his caucus apparently did not know until it was reported by The Nevada Independent days earlier. Yeager chalked up the vote to lawmakers being hesitant about complex financial banking legislation. He added that he plans on having 'a few more conversations' about the bill on Saturday to see if another vote is possible. Because of procedural rules, AB500 needs to pass the full Assembly on Saturday in order to have a chance at making it to the governor's desk. The 2025 Legislative Session adjourns Monday.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nevada Legislature passes charter school raises, bill goes to Lombardo's desk
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A key piece of legislation received final approval Thursday night in the Nevada Legislature, putting an end to a fight over education funding. Raises for charter school teachers, a missing component in the education budget, were approved as the Nevada Senate passed Assembly Bill 398 (AB398). Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo had threatened to veto the $12.4 billion education bill because it left out charter school teachers. He called those raises 'non-negotiable.' AB398 allocates nearly $38 million — $19.3 million annually — for the raises. The bill also includes $45 million to fund additional compensation for teachers across the state in 'hard-to-fill' positions, including Title I schools. The bill passed 20-0 in the Senate, a bipartisan display of the Legislature's commitment to treat charter school teachers the same as any other teacher employed by a Nevada school district. Education support professionals (ESPs) are included in the charter school plan. State report shows Nevada charter schools outperform public schools in test scores 'This is a major victory for Governor Lombardo, the legislature, and all Nevadans. For more than three sessions, I have worked on education reform and getting permanent teacher pay raises. I am honored that we got it done with bipartisan support,' Republican Assembly Minority Leader Gregory Hafen said in an emailed statement. Hafen and Democratic Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager sponsored the bill. In an interview this week with 8 News Now, Yeager said there's a reason for keeping charter school raises separate from the overall education funding. 'We segregate it out in a different bill because we want to make sure that that money actually goes to increase compensation both for teachers and education support professionals (ESPs) and it's not just supplanting other money,' Yeager said. 'It allows legislators to stay involved in the process over the next two years to make sure that happens. And then going into the next legislative session, we can decide whether we want to put it in the base budget or not,' he said. Charter schools will be required to provide the State Public Charter School Authority with certain basic information, including the number of teachers and ESPs employed as of October 1, 2024, and October 1, 2025. A plan to provide the salary increases is also required. Money for the raises will be allocated by the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee and distributed through the charter authority. Lawmakers have already dipped into the Education Stabilization Account, known as the rainy day account for schools, to meet spending outlined in the $12.4 billion budget. On May 8, lawmakers approved a $115.7 million withdrawal on top of $126.9 million allocated from the same fund on May 7. In total, lawmakers are drawing that account down by about a quarter-million dollars, leaving it with an estimated reserve of $639.6 million. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
