| Bill Watch Alert Good morning, now that the bills are coming out quickly it would be complicated for us to point out each bill of concern. We will soon be calling for your help and action as these bills are scheduled for hearings and votes. Moving forward, we’d like to start pointing out bills by whom they may affect and share how they may affect you or those you care about. If you would like to view the document of upcoming bills for the week they are still listed and linked below for your convenience. Our focus begins with bills that will affect everyone in Nevada. This week, it is the time and cost of building homes and schools. Ultimately, the following bills will cost every home buyer (and renter) more money, tie up our court systems even more, cause more building issues that slow progress in our communities and make our housing and schools/classroom shortages worse. CONSTRUCTION DEFECT: One of the key area’s addressed by the Republican-led 2015 Legislature was construction defect. Assembly Bill 125 (AB125) was one with critical and necessary common sense changes in the construction industry and helped move Nevada forward. It included some necessary corrections of law that helped us increase the speed in which homes were built, while lowering the cost of new homes during the home shortage when we needed it most. Among other things, it shortened the statute of limitations (time someone can sue a contractor) for construction defect cases and provisions that hold harmless and segment contractors and subcontractors to within their own scope of work. For instance, if the roof of a new home collapses, the homeowner cannot sue the plumbing subcontractor which was the case before these changes in AB125 were made. It also lessened the incentives for attorneys who were chasing construction defect lawsuits, so it stopped a lot of false litigation. This allowed companies to focus on building homes and being as efficient with time and money for home buyers. *In 2018, the result was an estimated $11 billion in total economic output, nearly $4 billion in wages and salaries, and over 75,000 jobs in the industry. Two committee Bill Draft Resolutions, BDR 3-374 from the Senate Judiciary Committee and BDR 841 from the Assembly Judiciary Committee, lurk on the horizon. Should they roll back the provisions of AB125, Nevada, its construction industry, and those seeking affordable housing and a place to live in a timely manner will suffer the ultimate price. PREVAILING WAGE FOR SCHOOL PROJECTS: In the 2019 Legislative Session, Democrats have three bills that address prevailing wages. Assembly Bill 136 (AB136) from Speaker Jason Frierson revises the manner in which prevailing wage is determined and lowers the estimated thresholds at or above which prevailing wage requirements apply to public construction projects. Senate Bill 231 (SB231) from Senator Chris Brooks revises the provision governing the payment of prevailing wages, eliminates certain prohibitions relating to agreements with labor unions concerning contracts with a public body for a public work or with an awardee of grants, tax abatements, tax credits, or tax exemptions from a public body. Finally, Richard “Skip” Daly has introduced Assembly Bill 190 (AB190) which revises the requirements pursuant to which a contractor or subcontractor engaged on a public work may discharge his or her obligation to pay prevailing wages to a worker. It also revises provisions relating to how prevailing wages are determined by the Labor Commission and the duration of such rates on public work and eliminates the exemptions for charter schools from the requirement to pay prevailing wages. Together these three bills will halt any progress that was made with the passage of Assembly Bill 172 (AB172) in 2015 Legislature. This is just another example of the old saying, “Elections have consequences.” In this case, just as with construction defect, the result will be drastically higher costs of construction that will be passed on to the tax payers. Link: Our Bill Watch List for the week of 3/25/2019 Search and track bills important to you This will be our important subject to cover Link to Additional Resource |
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