2019 Nevada Legislative Session
Update #20
Carson City, Nevada
June 4, 2019
Today is the 1st day
AFTER the 120-day session.
Sine Die occurred at midnight. It's over and here is an overview of the results:
ASSEMBLY BILLS
Assembly Bill (SB) 102. This bill sought an
enhanced criminal penalty for those who harm or kill the spouse or a child of a peace officer, firefighter or EMT due to their relationship to the peace officer, firefighter or EMT.
SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR.
Assembly Bill (AB) 143. This was our bill to
place
DPS Capitol Police
where they belong as DPS-II officers for purposes of compensation and benefits. Ways and Means Chairwoman Maggie Carlton has a long history of only wanting to give raises to everyone, not just a select few, or to no one at all. In other words, she would rather the entire village starve, rather than give some food to small groups who need it the most !!
Due to Assemblywoman Carlton's control over Ways and Means and her command over who gets any wage increases, she essentially
KILLED THE BILL
by not allowing a hearing before her committee.
Assembly Bill (AB) 183
. This bill requires
prisons, jails and detention facilities to be under the control of the state or local government
and not by private entities.
SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR.
A
ssembly Bill (AB) 260. Current law requires
confidentiality among peer support counselors and their public safety personnel.
This bill removes the authorization of a court to issue an order or subpoena requiring the disclosure of confident.
SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR.
Assembly Bill (AB) 291
. This bill is sponsored by Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui and originally sought to prohibit devices attached to
semiautomatic firearms
(generally, bump stocks) that approximate the rate of fire of a machine gun, and it originally sought to repeal state preemption of the authority over counties, cities and towns regarding firearms purchases, possession, transfers, registration, etc. (in other words, counties, cities and towns would have the authority over these issues and could regulate as they see fit). The bill underwent extensive amendments to
remove full state preemption but replaced it with what is known as a
"red flag" law
-- the ability of law enforcement or a family member to seek an
ex parte
Court order that removes weapons from a person's possession or prohibits them from acquiring weapons upon a showing that they are a danger to themselves or others. It also added a provision that makes it a criminal offense to store weapons in a way that allows a child to access them.
SENT TO THE GOVERNOR FOR
SIGNING.
Assembly Bill (AB) 382
. This bill, proposed by a group known as the Nevada Highway Patrol Association, would require an even-numbered year
compensation survey for all DPS officers and dispatchers only
.
THE BILL DIED WITHOUT A HEARING.
Assembly Bill (AB) 397. This bill au
thorizes the Nevada Equal Rights Commission to present an accusation of unlawful employment discrimination against a district, county, township or municipal officer (including
elected officials
) to the grand jury of a county if the discriminatory practice is severe and pervasive such that
removal from office
is
appropriate.
SENT TO THE GOVERNOR FOR SIGNING
.
Assembly Bill (AB) 443. This bill is proposed by the Assembly Committee on Taxation and sought to remove the expiration date (aka "sunset clause") that was placed on the "More Cops" law enacted in 2005. It was set to expire on October 1, 2025. The sales and use tax money that is devoted to More Cops is vital to the continued police operations in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and Mesquite. Allowing it to expire would have negative effects on those operations. This bill removes that deadline and allows the tax contributions of the More Cops funds to continue past the expiration date.
WAITING TO BE SENT TO THE GOVERNOR FOR SIGNING.
Assembly Bill (AB) 492. This bill expands compensation for
post traumatic stress disorders suffered by first responders, including dispatchers, crime scene investigators and coroners, and expands upon the types of stressful events that can be compensable in workers compensation claims.
SENT TO THE GOVERNOR FOR SIGNING
.
SENATE BILLS
Senate Bill (SB) 111
. This bill revises the percentage of the employer's budgeted
ending fund balance.
SENT TO THE GOVERNOR FOR SIGNING
Senate Bill (SB) 135
. This is the bill to provide
collective bargaining to all state employees
. The Governor finally weighed in with his own changes to the bill and it was moved through the process.
WAITING TO BE SENT TO THE GOVERNOR FOR SIGNING.
Senate Bill (SB) 153. This is our bill to fully
repeal SB 241 from the 2015 legislative session
and thus return important union benefits like
evergreen clauses and union leave.
SENT TO THE GOVERNOR FOR SIGNING.
Senate Bill (SB) 158. This is our bill to
amend the definition of "supervisory employee" by excluding firefighters and certain peace officers under a paramilitary employment structure.
SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR.
Senate Bill (SB) 182
. This bill sought to require
Tribal police officers
to be certified equivalent to POST Category I officers before they can exercise the powers of a police officer. The bill requires that the authority of a Tribal officer is limited within the boundaries of the Indian property unless a law enforcement agency and the Indian tribe execute an Interlocal agreement with the County Sheriff to allow the Tribal officer to perform duties outside of the Tribal property.
SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR.
Senate Bill (SB) 215. Under existing law,
cancer which results in temporary disability, permanent disability or death is an occupational disease and compensable as such
if the cancer develops or manifests itself out of the course of employment of a person who for 5 years or more has been employed as a full-time firefighter or has been acting as a volunteer firefighter, and during the course of the employment was exposed to a known carcinogen that is reasonably associated with the disabling cancer. This bill provides that such disabling cancer is an occupational disease and conclusively compensable as such if the cancer develops or manifests itself out of and in the course of employment of a person who for 2 years or more, has been employed as a
police officer, arson investigator or full-time firefighter.
This bill also eliminates the list of substances which are deemed to be known carcinogens, among other things. We support this bill, although in order to save the bill from escalating fiscal notes, we agreed to remove police officers from the coverage. Law enforcement is already covered under NRS 617 statutes.
WAITING TO BE SENT TO THE GOVERNOR FOR SIGNING
.
Senate Bill (SB) 242. This bill
amends NRS 289 (Peace Officers Bill of Rights) to strengthen officer rights.
SENT TO
THE GOVERNOR FOR SIGNING.
Senate Bill (SB) 272.
This was another bill proposed by a group known as the Nevada Highway Patrol Association. The bill was assigned to the Senate Government Affairs Committee. This bill originally
attempted to have the state pay 100% of the PERS contributions of all DPS officers (no one else). The total fiscal notes on that original bill exceeded $240 million (including PERS and DPS), dooming it from the start (not to mention it would have been contrary to Nevada District Court and 9th Circuit caselaw). The bill was amended to seek a simple pay raise for DPS officers and dispatchers in the amount of
50% of the total PERS contribution
.
The bill never received a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee and THE BILL DIED.
Senate Bill (SB) 322. This was our bill to obtain an
across the board 10%
pay increase for all state law enforcement
rank and file and first line supervisors; 5% for all higher ranks; and a 5% differential between first line supervisors and the topped out officers whom they supervise.
The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.
The bill was presented before the Senate Finance Committee on May 22, 2019. We needed the Finance Committee to give us a "work session" so the Committee could pass the bill, amend the bill or deny the bill.
The Finance Committee Chairwoman, Senator Joyce Woodhouse, refused to give it a work session and THE BILL DIED.
If you have any questions or wish to reach me directly at any time, contact me on my cell phone at (702) 595-0683 or through my e-mail at rpmccann@hotmail.com.
As always, be safe.
Rick McCann
NAPSO Executive Director
Nevada Law Enforcement Coalition