Capitol Report

By Jason Lesher

3/19/2025

The 83^rd Session of the Nevada Legislature is in full swing and 1162 Bill Draft Requests have beensubmitted. This past Monday, March 17, was the last day for lawmaker bills to be introduced this session. Committee bills have until March 24. A total of 870 pieces of legislation have made it intothe queue thus far. Alongside our partners in the Public Safety Alliance of Nevada (PSAN), we havebeen busy meeting with lawmakers individually, attending hearings and work groups, and inﬂuencing legislation that aﬀects our members.

As a reminder, this report primarily contains bills that are considered important in regard to law enforcement labor, such as employment law, PERS beneﬁts, worker’s compensation, NRS 289, andchanges that would aﬀect the safety or well-being of oﬃcers. Other bills are included as items ofinterest, but this is not an exhaustive list of bills that pertain to peace oﬃcers. In particular, we donot consistently track changes to bills on crime and punishment. The WCSO and other departmentsmaintain their own lobbyists at the session to introduce and inﬂuence such legislation, however we do support or oppose such bills when appropriate.

PERS Increase:

One of our priorities thus far has been to try to address the elephant in the room, a.k.a. the looming PERS increase. The hit coming this July has a price tag of almost $1 Billion the next ﬁscalyear for employees and local and state governments. After the increase was made public, a few ofus from PSAN attended the Interim Retirement Beneﬁts Committee (IRBC) hearing in Las VegasDecember 9 and spoke with several lawmakers individually. On February 10, a Joint Committee consisting of Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means convened, and lawmakers spoke tothe rise in PERS contribution rates. There was discussion of “easing the burden”, and a work groupwas initiated with Senator Nguyen on Thursday afternoons. I have been appointed to attend saidmeeting on behalf of PSAN. It has been a bit disheartening, as the group consists ofrepresentatives from most large public sector employee groups and the consensus has been, “We’ve got to follow the actuaries”, and, “We don’t want to mess with the beneﬁt.”

It should be noted that the legislature sets the funding mechanism of PERS and PERS is obligatedto follow the policies put into place. However, PERS makes determinations as to the informationgiven to create the actuarial valuations, and this is where many of our concerns lie. We have beenworking behind the scenes and Senator Nguyen asked us to submit speciﬁc questions to be addressed by PERS, which will be presented through the Legislative Counsel Bureau(LCB). I am not hopeful anything will be done to reduce the planned increase in July, but would liketo see an audit or study of PERS conducted after the session as a reasonable course of action. I will have more on this topic in the weeks to come.

Priority Bills:

A.B. 93 Revises provisions relating to public employees. Support.

Adds school police oﬃcer, juvenile probation oﬃcer, marshal of a city or town, and any category I peace oﬃcer to the deﬁnition of “police oﬃcer” for the purpose of eligibility for heart and lung claims under worker’s compensation.

Hearing 2/28 was mostly positive. Work session set for 3/19.

A.B. 174 Revises provisions relating to telecommunication providers. Support.

Allows wireless providers to use satellite technology for voice services. Currently satellite technology is prohibited for “alternative voice services”. May allow for enhanced radio service,especially in rural areas.

Hearing 2/21 was positive. Set for work session 3/17.

A.B. 217 Revises provisions relating to law enforcement on school property. Oppose.

Prohibits school districts and employees from providing access to or cooperating with immigrationoﬃcials; prohibits school police oﬃcers and employees from using chemical agents or electronicstun devices against pupils or minors; requires reporting, investigation, and penalties if such prohibited instruments are used.

Was to be amended after hearing 2/25 to remove less-lethal weapon language. No action since.We have been pushing to kill the bill.

S.B. 2 Revises provisions relating to collective bargaining. Oppose.

This is a “sunshine bargaining” bill, requiring collective bargaining meetings between public employers and public employees to be subject to the open meeting law.

No hearing as of this writing. We have been actively working against this bill and are hopeful it willnot get a hearing.

S.B. 155 Revises provisions governing peace oﬃcers. Oppose.

Existing law requires peace oﬃcers to be citizens of the United States. This bill would authorize theemployment of peace oﬃcers of persons are legally authorized to work in the United States.

No hearing as of this writing. We have been actively opposing this bill in our discussions.

S.B. 170 Revises provisions relating to industrial insurance. Support.

Revises provisions governing physical examinations required for ﬁreﬁghters, arson investigators,and police oﬃcers for industrial insurance coverage (worker’s compensation) for heart and lung disease. Adds cancer screenings for ﬁreﬁghters. Sets requirements for administering heart/lung exams for police and ﬁre.

Hearing 3/10 was positive.

S.B. 197 Revises provisions relating to criminal procedure. Oppose.

Requires notiﬁcation, input, and the right to request reconsideration before a law enforcement oﬃcer or employee of a law enforcement agency is placed on a Brady-Giglio list.

This bill was introduced on behalf of WCEA. It would add language to NRS in regard to Brady- Giglio,which is likely not enforceable as it is federal case law. Concerns and alternative language were provided to Senator Daly and were not considered. We have been working to kill the bill and we arehopeful it will not get a hearing.

Update 3/18: WCEA is going to request bill be withdrawn since no LE labor groups are going to support it. Advised that we should work together on a bill for next session.

S.B. 237 Revises provisions relating to education. Support.

Prohibits the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada from assessing tuition charges to studentswho are a surviving spouse or child of a ﬁrst responder killed in the line of duty.

Hearing 3/10 was positive.

S.B. 258 Revises provisions relating to industrial insurance. Support.

Revises provisions governing certain civil actions involving injured employees. Grants greater protections for injured workers when a third party is at fault for a workplace injury.

S.B. 279 Revises provisions relating to law enforcement. Support.

Requires written notice under NRS 289 set forth with speciﬁcity all the alleged facts to be addressed during an interrogation, along with speciﬁc rule, regulation, policy, or procedure that isalleged to have been violated. Adds 48-hour notice to witness interviews. Provides that chosenrepresentatives are not required to be in the same bargaining unit as the peace oﬃcer.

S.B. 298 Revises provisions relating to public employment. Support.

Amended. Prohibits an arbitrator from drawing an inference in favor or against a party bases solelyon the fact that a collective bargaining agreement does not expressly address the speciﬁc act oromission that is the subject of the complaint. Revises the deﬁnition of “punitive action” in NRS 289 to include a denial of an increase, either in seniority or compensation.

Hearing set for 3/19.

S.B. 317 Revises provisions relating to industrial insurance. Support.

Increases beneﬁt penalties on insurers in certain situations and extends the circumstances in which such penalties may be imposed. Enhances the list of medical providers and their addition/removalfrom the list. Removes clear and convincing standard of proof for injuries and instead requires proof by medical, psychological, or psychiatric evidence. Enhances other elements of NRS 616A – 617for injured workers.

Other Bills:

A.B. 81 Exempts the State of Nevada from provisions of federal law relating to daylight savingstime. Neutral.

Would exempt Nevada from daylight savings time. Thought it was interesting. Hearing2/24.

A.B. 105 Revises provisions governing ﬁrearms. Oppose.

Prohibits a person from possessing a ﬁrearm within 100 feet of an election site. There are exceptions for law enforcement oﬃcers carrying out oﬃcial duties and for ﬁrearms in vehicles within 100 feet of an election site.

*There is no exception for oﬀ-duty oﬃcers carrying concealed or for retired oﬃcers under LEOSA. A violation is a gross misdemeanor.

Have been working in opposition. No hearing scheduled at this time.

A.B. 122 Makes various changes relating to the conﬁdentiality of certain information. Awaiting position.

Adds to the list of persons who may request that personal information be kept conﬁdential at county assessor and recorder oﬃces. Adds any person employed by a law enforcement agency and certain persons at the oﬃce of a prosecutor.

A.B. 142 Revises provisions relating to industrial insurance. Awaiting position.

Existing law provides ﬁrst responders who suﬀer from a mental injury arising from extreme stressdue to witnessing an event, or series of events (series of events added to the statute in 2023), iscompensable under worker’s compensation. This bill adds civilian support personnel of a lawenforcement agency to the list of ﬁrst responders for the purposes of industrial insurance.

A.B. 147 Requires proof of identity to vote.

No explanation needed. Thought it was interesting.

A.B. 179 Revises provisions relating to employment. Support.

Adds employees subject to a collective bargaining agreement to provisions which require a policyfor paid time oﬀ; prohibits employer from retaliating against an employee for using paid leave available, including in the form of listed punitive actions.

Hearing 2/21. Likely won’t get another.

A.B. 199 Revises provisions relating to ﬁrearms. Support.

Existing law provides that a person who maliciously, wantonly, or negligently discharges a ﬁrearmunder certain circumstances is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill leaves a negligent discharge as amisdemeanor. A person who willfully discharges a ﬁrearm in a public place within a populated areaor where a person might be endangered, although an injury does not result, is guilty of a category Cfelony for a ﬁrst oﬀense and a category B felony for a second or subsequent oﬀense.

S.B. 85 Revises provisions relating to public safety. Oppose.

Existing law, entered January 1, 2022, requires law enforcement oﬃcers to record information ontraﬃc stops, including date, time, location, race, age sex, and other information. This requirement was set to sunset December 31, 2025. This bill eliminates the sunset provision and requires this information continue to be collected and reported.

S.B. 116 Revises provisions relating to the compensation of elected county oﬃcers. Awaiting position.

Existing law sets forth the annual compensation to be paid to county oﬃcials. This bill sets new base amount of compensation for county oﬃcials, including sheriﬀs.

S.B. 126 Revises provisions relating to domestic relations. Support.

Revises the disposition of PERS beneﬁts upon the dissolution of marriage. Replaces the “time rule” with the “frozen beneﬁt rule”, whereby the community interest in such retirement beneﬁts is “frozen” at the salary base and years of service on the date the decree of separation or divorce is entered.

S.B. 127 Revises provisions relating to certain training for ﬁrst responders. Neutral.

Adds training on human traﬃcking to the required annual training. Wecurrently have this training as required.

S.B. 156 Revises provisions relating to the prevention of gun violence. Awaiting position.

Creates the Oﬃce for the Prevention of Gun Violence in the Oﬃce of the Attorney General.

S.B. 273 Revises provisions governing the conﬁdentiality of personal information of certaincivilian employees of law enforcement agencies. Awaiting position.

Adds civilian employees who provide support services to a law enforcement agency to the list of employees who may request conﬁdentiality under NRS 247.540 and 250.140.

S.B. 302 Revises provisions relating to law enforcement. Awaiting position.

Authorizes a sheriﬀ to enter into an agreement with certain federal agencies to enforce state or locallaws.

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