Latest news with #NevadaCurrent
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
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Once Legislature adjourns, all eyes will be on Lombardo's veto pen
(Photo by Trevor Bexon/Nevada Current) As of late Sunday, 223 bills were listed by the Nevada State Legislature as being in Gov. Joe Lombardo's office, and dozens more are headed his way. So far, the first-term Republican governor has vetoed just one bill and signed 169. For comparison, Lombardo vetoed 75 bills in 2023, setting a single-session veto record. He signed 535 bills. Nevada governors usually have five days, excluding Sundays, to veto a bill after it gets to their desk. Legislative rules extend that timeframe to 10 days in the waning days of the session. That means vetoes could be announced into next week. So what might Lombardo veto this year? Below are the bills the Nevada Current has covered that are now on veto watch. We've organized them by how bipartisan their journey through the Legislature was. That said, Lombardo last session did veto bills that passed unanimously, and he signed bills that the Republican caucuses voted against. Assembly Bill 44 (Attorney General Aaron Ford, D) seeks to crack down on 'knowingly deceptive' price fixing. All Republicans opposed the bill, as did a few Democrats. Assembly Bill 201 (Assemblymember Erica Roth, D) would expand efforts to automatically seal eviction records. Assembly Bill 209 (Assemblymember David Orentlicher, D) would grant sex workers immunity from criminal liability from prostitution-related offenses if they call 911 seeking medical assistance. Assembly Bill 223 (Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D) would give tenants more power to hold landlords accountable for failing to provide livable conditions. Assembly Bill 280 (Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui, D) proposes rent stabilization for seniors. Assembly Bill 283 (Assemblymember Max Carter, D) would restructure the eviction process. Assembly Bill 411 (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. Assembly Bill 441 (Assemblymember Daniele Monroe-Moreno, D) would change how Opportunity Scholarships are administered. Senate Bill 350 (State Sen. James Ohrenschall, D) would extend the time period the state has for carrying out an execution of someone on death row. Assembly Bill 398 (Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D) would provide additional pay for public school district teachers in hard-to-fill positions and establish a fund for broader charter school raises. Yeager amended the charter school provision into the bill after Lombardo threatened to veto the K-12 education budget over the issue. AB 398 passed the Legislature with broad bipartisan support, with only Democratic Assemblymember Natha Anderson opposing. After its final vote, Lombardo signed the K-12 budget bill, a strong sign he will likely sign AB398. Assembly Bill 555 (Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D) would prohibit private insurance companies from charging people more than $35 for a 30-day supply of insulin. The bill received broad bipartisan support, with only Senate Republicans John Ellison and Robin Titus opposing. Assembly Bill 452 would ensure customers receive full refunds with interest for overcharges and extend regulatory timelines for rate case reviews. The bill received bipartisan support, with eight of 15 Assembly Republicans supporting the bill. All eight Senate Republicans voted for the bill after an amendment. Assembly Bill 96 would mandate that cities and counties with populations exceeding 100,000 people include 'heat mitigation' as part of their master plans. The bill passed with some bipartisan support. Three of 23 Republicans supported the bill. Assembly Bill 457 (Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D) originally sought to close a potential loophole that can be used by corporate landlords to avoid paying the state's commerce tax. It has now been amended into a study on the issue. Only one Republican, Assemblymember John Steinbeck, supported the bill. Assembly Bill 217 would prohibit school employees from granting permission to immigration officers to enter a school, or provide student records, including information on a student's family, without a warrant. Six of 23 Republicans joined Democrats in support. Assembly Bill 185 (Assemblymember Natha Anderson, D) would bar most HOAs from prohibiting licensed home-based childcare operations within their communities. Fourteen of 23 Republicans opposed. Senate Bill 69 (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. Seven of 23 Republicans opposed. Assembly Bill 215 (Assemblymember Daniele Monroe-Moreno, D) would prohibit high school teenagers from working between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. before a school day. The bill received broad bipartisan support, with just three Senate Republicans voting against it. Assembly Bill 502 would boost the state's ability to investigate and enforce prevailing wage violations. The bill received broad bipartisan support,with only two Assembly Republicans opposing. 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. The bill passed the Legislature with some bipartisan support. Senate Bill 121 (State Sen. Dina Neal, D) changes what homeowners' associations are allowed to require of new residents. Eight of 23 Republicans supported. Senate Bill 348 (State Sen. Julie Pazina, D) would increase the fee hospitals pay the Nevada State Public Health Lab for a newborn screening panel to expand newborn screenings for rare diseases. Thirteen of 23 Republicans supported. Assembly Bill 241 (Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui, D) would require counties to speed up the process to rezone land currently designated commercial use into residential or mixed use. Three Republicans supported. 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 way for tenants to pay rent without added processing fees. Three Republicans voted for the bill. Assembly Bill 211 (Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D) would allow a third party to take over the property until repairs are made and living conditions improved. The bill passed with broad bipartisan support, with only Republican state Sen. Robin Titus opposing. Senate Bill 88 would discharge medical debt from those incarcerated once they leave prison. The bill received broad bipartisan support. 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. Assembly Bill 321 (Assemblymember Jovan Jackson, D) seeks to establish a pathway for formerly incarcerated people to work as firefighters with the Nevada Division of Forestry. Assembly Bill 104 would establish the Nevada Voluntary Water Rights Retirement Program, which would allow willing landowners to sell their water rights back to the state through the year 2035. Assembly Bill 277 (Assemblymember Rich DeLong, R) would make the Net Proceeds of Minerals Bulletin public again. Assembly Bill 176 (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. Senate Bill 353 (State Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, D) would increase Medicaid reimbursement for mental health providers.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Politicians, scared of truly open primaries, offer ‘limited' alternative for nonpartisan voters
Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (Photo: Richard Bednarski/Nevada Current) A ballot measure to establish an open-primary, ranked-choice voting system in Nevada may have been rejected by voters last November, but its underlying message of voter disenfranchisement clearly struck a chord with Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager. The Assembly's top Democrat, who opposed that ballot measure, said he suspects changes to Nevada's closed primary system are coming whether the political establishment wants it or not: 'The dam is going to break one way or another. The question is: Are we going to be part of the process?' To that end, Yeager is proposing Assembly Bill 597, which would allow nonpartisan voters to participate in either the Republican or Democratic primary. He introduced the bill as an emergency measure on Monday, a week before the end of the session, and presented it to the Senate and Assembly committees on legislative operations and elections during a joint meeting Thursday. Yeager described his bill as a 'pushing back' to Question 3, the election reform proposal approved by voters in 2022 but rejected by voters in 2024. That ballot measure, which needed to pass twice because it proposed amending the state constitution, was heavily funded by out-of-state election reform groups. Those groups viewed Nevada as 'a playground in which they can experiment,' Yeager said. 'We know they will continue to attempt to exploit this issue' of closed primaries 'to fool around with our elections.' AB 597 is 'much simpler' than Question 3. There would still be Republican and Democratic primaries. The only change would be that a registered nonpartisan voter could cast a ballot in one of them. (Question 3 proposed putting all candidates on the primary ballot regardless of political party, with the top five finishers appearing on the general election for voters to rank in order of preference.) Yeager described AB 597 as a common sense solution that addresses the growing number of nonpartisan voters in the state. As of April 2025, 34.9% of registered voters in Nevada are nonpartisan, 29% are Republican and 29% are Democrats, according to the Secretary of State's Office. The remaining 7% of registered voters are members of minor parties like the Independent American or Libertarian parties. That means nonpartisan and third-party voters are the biggest voting bloc in the state. Yet they are unable to participate in the primary elections their tax dollars pay for unless they agree to temporarily affiliate with a major political party. The Nevada State Democratic Party, which opposed Question 3, has not expressed support or opposition for AB 597. But Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat and the state's top election official, spoke in support of the bill. The Nevada State Republican Party is strongly opposed to AB 597, as they were to Question 3. Representatives from the state party and affiliated local party groups argued that allowing nonpartisans to participate in party primaries would dilute party values and invite interference from outsiders. Opponents also argued the bill is unnecessary because nonpartisan voters can already participate in a primary by temporarily registering to a political party. Nevada offers same-day voter registration, which means nonpartisan voters have that option all the way through election day. 'I think that practically that just doesn't happen,' Yeager countered. 'People are not going to change party registration and then change back. They're not partisan for a reason or not affiliated for a reason.' Some election advocates worry nonpartisan voters may similarly be turned off by the process laid out in AB 597. Yeager plans to introduce an amendment to require nonpartisan voters request a political party primary ballot by 'the 7th Monday before the election day.' (In real terms: That would have been April 23 for last year's June 11 primary.) Nonpartisans after that date would have to vote in person. Yeager's proposed amendment would also keep the state-run presidential preference primary closed. Doug Goodman, the founder of Nevadans for Election Reform, has pushed for fully open primaries for more than a decade. He took a neutral position on AB 597, saying the bill is 'far from ideal' and only 'a small start.' The bill doesn't address disenfranchisement of voters registered to minor parties, who still would be unable to participate in a major political party primary without leaving their preferred party. It also doesn't address the issue of voters not being able to cast ballots in the significant number of races decided in competitive primaries where the winner goes on to run unopposed in a general election. That is a particularly common occurrence in districts that lean heavily toward one party. Sondra Cosgrove, another outspoken advocate for election reform in Nevada, took a similar position as Goodman, though she described herself as 'reluctantly in support' of AB 597. 'In America elections belong to the people, not the political parties,' she said in a statement to the Current. 'So, I plan to run a ballot question in 2026 to adopt a fully open primary so that the people of Nevada can discuss how we would like our primary election to be managed. Many political commentators believe major election reform will only come to Nevada through a ballot measure backed by outsiders because the existing political establishment benefits from the current system. The Legislature must adjourn Monday, leaving lawmakers only a few days to pass Yeager's bill. If they do, it could still be vetoed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has already vetoed one election bill this session.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
It's the last week of the legislative session. Here are 4 things to watch.
Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro watches as Governor Gov. Lombardo gave his state of the state address in January. (Photo: Richard Bednarski/Nevada Current) The Nevada State Constitution requires the Legislature pass the K-12 education budget bill before other budget bills. But that doesn't seem to stop lawmakers from bickering about education policy until the very end of each session. This year may prove no exception. Legislators must end the 120-day session — sine die, they call it — on Monday, June 2. In this final week, two major education bills backed by two major political players are still in play. Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, a Democrat from Las Vegas, is pushing Senate Bill 460. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo is pushing Assembly Bill 584. Both bills span more than 100 pages and cover myriad components of the education system, including oversight of school districts, charter schools, and the quasi-voucher program known as Opportunity Scholarships. Both bills have received hearings — in Senate Education and Assembly Ways and Means, respectively — but no action has been taken. That status isn't surprising given the partisanship of education policy. Amendments can almost be assumed. Meanwhile, as of late Tuesday, the status of the state's K-12 education budget was also unknown. Senate Bill 500 was passed by legislators and has been delivered to the governor. Lombardo had previously threatened to veto the bill over concerns about charter school teacher pay. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager's Assembly Bill 398, which attempts to address the concerns that prompted the veto threat, passed the full Assembly nearly unanimously last week. Democrat Natha Anderson cast the sole vote in opposition. One of the two bills proposing a massive expansion of the state's film tax credit program is administratively ready for a vote by the full Assembly, though whether the support is there is still unknown. Democratic Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui's Assembly Bill 238 was advanced out of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee over the weekend. Five of the 14 committee members opposed — Democrats Howard Watts, Natha Anderson and Selena Torres-Fossett, and Republicans Jill Dickman and Gregory Hafen. Several others disclosed that they would be voting to advance the bill but were reserving their right to oppose during the floor vote. Two days after that committee vote, The Nevada Independent reported that a study commissioned by the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development found that neither film tax credit expansion proposal is financially sustainable. AB 238 would provide $1.8 billion in tax breaks to the film industry over 15 years to support the build out and operation of a 31-acre film hub currently referred to as the Summerlin Production Studios Project. Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, and Howard Hughes Holdings are attached to the project. An economic analysis presented by a firm hired by the Sony Studios project developers acknowledged that the direct return on investment per tax credit is low — for every $1 in tax credits the state gives, the state would receive 20 cents in tax revenue. However, their analyses included much rosier projections about the indirect and induced impacts. Indirect financial impact includes things like the drycleaners and caterers used by productions, and induced impact includes things like the assumed household spending based on employee's labor income. Lombardo vetoed a record 75 bills during the 2023 session, including some bills that had received bipartisan support in the Legislature. How this year's session will compare remains to be seen. As of late Tuesday, the legislative website showed the governor as having vetoed only one bill: Assembly Bill 306. The bill would have expanded the number of ballot dropboxes in the state. In his veto message, Lombardo called the bill 'well intentioned' but said it fails 'to guarantee appropriate oversight of the proposed ballot boxes or the ballots cast.' He added that he believes election reforms should be considered 'as part of a larger effort to improve election security, integrity and allow Nevada to declare winners more quickly.' Nearly 200 bills are now listed as in the governor's office awaiting a signature or a veto. The governor has five days to sign or veto a bill, meaning some vetos may happen after the session ends. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager over the weekend introduced Assembly Bill 597, which would allow nonpartisan voters to participate in either a Democratic or a Republican primary without having to register to that political party. To do so, the voter would have to request from their county clerk a mail ballot for one of the major political parties. Or they would have to vote in person. Nevada voters last year rejected a proposal to open the state's closed political primaries and create a ranked choice voting system instead. Question 3 was approved by voters in 2022 but defeated in 2024. It needed to pass on the ballot twice because it involved amending the state constitution. Both major political parties opposed that ballot measure. Several party leaders suggested their problem with that proposal was with the ranked choice component, not the open primary. A third of all registered voters in the state are nonpartisan — if they were a political party they would be the state's largest — and those wanting election reform have long argued those voters are being disenfranchised because they cannot participate in the partisan primaries. Yeager's emergency bill is a big policy discussion to have with only a week left, but the Legislature can move quickly when it wants.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
At Lombardo's request, Hansen ‘reluctantly' blocks bill to rein in runaway corporate home ownership
Democratic state Sen. Dina Neal listens while her Republican colleague Ira Hansen explains he's reluctantly voting against her bill to limit hedge fund ownership of housing at Gov. Joe Lombardo's request. (Legislative stream screengrab) Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo asked the Republican legislative caucus to block a bill that attempts to limit cash-rich corporate investors from purchasing large swaths of housing in Nevada, Republican state Sen. Ira Hansen said on Tuesday. State lawmakers passed several bills on Friday that seek to bolster tenant protections and make changes to the eviction system, many of which were based on similar proposals that were vetoed by Lombardo in 2023. Democratic state Sen. Dina Neal also revived 2023 efforts vetoed by Lombardo to rein in corporate landlords. Senate Bill 391, which failed to pass Tuesday, proposed restricting corporate investors from purchasing more than 100 units per year. Unlike the other housing bills that passed this session, SB 391 needed a two-thirds majority to pass since it imposed fees. A yes vote from Hansen, who had supported the bill, would have given the legislation the 14 to 7 vote needed to meet the two-thirds threshold. Instead, the vote was 13 to 8. 'For the first time this session, I have actually been asked by the executive branch to support a caucus 'no' position, which I have agreed to do,' Hansen said in a floor speech Tuesday, adding he was doing so 'very reluctantly.' In an email to Nevada Current, Lombardo's press secretary Josh Meny said the governor was asked for input on SB 391 and 'voiced technical concerns with the initial draft of the legislation.' The efforts to block legislation is disappointing, especially since Nevada is in the middle of a housing crisis, Neal said. 'Going into today's vote, this bill had bipartisan support because preventing corporations from robbing Nevadans of the American Dream should be a bipartisan issue,' she said in a statement. 'The only reason it didn't pass is because of Gov. Lombardo's intervention. Senate Democrats will continue to fight to enact this bill and protect Nevadans from predatory out-of-state investors.' Hansen voted in support of Neal's 2023 bill. On Tuesday, he reaffirmed he still 'supported the concept' of the bill to do more to crack down on out-of-state investors, adding he was 'a little frustrated' that he had to vote against the legislation. He warned that private investors are buying up the housing in Nevada, adding that 'in Clark County 15% of all the residential housing is owned by hedge funds.' The estimate comes from Lied Center for Real Estate at the University of Nevada Las Vegas that found investors own roughly 15% of homes in the City of Las Vegas. Las Vegas Review Journal has reported that corporate investors purchased 264 homes in a single day for $98 million. Hansen said it creates a system where regular Nevadans are unable to purchase a home when up against out-of-state private equity investors. 'If me or a couple other ordinary people were bidding against Elon Musk, who is going to win that bidding war?' Hansen asked. Hansen said he hoped that 'some of the better elements' of Neal's bill 'could somehow be incorporated in the last waning days of the session.' In response to the state's growing housing shortage, Lombardo has brought forward Assembly Bill 540, which unanimously passed out of the Assembly Ways and Means committee Saturday. AB 540 seeks a $133 million budget request to establish a Nevada Attainable Housing Fund and Council. The legislation originally sought an allocation of $250 million in funding for housing projects. Christine Hess, the chief financial officer of the Nevada Housing Division, said during the bill's hearing in April that $50 million of the funds would be directed toward 'loans and will remain assets of the division's trust so that we can continue to issue the hundreds of millions of bonds annually for home ownership and multi-family rental housing.' The bill also proposed exempting projects from paying prevailing wages to construction workers that state law typically requires of publicly financed projects. In addition to reducing the dollar amount, the legislation removed language around the prevailing wage. 'Any plans to address our state's housing crisis, including the Governor's own housing bill, mean nothing if there are no guarantees or protections that support access or attainment,' said Ben Iness, coalition manager of the Nevada Housing Justice Alliance. 'Until the state of housing is taken seriously, Nevadans will continue to be squeezed and priced out of homes by large corporate interests.' That bulk of bills proposed by Democratic lawmakers that sought broader tenant protections and changes to the eviction process passed their final House in party-line votes on Friday. Those bills are now headed to Lombardo's desk, where similar versions of several of them met their demise two years ago. Assembly Bill 283, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Max Carter, once again, seeks to revise the summary eviction process. Nevada's 'summary' eviction system, which is unique to the state, allows landlords to evict tenants within days unless the tenant files a challenge to the eviction in court. Legal aid and housing groups have warned it has led to lightning quick evictions and worsened the state's housing crisis. State lawmakers initially introduced efforts to change the system in 2021 when they had a Democratic state government trifecta, but the legislation was converted to a study bill. When a reform bill passed in 2023, Lombardo killed it. Democratic Assemblymember Erica Roth of Reno also brought forward Assembly Bill 201 to expand efforts to automatically seal eviction records. Democratic Assemblywoman Venecia Considine also brought back efforts that were killed in 2023 via Assembly Bill 121, which seeks to add transparency to the rental application process. Considine also carried bills to address the state's habitation laws. Assembly Bill 211 allows a third party to take over the property until the repairs are made and living conditions improved. Assembly Bill 223 seeks to remedy the process and give tenants more power to hold landlords accountable for failing to provide livable conditions such as running water, working air conditioning, and a functioning lock on doors and windows. Legislation seeking to cap rent increases for seniors, which was revived by Democratic Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui, also passed out of its final house. Assembly Bill 280 would limit landlords from raising rents more than 5% on tenants 62 years or older or relies on Social Security payments through the end of 2026 and requires landlords to refund application fees if they don't screen a tenant who applied for the unit.
