Legislative Update: Day 45 of 120 day Session
The Nevada Legislature reached a Monday March 18 deadline, when all individual bills are to be introduced. This deadline has been extended. A total of 1251 Bill Draft Requests (BDR’s) have been submitted. Many of those BDR’s are now Bills and moving forward in the system. Except for SB143, the Background check for gun owners, most other bills have not passed both houses and are still in the original house (Senate or Assembly) where they were introduced. Monday, March 25 is a deadline for all bills sponsored by Legislative Committees to be introduced.
Some Very BAD Newly Introduced Bills:
AB281 Makes Nevada a Sanctuary State. This means state and local law enforcement will not cooperate with federal immigration authorities and clearly would make Nevada a Sanctuary State! It prohibits a state or local law enforcement agency, school police unit or campus police department from detaining a person on the basis of a “hold request” from the U.S. Immigration Enforcement and the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security, except where there is an independent finding of probable cause. A “hold request” means a request by a federal immigration authority that a state or local law enforcement agency, school police unit or campus police department maintain custody of a person who is in the custody of that agency beyond the time the person would otherwise be eligible for release, to facilitate the transfer of custody of the person to the federal immigration authority. An “Independent finding of probable cause” means “a warrant which is based upon probable cause which is issued by a federal judge, etc”. A determination which is based upon clear and convincing evidence that authorizes a federal immigration authority to take into custody that person.
AB291 Removes state pre-emption from Firearms which would allow Clark County to reinstitute gun registration. This would allow counties/cities to impose restrictions on ownership, transportation, storage, registration and licensing of firearms. It will allow local governments to impose more restrictions on CCW Concealed Carry Weapon Permits. It prohibits anyone from importing, selling manufacturing, transferring, receiving or possessing any device that is designed, when attached to a semi-automatic, increases the rate of fire (like a bump stock).
AB295 Horrendous Sex Education bill
- Removes from the Counties the authority to determine their own Sex Education Curriculum and thus excludes parents.
- Mandates curriculum be created by the State Council to Establish Academic Standards.
- Mandates curriculum on gender stereotypes.
- Mandates curriculum on Access to Reproductive Health Services including Birth Control and Contraceptives and how and where to obtain them (Planned Parenthood).
- Mandates Curriculum which “promotes inclusion and acceptance of gender identity or expression… sexual orientation”.
- Removes current “Opt In” language where parents must sign to allow child to participate and instead requires parents to “Opt out” “refuse” to allow their child to attend a course or unit of a course for the school year or any school year in which the child is enrolled in the School district.
- Guts the County Advisory Committees making them nearly meaningless because curriculum is mandated by the state and age appropriateness will be mandated by the state. In addition, it mandates two students who vote on the advisory committee. In the past that was an option of the counties.
- Currently only a teacher or school nurse whose qualifications have been approved by the county board of trustees can teach sex ed. This removes that restriction and provides that the Advisory Committee make sure those recommended to teach including a provider of health care or other person who has been approved by the board of trustees. “The board of trustees may approve a person for the purpose of this subsection if it determines that the person has demonstrated competency in the applicable subject and the use of required instructional materials.” This opens the teaching of Sex Education in the Schools to Planned Parenthood and the mining of schools for clients.
AB53 removes from the NRS (Nevada Revised Statutes) all the requirements for drivers’ licenses, drivers’ authorization cards for illegal aliens and ID cards and gives this power to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) to determine what to accept for identification and issuance of the cards. I believe this should be left in State Statute where elected officials have oversight. Still in Asm Committee, no vote yet. Expect it to pass.
AB 95 Limit Domestic Wells:This bill attempts to retroactively take 75% of a domestic well owner’s water allotment which will devastate any chance of a rural lifestyle. Domestic use of water was purposely exempted from Nevada law. This bill gives the State Water Engineer dictatorial control with no due process or protection for Domestic Well Owners. The language in this bill is to confuse legislators to think that domestic wells have a priority date tied to the appropriation date of water rights. This bill is attempting an unconstitutional taking without compensation. Heard in Committee, no vote yet.
AB123 Mandated Vaccine reportingcreates many concerns especially with regards to sharing family information about exemptions from vaccines (which include religious and medical) with multiple state and federal agencies. It sets up a system where government can target families for their beliefs or medical conditions. This imposes additional requirements on religious liberty. It violates privacy. It will cost parents more money to protect their child with annual visits to a physician. FERPA, The Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act make this bill unnecessary. Tremendous work has been going on to amend this bill. Heard no vote.
AB186 National Popular Vote: NPV circumvents the Constitution and the Electoral College creating a “compact” between the states. Unlike the U.S. Constitution which requires three-quarters of the states to amend the Constitution, only states with enough electoral votes to equal 270 are needed for NPV to go into effect which could mean as few as 20 or less. The following States plus the District of Columbia have already signed onto the NPV State Compact. Notice that every one of these states voted for Hillary Clinton in the most recent election. The states are listed with their number of electoral votes: California 55, Connecticut 7, District of Columbia 3, Hawaii 4, Illinois 20, Maryland 10, Massachusetts 11, New Jersey 14, New York 29, Rhode Island 4, Vermont 3, Washington 12, and Colorado 9 (2019 ) equaling 181 electoral votes. This means that according to NPV Compact they are more than 67% of the way to their goal or just 89 electoral votes short from putting the Compact into effect! If only a portion of the additional states not listed above voting for Hillary passed the NPV Compact, it would go into effect. Voted out of Committee.
The National Popular Vote Compact has no minimum percentage for a candidate to be declared the National Popular Vote Winner. What this means is, in a 3 way race a candidate could win with 35% of the popular vote or even less. National Popular Vote sets up a system of betrayal of the Voters. Under NPV if Nevada votes for the Democrat Presidential Candidate but the National Popular Vote winner is determined to be the Republican or the Independent, the Secretary of State in Nevada will be forced to betray the Voters of Nevada by certifying presidential electors for the candidate who did not receive the popular vote in Nevada.
AB226 Prohibits Government from Microchipping: This bill prohibits an officer or employee of this State or any local government or any other person from requiring another person to undergo the implantation of a microchip or other permanent identification marker of any kind or nature. Heard in Committee, no vote yet.
AJR2* Same Sex Marriage: There is no need to change Nevada’s marriage amendment for marriage between a man and a woman, which was passed by 70% of Nevada voters. The U.S. Supreme Court has already rendered it inoperative. However, changing Nevada’s marriage amendment will subject Christians to government sanctioned discrimination and persecution. Although clergy are minimally protected, church volunteers, employees, members and other religious organizations are unprotected. Individuals exercising their deeply held religious beliefs in their businesses will be subjected to religious targeting, discrimination and persecution. This is a Constitutional Amendment which passed in 2017 must pass in 2019 and then go on the ballot. Heard in Committee. Vote will be Thursday March 28, expected to pass.
AJR5 which is an Article V Constitutional Convention to repeal Citizens United promoted by Wolf PAC and funded by George Soros. Last Session all previous Article V’s were unanimously repealed.
SB43 Authorizes automated (cameras) for traffic enforcement. In addition to the fine, it carries an automatic administrative fee of $50 or $100 for those who do not respond to the citation. The ticket is issued to the registered owner of the vehicle. These laws violate privacy and a citizen’s right to face his/her accuser, they are put in place to generate revenue not for safety, the person driving the car may not be the owner of the car, the cameras often do not work and may not be maintained properly, and cameras for red lights often increase rear-end collisions. OPPOSE more Big Brother. Heard in Senate Committee, no vote yet.
SB48 & SB61Increases taxes on diesel fuel in rural counties (all counties except Clark and Washoe). In 2016 All the Rural Counties Voted overwhelmingly in opposition to raising the diesel taxes. OPPOSE more taxes and more money for government. SB48 heard in Committee, no vote. SB61 no hearing.
SB94 Funding for Planned Parenthood. In 2017 the Account for Family Planning was established in the General Fund to award grants of taxpayer dollars to local governments and “non-profit” organizations (chiefly Planned Parenthood) which provides contraceptives and contraceptive services. The largest “non-profit” is Planned Parenthood whose lobbyists provided the main testimony in 2017 and in 2019. Planned Parenthood in Las Vegas offers Abortion referrals, Chemical Abortions (RU-486) and In-Clinic Abortions.. The appropriation of $6 million (reduced in the amendment from $12 million) represents a 6 fold increase of taxpayers’ dollars from the $1 million in 2017. Why are taxpayers forced to pay for contraceptives subsidizing people’s sex lives? Why are taxpayers forced to subsidize the largest abortion purveyor in the nation…Planned Parenthood? Heard in Committee, no vote yet.
SB123 Same Day Voter Registration and Voting on Election Day. This bill allows people to register to vote on Election Day, for all elections including Primaries. To register to vote they must appear at one or more sites designated by the county or city clerk to register to vote, complete an application to register to vote and provide proof of identity and residence. The voter may vote only at the polling place where he registered to vote. There was exceptional testimony by the County Clerks, Registrars of Voters and Secretary of State’s office explaining why it is impossible to verify people who register to vote on Election Day. This is because counties upload their newly registered voters each day to the Secretary of State’s office which checks them against DMV, Social Security and other records to verify them. Heard in committee, no vote.
SB165 Assisted Suicide. In California and Oregon this has lead to Insurance Companies refusing life saving treatment and instead encouraging the “cheaper” treatment of assisted suicide. Expect a vote Wed. March 20.
SB204 forces Private and Religious Schools to adopt Suicide Education accommodating the LGTBQ agenda. This bill violates religious liberty. It was gratifying to see 36 people testify against the bill, most of them from Las Vegas who were Latinos from a private religious school. Heard in Committee, no vote.
SB179 Remove significant portions of informed consent law on Abortion. This bill was amended by the Sponsor Senator Yvanna Cancella to remove the most egregious portions. (This was a miraculous victory in and of itself!) What the bill now does is significantly weaken informed consent removing the requirement that the physician explain the physical and emotional implications of having an abortion. In addition, it removes the requirement that her informed consent be given “freely without coercion.” From Nevada Right to Life: “The best estimates indicate that somewhere between 30 to over 60 percent of women seeking abortions in the United States do so under pressure Nevada Right to Life believes that due to the number of coerced abortions, this provision needs to be retained and upgraded to strengthen provisions to detect coercion to protect women from further victimization. This bill removes any responsibility for the abortionist to make sure there is no coercion. This should not be considered an undue burden to the clinic, but a public responsibility. Abortion clinics should not be accessories to her victimization.” Heard in Committee.
SJR5 Annual Sessions of the Legislature: Currently the Nevada Constitution provides that the Legislature meets for 120 consecutive days in every odd numbered year. This Constitutional Amendment would have the Legislature meet every year and extend the days to more than 206 days over 2 years. In addition they could agree to a “recess” which would allow the Legislature the luxury of meeting all year at intervals. We need less government not more. Many of the problems of the Legislature could be solved by limiting the number of bills that can be considered. Right now we are at 1251. This would make it much harder for citizen Legislators to serve and costs lots more money. Hearing postponed.