Nevada lawmakers prepare for another long day
After introducing 270 new bills last week, lawmakers are prepping for at least one more marathon day in Carson City come Monday.
Monday marks the deadline for non-emergency bills to be introduced in the Nevada Legislature, and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro warned her colleagues Friday afternoon to prepare for a long night as they push to introduce everything they can before midnight.
Beyond Monday’s deadline, though, is a hefty week full of bill hearings and discussions, as lawmakers will debate bills that deal with surprise medical billings, new fees for electric vehicle drivers and more.
Here is what’s on tap as lawmakers gear up for one of the meatier portions of the sausage-making process that is the Nevada Legislature:
The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee is slated to hear Senate Bill 290, which would eliminate surprise medical billing, the practice of hospitals and doctors sending patients bills for care received outside their insurance network. The practice has created turmoil nationwide and has affected about 1 in 4 Americans, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
One of the benefits of owning an electric vehicle is no longer having to pay for gasoline — or the gas taxes levied with it. But under Senate Bill 114, which will be heard in the Senate Growth and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday, electric car and plug-in hybrid drivers would have to pony up an additional 10 percent surcharge when paying for juice at a charging station.
The revenue generated by that fee would go into the State Highway Fund, which is used to maintain existing roads and build new ones.
Also on Tuesday, the Assembly Judiciary Committee will hear Assembly Bill 349, which would make it a crime for a police officer to have any sort of sexual contact with a person that the officer has detained or arrested.
On Thursday, lawmakers in the Assembly Judiciary Committee will hear Assembly Bill 267, which would allow people who were wrongfully convicted to seek damages and compensation from the state. And on Friday, that committee will hear Assembly Bill 281, which would prohibit local or state law enforcement agencies from arresting a person purely at the request of federal immigration agents.
Committee schedules are subject to late-breaking changes, and more bill hearings and work sessions are likely to be added as the week goes on. You can view a calendar of upcoming meetings on the Legislature’s website.
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Jessie Bekker contributed to this report.