Category Archives: New Nevada Laws

New Laws Nevada 2021 prisons, inmates, local government

In continuation of our series regarding new laws passed by our 2021 legislature, this blog concerns new laws that our legislature enacted that affect our prisons and inmates and well as local government  here in Nevada. Our legislature was very aware of the challenges facing our prison system.

Our lawmakers in Carson City passed several bills in 2021 session to help our inmates , even during the pandemic they were hard at work. Many of these laws focused on creating changes that will help inmates re-enter society by requiring prisons to provide services for exiting inmates. 

Our legislature created an entire new act in Assembly Bill 88  that requires the board of trustees of the school district and the governing body of each charter school and university to adopt a policy that prohibits the use of a  name , logo, mascot or song or any other identifier that is “racially discriminatory or contains discriminatory language or imagery“. Our lawmakers are determined to remove discriminatory laws from our books and prevent offensive imaging from representing our public institutions. These laws are indicative of the progressive and democratic nature of our state. The following is  a summary of the new laws enacted regarding the Department of Corrections and impacting Local Government that were passed by our Nevada legislature during the 2021 session.

Inmates and corrections

Assembly Bill 358: Changes Medicaid eligibility for inmates, suspending rather than terminating eligibility and reinstating it as soon as possible after release. This bill changes eligibility for inmates in Nevada prisons. The previous law terminated their eligibility for Medicaid and allowed inmates to be reinstated when they were released. This bill suspends their Medicaid eligibility until they are released thereby forgoing the requirement to reinstate eligibility. It is basically and attempt to streamline paperwork and get benefits to people as soon as they are released from prison instead of waiting for a whole new process to begin and be concluded. This bill will help our inmates re-enter society and maintain their health by allowing them to be eligible for medical care  immediately after they have served their time. This bill directs the Director of the Department of Corrections to complete the paperwork to enroll each inmate in Medicaid prior to their release. 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8016/Text 

Effective January 1, 2022.

Senate Bill 387: Requires the Public Utilities Commission to set rules, including rate caps, for inmate calling services. This Bill requires the Public Utilities Commission to set rules for rate-caps regarding costs for inmate calling services. These costs are generally born by the state. This bill requires the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUNC) to adopt regulations that govern the provisions of many calling services to include a procedure to establish recaps and limitations on ancillary service charges and certain other taxes.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8081/Overview

Effective October 1, 2021.

Local government

Assembly Bill 63: Authorizes local governments to use local natural disaster recovery funds to mitigate the effects of a declared emergency. This bill  is related to the financial administration of the use of government emergency funds. This bill relates to local financial administration and authorizes local government to use money from specific funds to assist with the adverse effects of certain emergencies. Under the existing law, the governing body of a local government can establish a fund to stabilize the operation of local government in the event of a natural disaster. This bill expands the use of the funds to include situations which are declared a state of emergency by the government. Clearly this bill is direct product of the pandemic. This bill basically adds the phrase “emergency situation“ to all of the situations which were previously reserved for “natural disasters“ in the utilization of government funds.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7316/Text

Effective October 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 88: Bans use of racially discriminatory mascots or place names and so-called “sun-downer sirens.”  So yes, I had to google that term as I have never in my life heard the term “sun-downer sirens”   before. This is what I found  “The towns of Minden, Nevada, and Gardnerville, Nevada, had an ordinance from 1917 to 1974 that required Native Americans to leave the towns by 6:30 p.m. each day. A whistle, later a siren, was sounded at 6 p.m. daily alerting Native Americans to leave by sundown.”  It absolutely shocked my conscious that such laws were on the books at all much less as late as 1974 in Nevada. Assembly bill 88 bans the use of racially discriminatory logos and mascots or names and also banned the use of the old process of “sundowner sirens“. This Bill is actually an entire new act that also requires the board of trustees of the school district and the governing body of each charter school and university to adopt a policy that prohibits the use of a  name , logo, mascot or song or any other identifier that is “racially discriminatory or contains discriminatory language or imagery“. This may impact some of the older schools in the valley that have had mascots and names for over 50 years that someone may find offensive. I was surprised as well when the Cleveland Indians, my favorite baseball team by family heritage, had to change their name from the Indians to the Guardians. I think it will take us fans a long time to get used to the name the Guardians. However, I never found the name Indians to be offensive but apparently it is to a group of people. This new statute in our state prohibits the use of any type of names that could be offensive to any group of people. In addition, section 2.3 of this bill prohibits a county in the state from “sounding a siren, bell or alarm anytime during which the siren, bell or alarm was previously sounded on specific days or times in association with an ordinance enacted by the county which required persons of a particular race, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin or color to leave the county or city, town or township within the county by a certain time.“  This bill is sweeping legislation which impacts all aspects of naming public entities or public places in our state.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundown_town 

.https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7369/Text

Effective July 1, 2022.

Assembly Bill 139: Allows local governments to use normally restricted excess enterprise funds to build fire stations. Assembly bill 139 allows governments to use normally restricted access enterprise funds to build additional fire stations. Existing law allows governments to create a “enterprise fund“ exclusively for building permit fees. Under existing law, money that is in the enterprise fund must not be used for any other purpose than the actual direct and indirect cost of building permits. This bill caps local building government enterprise funds and allows the balance of unreserved working capital does that that does not exceed 50% of the annual operating cost to be used to construct fire stations in  cases that the needs assessment has demonstrated a need for additional fire stations exists.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7515/Text

Effective immediately.

At TheOneLawyer.com, we are here to serve our community and provide legal services in the Henderson and Las Vegas area. We are a boutique law firm providing experienced and personal representation to injured clients. At the Law Offices of Laura Payne, Esq. TheOneLawyer.com we provide professional and personal service to each and every one of our clients on various legal matters and have over 15 years of experience in reviewing insurance policies and in Nevada insurance law. If you have a question regarding any type of personal injury or paying your medical bills from an accident, please do not hesitate to call the offices of TheOneLawyer.com and speak directly to attorney Laura Marie Payne,  Esq. a Henderson Injury Attorney for over 15 years. Laura is recognized as one of Nevada’s Top 100 Lawyers. She has the experience and knowledge to obtain the maximum settlement you deserve. Please call our office if you or a loved one is injured. We can make sure that you receive the care you need and deserve and advise on how to preserve evidence. 

At our office, we are experienced in helping injured victims get the compensation to which they are entitled. Insurance companies never have the best interest of the injured person at the top of their priorities. They want to pay as little on every claim as possible. Having worked for an insurance company as an attorney for 9 years before opening my boutique law firm specializing in helping injured people, I have reviewed thousands of auto accident claims and policy provisions. 

At the Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury law offices of TheOneLawyer.com, Laura Payne, Esq. and her staff are here to help you and your family in the event that accidents and tragedies occur. For any of your legal needs, do not hesitate to contact our Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury offices. TheOneLawyer.com is a boutique, family-owned law firm that specializes in helping injured people and the community of Las Vegas and Henderson Nevada with legal issues involving auto accidents, wrongful deaths, slip and falls, truck accidents, injuries to children, bicycle accidents, dog bites, product liability claims, and all types of injury claims. Please do not hesitate to call us anytime you have a legal question or you or a loved one has sustained an injury at 702-450-4868 and text 24/7 at 702-600-0032. 

Nevada Workplace Safety and Wage Inequities

Our lawmakers in Carson City passed bills governing all areas of the law in their 2021 session, even during the pandemic they were hard at work. Many of these laws focused on workplace safety and wage inequities. Our legislature was busy addressing unfair employment practices and workplace safety issues. based upon race, immigration status and socio-economic position.

They passed  laws to expand employee rights to brings claims against their employers to adding protections for cannabis industry workers. Our legislature stands on the forefront of protecting our employees and their  civil rights in the state of Nevada. Our legislature was brave enough to step up and address the issues head on and protect and preserve employee rights in Nevada. Although we are an at will employment state, the legislature added protection for Nevada employees. also addressed pandemic issues to allow our state administrators greater freedom in accessing medical supplies. The following is a summary of the workplace bills that were passed by our Nevada legislature during the 2021 session.

Workplaces

Assembly Bill 222: Expands whistleblower protections to cover employees who report workplace problems internally. This bill protects employees who report issues in their workplace to the  United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Under the existing law, when an employee files a complaint alleging unfair employment practices with the equal rights commission and  commission in turn concludes that unfair employment practice have taken place, The person alleging the unfair practice is authorized to bring civil action in the District Court. Existing law prohibits the person from bringing the civil action more than 180 days after the act constituting the unfair employment practice occurred or more than 90 days after the right to sue letter was issued by the commission, whichever is later. The existing law also provides that the 90 day and 180-day periods of limitation are tolled during the pendency of the complaint provisions. This new bill extends the coverage of those provisions to actions in the District Court for occurrence of unlawful employment practices under title VII and issuance of the right to sue letter by the equal employment opportunity commission. This bill further tolls the 90- and 180-day statute of limitations periods during the pendency of the complaint before the federal equal opportunity employment commission.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7699/Text 

Effective immediately.

Assembly Bill 227: Seeks to ensure that construction industry workers are paid wages in line with their skills and prevents “off the books” work. This bill  is an attempt to protect construction workers and prevent the widespread practice of having workers “work off the books“. The bill is an attempt to ensure that construction industry workers are paid wages in line with their skills. Under existing law, a person licensed to be a contractor and engage in the business of constructing, altering, or repairing structures must follow certain employment practices. This bill differentiates and defines the types of work performed that requires a contractor’s license as well as persons who may perform work for a contractor that do not require a contractor’s license. This bill sets forth additional acts which will constitute cause for disciplinary action against a contractor by the state contractors board to include retaining sub-contractors to perform work were a license is necessary who are not licensed contractors.

In reading this bill, is its entirety I find it almost unintelligible and poorly worded. However, In researching the history of this bill, this bill was lobbied for by the Nevada construction workers union who called for a crackdown on what they called “tax and wage fraud.“ The unions that represented carpenters were calling on law makers to pass a bill to fight what they called “fraud and wage theft” in the construction industry. This bill is supposed to require everyone working on a construction project that requires a general contractor to be employees of the company or contracted  licensed subcontractors. The union believes this bill will discourage the practice of hiring workers “under the table“ and paying them cash. The carpenters  union argued that unscrupulous companies use this method to get out of paying for general liability insurance, Worker’s Comp, Social Security and unemployment taxes. They asked the legislature to crack down on these employers that do not play by the rules. The union saw this as a growing problem in the industry. After their diligent lobbying efforts, assembly bill 227 passed and is an attempt to curb this practice. However, I do not believe the wording of the bill will necessarily accomplish its goal. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7666/Text 

https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2021-04-15/livable-wages-working-families/nv-construction-workers-unions-call-for-crackdown-on-tax-wage-fraud/a73930-1

 Various effective dates through Oct 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 122This bill requires specific cannabis establishment employees to undergo safety and prevention training. This bill requires that no later than one year after cannabis employee is hired,  that the employee must obtain a completion card of the OSHA 10 (Occupational Safety and Health Administration — a Government agency) course. Supervisory employees must complete the OSHA 30 course. The bill provides for fines for employers for failing to comply with this training requirement for their employees. Current law already requires that employees on construction sites complete these courses. This bill incorporates employees of cannabis establishments who are now  required to complete these courses. 

In a letter to the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee dated March 3, 2021, the Nevada Dispensary Association opposed this bill. They believed that the mandate was overreaching and applied harsh penalties that were inequitable as compared to other industries. They argued that employees that only work at the dispensaries should be exempt from this requirement because those employees were not in a setting where they are at elevated risk for accidents, and they do not operate dangerous equipment or heavy machinery. They argued there was no equivalent safety requirement for employees working in air-conditioned space such as retail having to go through this training. I do find it unusual that employees that work at a counter at a dispensary are required to undergo the same training as those working with heavy machinery on construction sites when people working at the counter at retail department stores are not required to undergo these same training courses. 

The Nevada Dispensary Association further argued that the mandatory penalties imposed on the cannabis industry were far out of line with the standard practices of penalties for any other industry. In addition, they argued that cannabis establishments are inspected and have access to best practice resources like Nevada OSHA safety consultant and training section to prevent workplace injuries. The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board believed that the Nevada cannabis compliance regulations already provide substantial and specific training requirements for employees of the cannabis industry. They believed these additional training requirements were unnecessary for most dispensary employees.

However, the bill was supported by UFCW local 711 on behalf of cannabis workers. The union represented 6800 members of the united food and commercial workers local union 711 and they submitted a letter to support the bill. The union pointed out that members in Nevada work in grocery stores, retail establishments, chemical manufacturing food processing plants. They argued that the  legal cannabis industry and all other industries should be required to undergo these courses. The union argued that members of the cannabis industry work in growing and cultivating facilities, manufacturing facilities, and processing facilities as well as laboratories. It really appears that the bill did not accomplish what it may have been intended it to accomplish in those workers working with farm equipment or cultivating the product are far different from those selling the product at the counters in the dispensaries. I believe the bill should have been more qualified to specific types of employees and not broad-based to include all retail employees. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7460/Text 

Effective on July 1, 2021.

At TheOneLawyer.com, we are here to serve our community and provide legal services in the Henderson and Las Vegas area. We are a boutique law firm providing experienced and personal representation to injured clients. At the Law Offices of Laura Payne, Esq. TheOneLawyer.com we provide professional and personal service to each and every one of our clients on various legal matters and have over 15 years of experience in reviewing insurance policies and in Nevada insurance law. If you have a question regarding any type of personal injury or paying your medical bills from an accident, please do not hesitate to call the offices of TheOneLawyer.com and speak directly to attorney Laura Marie Payne,  Esq. a Henderson Injury Attorney for over 15 years. Laura is recognized as one of Nevada’s Top 100 Lawyers. She has the experience and knowledge to obtain the maximum settlement you deserve. Please call our office if you or a loved one is injured. We can make sure that you receive the care you need and deserve and advise on how to preserve evidence. 

At our office, we are experienced in helping injured victims get the compensation to which they are entitled. Insurance companies never have the best interest of the injured person at the top of their priorities. They want to pay as little on every claim as possible. Having worked for an insurance company as an attorney for 9 years before opening my boutique law firm specializing in helping injured people, I have reviewed thousands of auto accident claims and policy provisions. 

At the Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury law offices of TheOneLawyer.com, Laura Payne, Esq. and her staff are here to help you and your family in the event that accidents and tragedies occur. For any of your legal needs, do not hesitate to contact our Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury offices. TheOneLawyer.com is a boutique, family-owned law firm that specializes in helping injured people and the community of Las Vegas and Henderson Nevada with legal issues involving auto accidents, wrongful deaths, slip and falls, truck accidents, injuries to children, bicycle accidents, dog bites, product liability claims, and all types of injury claims. Please do not hesitate to call us anytime you have a legal question or you or a loved one has sustained an injury at 702-450-4868 and text 24/7 at 702-600-0032. 

Nevada Child and Human Services

Nevada Bills passed 2021 Government and Social Services

Our lawmakers in Carson City passed numerous bills governing all areas of the law in their 2021 session, even during the pandemic they were hard at work. Many of these laws focused on Government and Social Services. Our legislature was busy addressing many inequities based upon race and socio-economic position. They updated our laws to provide expanded services for disabled people and allowing homeless youth to make their own health care decisions. coverages to address these disparities. The following is a summary of the Open Government bill and the laws governing social services  that were passed by our Nevada legislature during the 2021 session.

Open government

Senate Bill 77:This Bill exempts from state Open Meeting Law certain pre-decision and deliberative public meetings involving National Environmental Policy Act proceedings. This bill is intended to allow local officials to discuss the bill before the open government groups begin. Specifically, the law is amended as follows:

Section  1. Chapter  241  of  NRS  is  hereby  amended  by  adding thereto a new section to read as follows:
 1. A  public  body  that  has  entered  into  a  memorandum  of understanding  or  other  agreement  with  a  federal  agency  for  the purpose  of  engaging  with  the  federal  agency  on  an  action  under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq., may hold a closed meeting to engage in predicational and deliberative  discussions  on  the  subject  of  the  memorandum  or agreement. Any such discussions in a closed meeting must:  

(a)  Occur  only  during  the  period  before  the  federal  agency publicly  releases  the  document  addressing  the  action  under  the National Environmental Policy Act and begins the corresponding
public comment period; and  

(b)  Be  required  by  the  federal  agency  to  be  kept  confidential under the memorandum of understanding or other agreement. 

2.    If a public body holds a closed meeting pursuant to subsection  1,  the  public  body  shall  not  include  any  item  in  the discussions  for  the  closed  meeting  other  than  the  subject  of  the  memorandum or agreement entered into with the federal agency. 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7340/Text

Effective immediately.

Social services

Assembly Bill 62: This Bill allows the state treasurer to seek private donations to fund start-up ABLE savings accounts before the age of twenty-six to save money in a specific account for Nevadans with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The ABLE Act allows individuals who were previously deemed to be disabled to open accounts and not jeopardize the government benefits they desperately need. Before this act was passed, a person with a disability who relied on benefits provided by the government to survive, such as SSI and Medicaid, could lose those benefits if they had more than $2,000.00 .  The loss of those benefits could mean the loss of housing, employment, transportation and other critical benefits that they receive. The ABLE Act allows people with disabilities to save money and feel more secure without being penalized. 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7315/Text

 Effective April 21, 2021.

Assembly Bill 138: Reverses the law that made those convicted of felony drug crimes ineligible for federal food or family assistance. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of Americans who are currently serving time for drug offenses in our country. Some statistics say it is more than a half-million people. For many of these citizens, leaving prison with a felony conviction on their record creates an added level of difficulty in re-entering society. A 1996 federal law blocks felons with drug convictions from receiving welfare or food stamps unless the individual states choose to waive the restrictions.

The ban that was imposed did not apply to those  with convictions for any other crimes. These bans on public programs were put into  place as part of a sweeping reform of the nation’s welfare system in the 1990’s at a time when the “war on drugs” was in full swing. Two decades later, many states are rethinking this position and trying to help people released from prison for drug conviction re-enter society and  become productive citizens. The goal is to reduce the likelihood they will return to prison.

Since 1996, 18 states have reversed these  restrictions on food stamps, also known as the “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” and  allow people with certain types of drug felonies to be eligible those benefits. While states can make changes to welfare and food stamp policy, it primarily falls to the federal government to remove the hurdles that released drug felons face in receiving various government benefits for education, nutrition  and housing assistance.

In 2006, the federal government opened college grants and loans to those convicted of a drug felony which reversed a 1998 policy. However, if someone is convicted of a drug crime while receiving aid, they will lose the aid until they complete treatment or prove sobriety which seems perfectly reasonable if the program is also paid for by the government. Otherwise, they are back at square one and likely to recommit a crime.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7466/Text

 Effective July 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 197: Authorizes minors who do not live with their parents or legal guardian to consent to certain health services for themselves or their children. The need for this bill reflects a very sad issue facing our community.  There is a rising trend of homeless youth in Southern Nevada. I was shocked to learn that our state  ranks fourth in the nation in total number of unaccompanied homeless youth. In addition, sadly, Nevada ranks first  in the nation in rates of Unsheltered Unaccompanied Homeless Youth. The rate of unaccompanied youth (aka homelessness) in Southern Nevada  is greater than the state as a whole and far exceeds the national average (24.7% compared to 6.54%). Another shocking fact is that 2,794 minors were rescued from human sex trafficking by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department from 1994 through 2016. This is a number that shocked my conscious. The need to allow minors to make their own decisions will continue to grow in all areas of the law as long as these numbers exist.  

These numbers have been on the rise for the past several years .  Recent data from Clark County School District (CCSD) shows  that this trend  of an increasing youth homeless population has gone unabated in Southern Nevada. CCSD data reports show that the number of families with children and unaccompanied youth who identify themselves as homeless has gone up over the years from 9,284 children in 2013-2014 to almost 11,000 children in the 2016-2017 school year.  There are many organizations trying to help these kids including the following: 

Shannon West Homeless Youth Center

               1640 E Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89119 

                Phone(702) 526-4990

Hearts 4 Angels Ranch/Shelter For Homeless Teens

               3960 Howard Hughes Pkwy Suite 508, Las Vegas, NV 89169

               Phone(702) 660-5240    

               Street Teens

                    5599 S Pecos Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89120

                     Phone(702) 215-4171

If you are able to help in anyway, these organizations are allowing taking donations to help these homeless youth.  

https://www.unlv.edu/sites/default/files/story_attachments/167/The%20State%20of%20Homeless%20Youth%20in%20Southern%20Nevada.pdf

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7591/Text

Effective May 27, 2021.

Assembly Bill 406: This bill requires casinos to withhold casino gambling winnings from parents who owe child support. Although this law seems good on paper, enforcement may prove to be very difficult. There are thousands of parents who owe child support, and the statute requires that the paying entity have notice of the child support lien. The statute does not provide for the creation of a central data base that the casinos can access to check if child support is owed by the winner. Until there is a way for this to be conveyed to the casinos in Nevada, this will be a difficult provision to enforce. 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8031/Text

Effective October 1, 2021.

At TheOneLawyer.com, we are here to serve our community and provide legal services in the Henderson and Las Vegas area. We are a boutique law firm providing experienced and personal representation to injured clients. At the Law Offices of Laura Payne, TheOneLawyer.com we provide professional and personal service to each and every one of our clients on various legal matters and have over 15 years of experience in reviewing insurance policies and in Nevada insurance law.   If you have a question regarding any type of personal injury or paying your medical bills from an accident, please do not hesitate to call the offices of TheOneLawyer.com and speak directly to attorney Laura Marie Payne, Esq. a Henderson Injury Attorney for over 15 years. Laura is recognized as one of Nevada’s Top 100 Lawyers. She has the experience and knowledge to obtain the maximum settlement you deserve. Please call our office if you or a loved one is injured. We can make sure that you receive the care you need and deserve and advise on how to preserve evidence. 

At our office, we are experienced in helping injured victims get the compensation to which they are entitled. Insurance companies never have the best interest of the injured person at the top of their priorities. They want to pay as little on every claim as possible. Having worked for an insurance company as an attorney for 9 years before opening my boutique law firm specializing in helping injured people, I have reviewed thousands of auto accident claims and policy provisions. 

At the Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury law offices of TheOneLawyer.com, Laura Marie Payne, Esq. and her staff are here to help you and your family in the event that accidents and tragedies occur.  For any of your legal needs, do not hesitate to contact our Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury offices. TheOneLawyer.com is a boutique, family-owned law firm that specializes in helping injured people and the community of Las Vegas and Henderson Nevada with legal issues involving auto accidents, wrongful deaths, slip and falls, truck accidents, injuries to children, bicycle accidents, dog bites, product liability claims, and all types of injury claims. Please do not hesitate to call us anytime you have a legal question or you or a loved one has sustained an injury at 702-450- 4868 and text 24/7 at 702-600-0032. 

Nevada Public Lands Bills 2021

New Nevada Laws Natural Resources passed in 2021 Part 2

In their 2021 session, our lawmakers in Carson City passed Bills governing all areas of the law even during the pandemic they were focused on the issues facing our State.  Many of these laws focused on our public lands and natural resources here in Nevada. In fact, there were so many Bills passed in this area  that this topic will be two blogs, and this is part two of two. Our legislature was busy addressing many issues regarding wildlife and endangered species on our state.  From protecting trees to ancient burial grounds, from saving water to saving the public from wild animals, our legislature was hard at work tackling these issues. The following is one  of  two of a summary of the Bills regarding Natural Resources that were passed by our Nevada legislature during the 2021 session.

Natural resources (Part 2)

Assembly Bill 103: This bill changes the rules for digging on private land where a prehistoric Indian burial site is located.  Permits will be issued for digging as long as it is not  in areas of a property that contain a burial site.  Which, practically, who would want to dig up a gravesite.  However, for commercial business and utilities, it will take some research to determine if a known burial site exists on the property.  This bill provides, instead, that such a permit is not required to engage in a lawful activity on such private lands if: (1) the activity is exclusively for purposes other  than  the  excavation  of  a  prehistoric  Indian  burial  site;  and  (2)  the  activity occurs  only  on  a  portion  of  the  private  lands  that  does  not  contain  the  known prehistoric Indian burial site. Typical government verbiage is contained in this statue.  Practically, it is likely unknown where many of these sites are located.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7404/Text

Effective October 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 171This bill protects Rocky Mountain junipers  also known as swamp cedars in the Bahsahwahbee Traditional Cultural Property in White Pine County. Effective July 1, 2021.  Section  1  of  this  bill  declares  that  it  is  the policy  of  this  State  to  protect  the  Spring  Valley  population  of  Rocky  Mountain junipers, known as “swamp cedars,” that occur in White Pine County within the Bahsahwahbee Traditional Cultural Property.  Sections 1 and 2 of this bill make it unlawful  for  any  swamp  cedar  within  that  property  to  willfully  or  negligently  be cut,  destroyed,  mutilated  or  removed  without  first  obtaining  a  special  permit  from the State Forester Fire warden.   Section 2 also revises the existing exemption for Indians native to Nevada who gather  flora  for  certain  reasons  to  remove  the  requirement  that  such  Indians  be  “native to Nevada. “   And in case you are wondering, below is a Rocky Mountain Juniper:

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https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7529/Text

Assembly Bill 200This is another bill drafted to address the needs of the pandemic and permits veterinary telemedicine. Veterinary telemedicine” means the use of medical information  exchanged  from  one  site  to  another  via  electronic communications  regarding  the  health  status  of  an  animal  or  a group of animals and includes, without limitation, communication via telephone, video, a mobile application or an online platform on an Internet website.” Imagine your pet is feeling ill and you are in  compromised  health or quarantined.  Your Vet can now see your pet virtually and speak with you to diagnosis and issue prescriptions for your pet.  

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7595/Text 

Effective October 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 356: This bill requires the Southern  Nevada  Water  Authority to Develop  a  plan  to  identify  and  facilitate  the  removal  of existing  nonfunctional  grass  within  the  service  area  of  the  Southern Nevada  Water  Authority  on  property  that  is  not  zoned  exclusively or a single-family residence. This means that the Southern  Nevada  Water  Authority can now have policing authority to require businesses to remove unnecessary grass.  Clearly this bill is aimed at combatting the severe drought facing our city.  The plan must, without limitation: 


(1)  Establish  phases  for  the  removal  of  nonfunctional  turf based on                                  categories of water users; and
(2)  Establish deadlines within the service area of the
Southern Nevada Water Authority for existing customers to remove nonfunctional  turf  on  property  that  is  not  zoned  exclusively  for  a single-family residence before December 31, 2026. 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7910/Text 

Effective immediately for purposes of implementation.

Senate Bill 52Creates a program to award a dark sky designation  to locations where stargazing isn’t affected by lights to localities, parks, reserves and other state entities. A dark-sky designation is an area, generally surrounding a park or observatory, that restricts artificial light pollution. The primary  purpose of the dark-sky movement is generally to promote astronomy. It is often referred to in different terms and describes areas that national organizations have worked to have designated as “Dark Sky” areas.   In fact, the  International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) uses International Dark Sky Reserve (IDSR) and International Dark Sky Park (IDSP). A third designation, International Dark Sky Sanctuary, was introduced in 2015. This is an entire movement that I had never heard of, and many states have made “dark sky designations.”  This is one of the reasons I enjoy writing blogs is to learn new things.  I have never heard of “Dark Sky Designation” and there is actually an entire organization dedicated to this movement.   

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7230/Text

Sections effective May 10, 2021, October 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 344: This bill bars people from letting wild animals come into direct contact with others. I can note imagine that somewhere in our vast statutes that this was not already illegally.  If you own a tiger, it cannot get loose.  (this is where I need some emojis) Section  7  of  this  bill  prohibits  a person from allowing a dangerous wild animal, as defined in section 4 of this bill, to come in direct contact with a member of the public. “Dangerous wild animal” means any of the following live animals held in captivity: 


1.    All elephants from the genera Elephas and Loxodonta.
2.    All species of aardwolves and hyenas.
3.    All species of primates, except humans.
4.    The following species from the family Canidae:
(a)  Gray wolves (Canis lupus).
(b)  Red wolves (Canis rufus) that have been bred in captivity.
5.    The following species from the family Felidae:  (a)  Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), including hybrids thereof.
(b)  Clouded  leopards  (Neofelis  nebulosa  and  Neofelis  diardi),
including hybrids thereof.  (c)  Jaguars (Panthera onca), including hybrids thereof.
(d)  Leopards (Panthera pardus), including hybrids thereof.
(e)  Lions (Panthera leo), including hybrids thereof.  (f)  Mountain  lions  (Puma  concolor)  that  have  been  bred  in
captivity, including hybrids thereof.
(g)  Snow leopards (Panthera uncia), including hybrids thereof.
(h)  Tigers (Panthera tigris), including hybrids thereof.
6.    The following species from the family Ursidae:  (a)  American  black  bears  (Ursus  americanus)  that  have  been
bred in captivity.
(b)  Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus).
(c)  Brown bears (Ursus arctos).
(d)  Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).
(e)  Polar bears (Ursus maritimus).
(f)  Sloth bears (Melursus ursinus).
(g)  Spectacled  bears  (Tremarctos  ornatus),  including  hybrids thereof.
(h)  Sun bears (Helarctos malayanus)

So, in short, keep your polar bear locked up!!!!

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7991/Text 

Effective July 1, 2021.

At TheOneLawyer.com, we are here to serve our community and provide legal services in the Henderson and Las Vegas area. We are a boutique law firm providing experienced and personal representation to injured clients.  At the Law Offices of Laura Payne, TheOneLawyer.com we provide professional and personal service to each and every one of our clients on various legal matters and have over 15 years of experience in reviewing insurance policies and in Nevada insurance law.   If you have a question regarding any type of personal injury or paying your medical bills from an accident, please don’t hesitate to call the offices of TheOneLawyer.com and speak directly to attorney Laura Marie Payne, Esq. a Henderson Injury Attorney for over 15 years.  Laura is recognized as one of Nevada’s Top 100 Lawyers.  She has the experience and knowledge to obtain the maximum settlement you deserve.  Please call our office if you or a loved one is injured.  We can make sure that you receive the care you need and deserve and advise on how to preserve evidence.  

At our office, we are experienced in helping injured victims get the compensation they are entitled to.  Insurance companies never have the best interest of the injured person at the top of their priorities.  They want to pay as little on every claim as possible.  Having worked for an insurance company as an attorney for 9 years before opening my boutique law firm specializing in helping injured people, I have reviewed thousands of auto accident claims and policy provisions.   

At the Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury law offices of TheOneLawyer.com, Laura Marie Payne, Esq. and her staff are here to help you and your family in the event that accidents and tragedies occur.  For any of your legal needs, do not hesitate to contact our Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury offices.  TheOneLawyer.com is a boutique, family-owned law firm that specializes in helping injured people and the community of Las Vegas and Henderson Nevada with legal issues involving auto accidents, wrongful deaths, slip and falls, truck accidents, injuries to children, bicycle accidents, dog bites, product liability claims, and all types of injury claims.  Please do not hesitate to call us anytime you have a legal question or you or a loved one has sustained an injury at 702-450- 4868 and text 24/7 at 702-600-0032. 

 
Nevada Public Lands Bills 2021

Nevada Public Lands and Resources bills passed 2021

In their 2021 session, our lawmakers in Carson City passed Bills governing all areas of the law even during the pandemic they were focused on the issues facing our State.  Many of these laws focused on our public lands and natural resources here in Nevada. In fact, there were so many Bills passed in this area  that this topic will be two blogs, and this is part two of two. Our legislature was busy addressing many issues regarding wildlife and endangered species on our state.  

The following is one  of  two of a summary of the Bills regarding Natural Resources that were passed by our Nevada legislature during the 2021 session.

Natural resources (Part 1 of 2)

Assembly Bill 71: Often times, laws are passed at the urging of various political groups or through extreme lobbying efforts. Assembly Bill 71 appears to be such a Bill. This law is really about the open meeting law and access to public information. This statute requires that certain information which is related to rare plants or animals or ecological communities that is included in the data systems maintained by the Division of Natural Heritage of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources be kept confidential. There is really no explanation for keeping specific information regarding our environment, which in the past was public information, confidential. The link below allows you to review the minutes and the meetings for the passage of each Bill. Specifically, this Bill was opposed by many community groups in our state and there was not one offering of support from the public for this Bill. In fact, this Bill was opposed by such groups including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Nevada Open Government Coalition, the Nevada Press Association, the ACLU of Nevada, the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, the Sunrise Movement of Las Vegas, and the Great Basin Water Network. Despite unanimous public opposition offered to our legislature, this Bill was passed. The Bill received 42 votes in the assembly of which 26 were yea and 16 were nay and in our state Senate 16 votes were yea and 5 were nay.  It is not unusual, sadly, for Bills that clearly, on their face, appear to be against the best interests of the general public to be passed through the efforts of lobbyists. In this case, time will tell what the reasoning was for keeping specific ecological data out of the view of the public. It is surprising that our governor did not veto this Bill. 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7324/Text

Effective immediately.

Assembly Bill 72: Nevada assembly Bill 72 is another effort by our lawmakers to be inclusive of all cultures on state decision-making boards. This Act relating to the geographic names of our natural parks and resources requires that the State Board of Geographic Names include a representative of the Nevada Indian Commission as one of the 11 members on the voting board.  This Bill also clarifies that the chair and vice chair of the board must be designated by the other voting members.  The naming of national parks and even public places and sports teams has become the focus of great concern in recent years. We have seen protests regarding the names of certain national parks as offensive to Native Americans and even seen long-standing sports franchises change their names as a result of public pressure. This Bill is in direct response to those issues and requires that a representative of our native American community be on the board of geographic names for our state to prevent any offensive naming’s from occurring in the future regarding Native Americans.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7325/Text

Effective October 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 84: Assembly Bill 84, again, is in response to recent tragic events in our state as well as around the country relating to wildfires. This Bill authorizes the state Forrester Fire Warden to enter into private-public partnerships and allows for the purchase of certain equipment for the early warning or detection of wildfires.  As is obvious on its face, this Bill is directly aimed at attempting to prevent the massive wildfires that have ravaged our state the past several years. It is shocking to me that if there is such equipment available for the early warning and detection of such fires that this has not been purchased and used in the past. However, at least going forward maybe these tragic events can be better controlled in the future.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7354/Text

Effective October 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 85 Assembly Bill 85 relates to agriculture and revises the provisions relating to the control of noxious weeds. In a nutshell,  existing law authorized the State Quarantine Officer to declare by regulation which weeds of the state are noxious but prohibited the state quarantine officer from designating a weed as noxious if the weed was so well established in the state that the Quarantine Officer judged its control to be impractical. This Bill removed that prohibition and authorized the State Quarantine Officer to declare any weed noxious by regulation.
OK so I had to do a little digging deep to figure out why this was an issue before our legislature. In fact, the Eureka county manager opposed this Bill. Apparently, once a weed is considered to be noxious, there is a requirement to control the weed by the city or county. Weeds have a significant effect on wildfires, and this was a Bill aimed at controlling more weeds to lessen the impact of wildfires.  It places the burden on counties and municipalities to be increased by requiring the control of any weed determined to be noxious by the State Quarantine Officer.  The Bill was also opposed by the Nevada Mining Association. They were concerned primarily that the specific weed of cheatgrass in Nevada which is  difficult to control and widespread on private and public lands. They believe this Bill will place an undue burden on private landowners already in control of extensive ranching lands to have to address the weed issues on rural lands. This is a good example of a law that seems to be inconsequential on its face but in fact can impact a very small percentage of our population in a very drastic way. It is always a balancing act of public protection versus the burden on private citizens and business https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7354/Text

Effective October 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 86: Assembly Bill 86 creates larger legal liability for the starting of wildfires. Under existing law, a person, firm, association, or agency that willfully or negligently caused a wildfire which threatened human life could be held liable for expenses incurred in extinguishing the fire. This Bill was revised to remove the requirement that “human life is threatened.” This Bill provides expanded liability for causing any wildfire regardless of the threat to human life. Really, it is a Bill to hold big business, primarily energy companies, liable for starting wildfires. It is clear that a wildfire started by an individual really would be unaffected as most individuals do not possess the resources to even come close to covering the cost of fighting a major fire. However, this law places  a greater burden on companies to make sure that their equipment is updated and functioning and less likely to cause wildfires.

 https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7355/Text

Effective October 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 89 Assembly Bill 89 relates to hunting licenses and authorizes the board of wildlife commissioners to establish a program where a person can transfer his or her hunting tag of a big game animal to a qualified organization for use by certain persons. The Bill further authorizes a family member of a deceased big game  hunter to transfer a tag of a big game animal. In the past, big game tags were not transferable unless the person could demonstrate to the board of wildlife commissioners the existence of extenuating circumstances which caused the person to be unable to use the tag. This Bill provides a lengthy process to provide more circumstances under which these hunting tags can be transferred.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7370/Text

Various effective dates through July 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 101: Assembly Bill 101 authorizes a licensed veterinarian to administer animal products containing him for CBD which do not contain more than .3% of THC in order to treat animals. This Bill prevents the Nevada state Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners from taking disciplinary action against a licensed veterinarian or the facility in which she or he practices for prescribing or administering CBD products to animals.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7402/Text 

Effective October 1, 2021.

At TheOneLawyer.com, we are here to serve our community and provide legal services in the Henderson and Las Vegas area. We are a boutique law firm providing experienced and personal representation to injured clients.  At the Law Offices of Laura Payne-Payne, TheOneLawyer.com we provide professional and personal service to each and every one of our clients on various legal matters and have over 15 years of experience in reviewing insurance policies and in Nevada insurance law.   If you have a question regarding any type of personal injury or paying your medical Bills from an accident, please don’t hesitate to call the offices of TheOneLawyer.com and speak directly to attorney Laura Marie Payne-Payne, Esq. a Henderson Injury Attorney for over 15 years.  Laura is recognized as one of Nevada’s Top 100 Lawyers.  She has the experience and knowledge to obtain the maximum settlement you deserve.  Please call our office if you or a loved one is injured.  We can make sure that you receive the care you need and deserve and advise on how to preserve evidence.  

At our office, we are experienced in helping injured victims get the compensation they are entitled to.  Insurance companies never have the best interest of the injured person at the top of their priorities.  They want to pay as little on every claim as possible.  Having worked for an insurance company as an attorney for 9 years before opening my boutique law firm specializing in helping injured people, I have reviewed thousands of auto accident claims and policy provisions.   

At the Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury law offices of TheOneLawyer.com, Laura Marie Payne-Payne and her staff are here to help you and your family in the event that accidents and tragedies occur.  For any of your legal needs, do not hesitate to contact our Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury offices.  TheOneLawyer.com is a boutique, family-owned law firm that specializes in helping injured people and the community of Las Vegas and Henderson Nevada with legal issues involving auto accidents, wrongful deaths, slip and falls, truck accidents, injuries to children, bicycle accidents, dog bites, product liability claims, and all types of injury claims.  Please do not hesitate to call us anytime you have a legal question or you or a loved one has sustained an injury at 702-450-(PAYNE) 4868 and text 24/7 at 702-600-0032. 

Housing Laws Nevada changes in 2021

Our lawmakers in Carson City passed bills governing all areas of the law in their 2021 session, even during the pandemic they were hard at work. Many of these laws focused on housing law. Our legislature was busy addressing many inequities in access to housing  based upon socio-economic position and made efforts to address homelessness in Nevada.  The 2021 legislature passed provide renters with greater protections during the pandemic. 

They also looked forward in laying the foundation to provide for a framework for alternative housing options for low-income Nevadan’s by requiring cities to provide zoning for “tiny homes.” Our lawmakers were very concerned with providing Nevada renters with access to rental assistance and the time to apply and receive such aide.  They helped renters by reducing late fees and providing better notice of proposed rent increases.  The following is a summary of the laws passed by our 2020 legislature regarding housing law in Nevada.  

Homeowners and housing

Assembly Bill 141: This Bill requires the Courts to seal records of summary evictions that occurred during the COVID-19 state of emergency. Specifically, the new bill amends NRS 40.2545 to read as follows:  

1.    If a court grants an action for summary eviction pursuant  to  NRS  40.253  during  the  COVID-19  emergency,  the court shall automatically seal the eviction case court file. 

2.    In addition to the provisions for the automatic sealing of an eviction case court file pursuant to subsection 1, in  any action for summary  eviction  pursuant  to  NRS  40.253,  40.254  or  40.2542,  the eviction  case  court  file  is  sealed  automatically  and  not  open  to inspection: . . 

This Bill took effect for evictions starting on  March  12,  2020 and ends “on  the  date  on  which  the  Governor  terminates the emergency described in the Declaration.”  This Bill is critical to help renters who have been evicted due to job loses move forward and be able to rent another place.  It is very difficult to rent again after an eviction.  Therefore, if you were evicted after March 12, 2020, make sure the Court sealed the eviction record.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7469/Text Effective May 27, 2021.

Assembly Bill 249: This Bill Prohibits common interest communities that are governed by homeowners’ associations from restricting daily hours for seasonal construction below what is locally authorized.  This is an unusual ordinance and must have been prompted by a specific situation facing certain HOA communities.  This is why it is important to bring problematic issues you are facing to the attention of your local state lawmaker in your district.  

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7709/Text

 Effective October 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 308: This law prevents landlords from charging a late fee if rent is paid within three days of being due and extends required notice period for rent increases.  Specifically, the new law states:  ”In  a  tenancy  that  is  longer  than  week  to  week,  no  late  fee may be charged or imposed until at least 3 calendar days after the date that rent is due. . .” In addition, said  late  fee  cannot exceed  five  percent  of  the  amount  of  the  periodic  rent  and  the  maximum  amount  of the  late  fee  must  not  be  increased  based  upon  a  late  fee  that  was  previously imposed.  In addition, the law changed the notice needed for a rent increase This  bill  increases  the  period  for providing  notices  of  increases  in  rent  to: 

(1) for  a  periodic  tenancy  of  1  month  or  more,  60  days  in  advance  of  the  first  rental payment to be increased; or

 (2) for a periodic tenancy of less than 1 month, 30 days in advance of the first rental payment to be increased.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7813/Overview    Effective July 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 486:    This bill is in response to the pandemic, and it  temporarily stops evictions if a tenant is awaiting rental assistance and can show they are diligently monitoring their “CHAP” (Clark County Housing Assistance Program) application.  This program was created by the Cares Act and requires landlords to cooperate with the application process of their tenant in exchange for direct payment of rents to the landlord.  This is not just an amendment to a law but an entire Act relating  to  property including the defining  certain  terms.  This Act temporarily authorizes tenants who are facing  eviction proceedings  to  assert  certain  affirmative  defenses  relating  to rental assistance.  The act also establishes procedures relating the court’s handling of evictions involving CHAP applications.  It also temporarily  establishes procedures  relating  to  claims  for wrongful eviction and authorizes a court to stay a designated eviction proceeding in order to facilitate alternative  dispute  resolution through the CHAP program.    The law temporarily  requires  notices for designated eviction proceedings to contain certain information regarding the CHAP program and establishes  temporary  procedures  relating  to the provision  of  rental  assistance  to  certain  landlords of single  family  residences  with  at  least  one  tenant  who  has defaulted  in the  payment  of  rent.  The primary purpose of the Act is to allow for the  disbursement of  certain  federal  money  for the payment of rents in circumstances  relating  to the pandemic.  

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8216/Text

Effective immediately through June 5, 2023, or earlier date set by state Supreme Court. 

Senate Bill 103: This  bill  prohibits  a property insurer  from  refusing  to  issue,  cancelling,  refusing  to renew or increasing the premium or rate for certain policies of insurance on the sole
basis of the specific breed or mixture of breeds of a dog that is harbored or owned on  an  insured property  unless  the  particular  dog  is  known  to  be  dangerous  or vicious or declared to be dangerous or vicious pursuant to the public health laws of the State. This law may have a significant impact on homeowners insurance rates in our state.  Many major insurance companies have a list of dog breads that are listed in the policy that will not be covered for a dog bite attack under the policy.  This law makes those provisions void.  So basically, the risk for those breeds will now be paid by all homeowners in Nevada.  

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7406/Text

Effective  Jan. 1, 2022.

Senate Bill 150: This new law requires Nevada’s most populated counties of Clark and Washoe counties and the state’s largest cities to designate zoning districts where “tiny houses” may be built. This is an effort to alleviate the homeless issue in these areas by providing affordable alternative housing.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7544/Text

Effective Jan. 1, 2024.

Senate Bill 254: Shockingly, this bill was passed by our legislature but vetoed by Governor Sisolak.  As a landlord, I agree with the Governor’s veto.  The law would have barred  a landlord from checking a prospective tenant’s criminal history or arrest record and refusing to rent on the basis of that record.  I am not sure what the legislature was thinking on this one.  A landlord has a right to know the criminal history of a prospective tenant.  If the property is located near a school, do you really want someone to rent the property to a convicted child sex offender?     

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7786/Text

Senate Bill 311: This bill Authorizes the Nevada Rural Housing Authority to create a for-profit business entity to support affordable housing development.   This is an effort to help develop the smaller towns in the State. 

https://legiscan.com/NV/text/SB311/2021

Effective October 1, 2021.

At TheOneLawyer.com, we are here to serve our community and provide legal services in the Henderson and Las Vegas area. We are a boutique law firm providing experienced and personal representation to injured clients.  At the Law Offices of Laura Payne, TheOneLawyer.com we provide professional and personal service to each and every one of our clients on various legal matters and have over 15 years of experience in reviewing insurance policies and in Nevada insurance law.   If you have a question regarding any type of personal injury or paying your medical bills from an accident, please don’t hesitate to call the offices of TheOneLawyer.com and speak directly to attorney Laura Payne, Esq. a Henderson Injury Attorney for over 15 years.  Laura is recognized as one of Nevada’s Top 100 Lawyers.  She has the experience and knowledge to obtain the maximum settlement you deserve.  Please call our office if you or a loved one is injured.  We can make sure that you receive the care you need and deserve and advise on how to preserve evidence.  

At our office, we are experienced in helping injured victims get the compensation they are entitled to.  Insurance companies never have the best interest of the injured person at the top of their priorities.  They want to pay as little on every claim as possible.  Having worked for an insurance company as an attorney for 9 years before opening my boutique law firm specializing in helping injured people, I have reviewed thousands of auto accident claims and policy provisions.   

At the Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury law offices of TheOneLawyer.com, Laura Payne and her staff are here to help you and your family in the event that accidents and tragedies occur.  For any of your legal needs, do not hesitate to contact our Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury offices.  TheOneLawyer.com is a boutique, family-owned law firm that specializes in helping injured people and the community of Las Vegas and Henderson Nevada with legal issues involving auto accidents, wrongful deaths, slip and falls, truck accidents, injuries to children, bicycle accidents, dog bites, product liability claims, and all types of injury claims.  Please do not hesitate to call us anytime you have a legal question or you or a loved one has sustained an injury at 702-450-(HUNT) 4868 and text 24/7 at 702-600-0032. 

Healthcare Bills passed in Nevada 2021

Our lawmakers in Carson City passed bills governing all areas of the law in their 2021 session, even during the pandemic they were hard at work. Many of these laws focused on healthcare. In fact, there were so many healthcare bills passed that this topic will be two blogs, and this is part two of two. Our legislature was busy addressing many inequities based upon race, immigration status and socio-economic position.

I am proud to live in a state where our legislators are on the forefront of protecting our communities and preserving the rights of women in our state. The 2021 legislature passed laws to improve access to contraception and healthcare for women. They also looked forward in laying the foundation to provide for a framework for health insurance for small business owners and entrepreneurs in our state. They passed  laws to illuminate conflict of interest between insurers and medical Providers and protect women from unscrupulous medical providers. Perhaps the most groundbreaking law was allowing pharmacist to dispense birth control to women without a prescription. Our legislature stands on the forefront of protecting our constitutional and civil rights in the state of Nevada.

Our legislature was brave enough to step up and address the issues head on and protect and preserve women’s healthcare and reproductive freedoms.  This law is indicative of the progressive nature of our state. The legislature also addressed pandemic issues to allow our state administrators greater freedom in accessing medical supplies.  The following is part two of a summary of the healthcare bills that were passed by our Nevada legislature during the 2021 session.

Health and Health Care (Part 2)

Assembly Bill 287:  This is an interesting bill that removes the word “mother” from the statute governing medical facilities and changes the word to “person who gave birth.”  It also changes the word “father” to “parent who did not give birth.” The statue goes on to establish independent birthing centers that will be licensed by the state. This allows the use of midwives in their own facility. The statue is likely promulgated to provide reduced cost birthing options in a licensed facility.  

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7779/Text

Effective January 1, 2022.

Assembly Bill 436: Assembly bill 436 amends NRS 686A to mandate  that an insurer shall not contract with the provider of vision care services for any rate of reimbursement if the insurer has an ownership or other pecuniary interest in the rate of reimbursement. Basically,  the statute prevents insurance companies from having any interest in vision care services directly. They can only negotiate contracts and provide reimbursement for services, but they cannot have any ownership interest or monetary interest in the vision services themselves.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8091/Overview

Effective October 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 181: Senate bill 181 changes the licensing requirements for alcohol and drug counselors to allow for an expansion of addiction treatment providers.  The statute still requires a total of 1500 hours of experience in counseling after graduation, but it no longer requires that experience to have been supervised by a licensed alcohol and drug counselor.  Other requirements for passage of an exam are still in place. It seems that this elimination of supervised residency does not benefit our community and perhaps brings less qualified providers to the profession.  However,  the statute still requires some supervised post graduate counseling work.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7608/Text

 Effective October 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 190: This  is  groundbreaking in that it authorizes pharmacists to dispense hormonal birth control to women without a doctor’s visit.  This is referred to as a “self-administered hormonal contraceptive” and it still requires approval of the food and drug administration of any medications dispensed.  The law does require women to fill out a risk assessment questionnaire and be given information about the medication.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7622/Text

Effective January 1, 2022.

Senate Bill 196: This bill prohibits a healthcare provider from performing any type of pelvic exam on a patient who is unconscious without their prior consent. As is  obvious on its face, this bill is aimed at preventing some of the atrocious acts of molestation that have occurred by medical professionals and been brought to light over the past couple of years.  Although it is fair that most medical professionals are of the upmost integrity, this law protects patients from the medical professionals who engage in this illegal conduct.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7638/Overview

Effective July 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 251:  Senate Bill 251 requires a primary care doctor to make an assessment of whether a female patient should be screened for the BRCA gene mutation that causes breast cancer.  The law requires that state Medicaid will pay for the genetic counseling and testing of this harmful gene mutation.  Although this is an admirable effort to help early diagnosis of breast cancer, the practical implication of placing this burden on primary care physicians is problematic.  Is it now the law that every female is now required to fill out special paperwork for each visit to a primary care doctor to make this assessment and be sent for testing? This remains to be determined.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7773/Overview

Effective January 1, 2022.

Senate Bill 305: Senate Bill 305 prohibits providers from using discriminatory practices when making decisions regarding organ transplants based on a person’s disability. Although this sounds on its face to be an effort at fairness, it seems that providers should be able to determine who, in fact, would be the worthiest recipient of an organ transplant and consider all relevant factors.  If I were donating my organs, I would want them to go to the person most likely to prosper and contribute to our society as a result of the donation. That does not mean that persons of disabilities are not worthy and deserving but this decision should be left to the people involved in making the decisions

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7920/Text

Effective October 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 364: Senate Bill 364 requires hospitals and emergency rooms to inform victims of sexual assault that they have the right to receive emergency contraception and provide such contraception to them at their request. Unlike other states like South Dakota and Texas, I am proud to live in Nevada where our legislature is preserving and protecting the rights of women.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8034/Overview

Effective October 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 396: Senate Bill 396 allows public agencies to contract with private entities or out of state entities to buy prescription drugs, pharmaceutical services, or medical supplies. This law was  likely prompted by the pandemic and the severe shortage of medical supplies that arose to give our state more options in obtaining supplies.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8007/Text

Effective immediately.

Senate Bill 420:  Senate Bill 420 creates a publicly managed, lower tier, private health insurance program. Unfortunately, this bill does not go into effect until January 2026 which is unusual for a law to be passed and not go into effect for five years.  However, this law could greatly help self-employed entrepreneurs in our state. This law will create a health insurance system that will leverage the purchasing power of the state to create lower premiums and provide affordable healthcare for the residents of the state of Nevada who are small businesses or employed by small businesses.  The option allows small businesses to start health plans that are defined in 402 US C 18021.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8151/Text

effective January 1, 2026. 

At TheOneLawyer.com, we are here to serve our community and provide legal services in the Henderson and Las Vegas area. We are a boutique law firm providing experienced and personal representation to injured clients.  At the Law Offices of Laura Payne, TheOneLawyer.com we provide professional and personal service to each and every one of our clients on various legal matters and have over 15 years of experience in reviewing insurance policies and in Nevada insurance law.   If you have a question regarding any type of personal injury or paying your medical bills from an accident, please don’t hesitate to call the offices of TheOneLawyer.com and speak directly to attorney Laura Payne, Esq. a Henderson Injury Attorney for over 15 years.  Laura is recognized as one of Nevada’s Top 100 Lawyers.  She has the experience and knowledge to obtain the maximum settlement you deserve.  Please call our office if you or a loved one is injured.  We can make sure that you receive the care you need and deserve and advise on how to preserve evidence.  

At our office, we are experienced in helping injured victims get the compensation they are entitled to.  Insurance companies never have the best interest of the injured person at the top of their priorities.  They want to pay as little on every claim as possible.  Having worked for an insurance company as an attorney for 9 years before opening my boutique law firm specializing in helping injured people, I have reviewed thousands of auto accident claims and policy provisions.   

At the Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury law offices of TheOneLaweyer.com, Laura Payne and her staff are here to help you and your family in the event that accidents and tragedies occur.  For any of your legal needs, do not hesitate to contact our Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury offices.  TheOneLawyer.com is a boutique, family-owned law firm that specializes in helping injured people and the community of Las Vegas and Henderson Nevada with legal issues involving auto accidents, wrongful deaths, slip and falls, truck accidents, injuries to children, bicycle accidents, dog bites, product liability claims, and all types of injury claims.  Please do not hesitate to call us anytime you have a legal question or you or a loved one has sustained an injury at 702-450-(HUNT) 4868 and text 24/7 at 702-600-0032

New Nevada Healthcare Laws 2021

Our lawmakers in Carson City passed bills governing all areas of the law in their 2021 session, even during the pandemic they were hard at work. Many of these laws focused on healthcare. In fact, there were so many healthcare bills passed that this topic will be two blogs, and this is part one of two. Our legislature was busy addressing many inequities based upon race, immigration status and socio-economic position. They updated our Medicaid laws to provide expanded coverages to address these disparities.   The Nevada legislature passed laws to require our Department of Health and Human Services to study maternal mortality rates in different demographic areas to determine the need for additional services.  This study will allow our lawmakers to  determine whether to laws passed expanding coverage for maternity regardless of residency and expanding coverage to allow for Doula services will cut down the maternal mortality rates impacting those communities. 

They also addressed issues of drug overdose and passed into law a bill allowing school district personnel to administer life-saving opioid overdose drugs to students. It is shocking and sad that this bill is necessary. However, the fact that it is necessary, and our legislature was brave enough to step up and address the issue head on will hopefully save lives of students.  This law is indicative of the progressive nature of our state. The legislature also addressed pandemic issues in allowing employees to take their sick leave to take care of family members. The following is part one of a summary of the healthcare bills that were passed by our Nevada legislature during the 2021 session.

Health and Health Care (Part 1 of 2)

Assembly Bill 59: Assembly bill 59 seemed to sneak in under the radar. I was quite surprised that there was not a lot of press or social media regarding the passage of this bill. This bill is our legislatures attempt to curb this shocking and distressing trend towards kids smoking and vaping. It is sad to see kids starting these activities at such a young age that are so bad for their long-term health. It is my hope that this bill possibly curbs this trend toward of kids under 21 using nicotine and tobacco products.  This new law raises legal age to use or buy tobacco or nicotine products to 21, from 18.  Various effective dates through July 1, 2021. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7312/Text 

Assembly Bill 119:  Existing law establishes a Maternal Mortality and Review Committee, and that committee has traditionally been required to perform studies and make recommendations to reduce maternal mortality. This bill increases the duties of the committee to identify and review disparities in the incidence of maternal mortality in the state including disparity by race and economic position. Basically, the legislature has asked the committee to review and include in their report whether there is race and economic issues that contribute to maternal mortality so that the state can address and hopefully remedy those disparities.  This law revises the duties of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee to look at factors of race, ethnicity, age, and geographic region in mortality which were not previously considered. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7440/Text  

Effective May 25, 2021.

Assembly Bill 177: Senate Bill 177 is another attempt to make our state inclusive of all races. This bill requires pharmacies to print prescription labels in different languages if requested by the patient. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7541/Text

Effective July 1, 2022.

Assembly Bill 187: This law Designates September as “Ovarian and Prostate Cancer Prevention and Awareness Month.” Assembly bill 187 specifically designates the month of September each year as the ovarian and prostate cancer prevention and awareness month in the state of Nevada. This law is put into place to bring attention to the factual information regarding the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian and prostate cancer.   Hopefully , this recognition of these terrible cancers will make our citizens more aware of the early signs of these conditions to prevent death and encourage proactive health screenings.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7618/Text

 Effective May 27, 2021.

Assembly Bill 189: Expands Medicaid coverage for pregnant women. Existing law requires the department of health and human services for State of Nevada to determine coverages under Medicaid for pregnancy. This bill requires the department to expand coverage under the state plan for Medicaid for pregnant women to provide Medicaid for pregnancy without submitting an application for enrollment and Medicaid which includes additional proof of eligibility. The bill also prohibits the imposition of the requirement that a pregnant woman who resides in the state and who is otherwise eligible for Medicaid must reside in the United States for a prescribed period of time before enrolling in Medicaid. This bill is to protect the health and safety of babies born in the state of Nevada by providing proper medical care for their mothers regardless of their residency status.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7577/Text

Effective July 1, 2022.

Assembly Bill 190: Assembly bill 189 is another Covid-based law that requires private employers to allow employees to use sick-leave to take care of a family member. This new law allows certain employees to use sick leave for any purpose, including to take care of an immediate family member with illness and/or medical needs. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7578/Text 

Effective October 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 191: Senate Bill 191 basically updates the Medicaid laws to recognize the treatment by physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners. Many of the existing laws refer to doctors; however, as we all know, we are seeing these medical providers much more frequently than medical doctors. This law allows coverage for physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners and other community health workers to be covered services under Medicaid.  This law adds Medicaid coverage for services of different community health workers besides medical doctors. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7582/Text 

Effective July 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 192: This new law changes procedures and requirements for testing pregnant women for syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases.  The new law requires that physicians treating pregnant woman test for additional sexually transmitted diseases unless the pregnant women opt  out of such tests.  This law also  removes the penalty for a woman who refuses treatment. 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7583/Text

Effective July 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 205:  Bill 205 authorizes a school nurse or other designated school employee or administrator to administer medication to reverse an opioid drug overdose. Is a sad state of our country and schools that this is a necessary law. However, if any child can be saved by quick action by school personnel it is a much-needed law 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7583/Text

Various effective dates through July 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 216: This bill adds Medicaid coverage for cognitive assessment and care planning for patients showing signs of impairment including memory loss.  This bill provides that the director of Medicaid shall require that the state pay the non-federal share of expenditures incurred for patients receiving cognitive assessments and care planning services due to symptoms or signs of cognitive impairment including short term memory loss, orientation as to time in place, deductive or abstract reasoning or other cognitive impairments.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7583/Text

Effective July 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 256:  This bill requires state Medicaid to pay for Doula services for pregnant women. The law further requires that applicants seeking payment for Doula services must provide prove that they possess the require training and qualifications to perform such services that are prescribed by the department of health and human services.  This law is another expansion of  Medicaid coverage for services. 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7720/Text

Effective January 1, 2022.

At TheOneLawyer.com, we are here to serve our community and provide legal services in the Henderson and Las Vegas area. We are a boutique law firm providing experienced and personal representation to injured clients.  At the Law Offices of Laura Payne-Hunt, TheOneLawyer.com we provide professional and personal service to each and every one of our clients on various legal matters and have over 15 years of experience in reviewing insurance policies and in Nevada insurance law.   If you have a question regarding any type of personal injury or paying your medical bills from an accident, please don’t hesitate to call the offices of TheOneLawyer.com and speak directly to attorney Laura Marie Payne-Hunt, Esq. a Henderson Injury Attorney for over 15 years.  Laura is recognized as one of Nevada’s Top 100 Lawyers.  She has the experience and knowledge to obtain the maximum settlement you deserve.  Please call our office if you or a loved one is injured.  We can make sure that you receive the care you need and deserve and advise on how to preserve evidence.  

At our office, we are experienced in helping injured victims get the compensation they are entitled to.  Insurance companies never have the best interest of the injured person at the top of their priorities.  They want to pay as little on every claim as possible.  Having worked for an insurance company as an attorney for 9 years before opening my boutique law firm specializing in helping injured people, I have reviewed thousands of auto accident claims and policy provisions.   

At the Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury law offices of TheOneLaweyer.com, Laura Marie Payne-Hunt and her staff are here to help you and your family in the event that accidents and tragedies occur.  For any of your legal needs, do not hesitate to contact our Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury offices.  TheOneLawyer.com is a boutique, family-owned law firm that specializes in helping injured people and the community of Las Vegas and Henderson Nevada with legal issues involving auto accidents, wrongful deaths, slip and falls, truck accidents, injuries to children, bicycle accidents, dog bites, product liability claims, and all types of injury claims.  Please do not hesitate to call us anytime you have a legal question or you or a loved one has sustained an injury at 702-450-(HUNT) 4868 and text 24/7 at 702-600-0032. 

A break down of the new laws and bills passed by Nevada Lawmakers in the 2021 session.

Nevada Lawmakers passed bills impacting all areas of our laws and government in the 2021 session.  This blog is a continuation of my series of breaking down all of the new laws and bills passed by our legislature in the last session. If you are a new lawyer looking for legal placement opportunities, you may search online or contact a legal recruitment agency or an attorney recruiter.

Our lawmakers passed laws on issues ranging from expanding voting rights to decriminalizing speeding tickets. In this blog, I outline the new laws passed in the area of government and administration. Specifically, these laws focus on the organizing, directing, planning, coordinating, and controlling of government operations in our state. 

Government and Administration

Assembly Bill 123: This bill  will not make Golden Knights fans thrilled but I doubt it will deter any fans from obtaining a Golden Knights license plate. This bill increases the cost of the Golden Knights license plate by $10 to support the team’s foundation. The Golden Knights foundation is a 503(c)(3)  organization that serves charitable organizations in our community. They support local nonprofits via partnerships, community programming, and direct grants. These activities are funded by financial donations and various programs throughout the year, including the sale of license plates.  Some of the programs supported by the foundation include fostering growth of Las Vegas youth in K through 12 public schools with programs with emphasis on youth sports. The foundation also serves military members and first responders by providing donations as well as helping to fight hunger and homelessness in our communities. $10 well spent!!!

Effective October 1, 2021.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7444/Text

Assembly Bill 196 requires that there be designated lactation rooms in our county and city court houses. This law mirrors the federal law that has been in effect for many years which requires all federal buildings to provide space that is private and clean for mothers to feed their newborn babies or express breastmilk. This bill makes appropriations from the state general fund to allocate  grants for the court houses to construct these  spaces. 

Effective January 1, 2022.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7590/Text

Assembly Bill 236 changes the age requirement as well as the residency requirement for a person to run for Attorney General in the state of Nevada.  It is interesting that the previous law did not require our state attorney general to be an attorney in good standing in the state of Nevada. This law also increases the age from 25 to 30 years old to run for such office and in addition extends the residency requirement from the previous two years to three years residency prior to the election.  In my brief research, I was unable to reveal how or why this law became necessary or relevant at this time. Our current attorney general, the 34th in our state, is attorney Aaron D Ford who is highly qualified with a long and distinguished career in both law and state politics.

Effective immediately.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7682/Text

Assembly Bill 253  updates the open meeting law to meet with the challenges that Covid has presented and  the technology we currently use. This bill simply adds a process for remote access to open meetings of government committees.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7713/Text

Effective immediately.

Assembly Bill 280 requires that all public single stall restrooms now must be gender neutral.  It is important to note that the bill does not require business establishments to change existing facilities with the exception that if they have a single stall restroom, they will need to change their sign to allow an “all gender” bathroom or “all accessible” bathroom. It is important to note that the bill specifically does not provide for a cause of action to be filed or a complaint to be filed with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission for a violation of this bill. For all practical purposes, the bill does not change much.  Clearly, establishments that only have one single restroom obviously allow people of all genders to use their single restroom. It does not require changes to existing establishments with the exception of the sign and only if they only have one single stall restroom

Various effective dates through February 1, 2022.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7756/Text

Assembly Bill 421: Assembly Bill 421 shows that our legislature was busy in all areas of the law to remedy outdated laws that are still on the books. This law removes and replaces reference to insanity and the term “deaf and dumb” in our state code. It may be shocking that we were still using the phrase “deaf and dumb” in our laws.  This bill requires Nevada law to refer to “persons with mental illness.“.  The law states that “terms that are not preferred for use in Nevada revised statutes include “insane“ and insanity“. Sometimes words become slang in our environment and lose their legal meaning. This provision updates the language of the statutes to a more clinical use of terminology. 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8053/Text

 Effective July 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 28 Senate Bill 28 establishes the offense of sexual harassment within the Nevada code of military justice and provides punishment. Although the military operates under its own code of military justice, the national guard is governed by the states. Senate Bill 28 adds a punitive provision for sexual harassment by enforcing the zero-tolerance policy for sexual assault and harassment in the Nevada National Guard. Sexual assault has long been a criminal matter and continues to be punishable severely under our system of justice. However, the offense of sexual harassment often goes unpunished or unrecognized. This law provides stronger enforcement of the quality and safety of members of the Nevada National Guard.

https://gov.nv.gov/News/Press/2021/Governor_Sisolak_signs_Senate_Bill_28/

Effective May 19, 2021.

Senate Bill 46 Senate Bill 46 must’ve been prompted by some events as it makes certain public documents such as deeds of residence and voting records confidential for employees of the attorney general’s office.

https://legiscan.com/NV/bill/SB46/2021

Effective October 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 62: Senate Bill 62 expands which charitable organizations are required to register with the state and adds those that solicit donations but are not federally tax exempt.  This bill is likely in response to the large amount of fraud that occurs by telemarketers calling and stating that they are with the police or fire departments or other organizations and are soliciting money related to those organization. Many of these are fraudulent and tarnish those they purport to represent. This bill requires that any organization that does try to solicit money from the public, whether it be for college funds or fallen firefighters or police officers, to register with the state. This is so that the state knows who is soliciting charitable donations from the public.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7247/Text

Effective on October 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 177 Senate bill 177 is simply another tax disguised as a fee to increase revenue for the state. This bill increases the surcharge on a marriage license from $25 up to $50. The bill states that the extra funding will support domestic violence services.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7601/Text

 Effective July 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 430  expands projects that will be funded by the state infrastructure bank and includes projects related to renewable energy, recycling, and social and economic development among many other causes.  The bill also will expand projects to include digital infrastructure

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8161/Overview

Effective July 1, 2021.

At TheOneLawyer.com, we are here to serve our community and provide legal services in the Henderson and Las Vegas area. We are a boutique law firm providing experienced and personal representation to injured clients.  At the Law Offices of Laura Payne-Hunt, TheOneLawyer.com we provide professional and personal service to each and every one of our clients on various legal matters and have over 15 years of experience in reviewing insurance policies and in Nevada insurance law.   If you have a question regarding any type of personal injury or paying your medical bills from an accident, please don’t hesitate to call the offices of TheOneLawyer.com and speak directly to attorney Laura Marie Payne-Hunt, Esq. a Henderson Injury Attorney for over 15 years.  Laura is recognized as one of Nevada’s Top 100 Lawyers.  She has the experience and knowledge to obtain the maximum settlement you deserve.  Please call our office if you or a loved one is injured.  We can make sure that you receive the care you need and deserve and advise on how to preserve evidence.  

At our office, we are experienced in helping injured victims get the compensation they are entitled to.  Insurance companies never have the best interest of the injured person at the top of their priorities.  They want to pay as little on every claim as possible.  Having worked for an insurance company as an attorney for 9 years before opening my boutique law firm specializing in helping injured people, I have reviewed thousands of auto accident claims and policy provisions.   

At the Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury law offices of TheOneLaweyer.com, Laura Marie Payne-Hunt and her staff are here to help you and your family in the event that accidents and tragedies occur.  For any of your legal needs, do not hesitate to contact our Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury offices.  TheOneLawyer.com is a boutique, family-owned law firm that specializes in helping injured people and the community of Las Vegas and Henderson Nevada with legal issues involving auto accidents, wrongful deaths, slip and falls, truck accidents, injuries to children, bicycle accidents, dog bites, product liability claims, and all types of injury claims.  Please do not hesitate to call us anytime you have a legal question or you or a loved one has sustained an injury at 702-450-(HUNT) 4868 and text 24/7 at 702-600-0032. 

Nevada State legislature in 2021 very busy looking at climate change

The state legislature in 2021 was very busy looking at climate change in improving Nevada’s reporting requirements and environmental state. Our state is on the forefront of preserving the environment. Our legislature passed several bills to require additional reporting regarding greenhouse gas emissions by Nevada companies. In addition, laws were passed to increase administrative fines for violations relating to public utilities and add fines for submitting inaccurate or misleading information to the public utilities commission. 

These new laws show that Nevada is serious in enforcing climate regulation to protect our environment. The legislature authorizes local governments to create commercial property financing programs to support energy efficient and renewable energy resiliency and water efficiency improvements. Our legislature was well aware of the need to preserve and protect our environment and also protect our natural resources. The following are the bills that were passed to further these causes.

Our legislature was on the forefront in many areas this year advancing public policy and protecting our citizens and our environment. Our legislature was focused on preserving our resources and enhancing the beauty of our communities. Our legislature was well aware of the needs of our community both financially and the impact of creating projects and funding for environmentally sound projects.  These bills range from funding new projects to reporting requirements regarding greenhouse gases to penalties for reporting false, misleading or inaccurate information to authorities.

Energy and Utilities

Assembly Bill 452: Under this bill, reporting requirements are improved and reporting on greenhouse gases is enhanced. Existing law required the State Department of Conservation and natural resources to prepare an annual report that includes a statewide inventory of greenhouse gas emissions. This law has been in effect for 20 years in the state of Nevada. Section 1 of this bill requires these agencies and entities to submit to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources any information that is determined by the agency to be necessary to prepare the annual report including information relating to emissions from substitutes for ozone depleting substances. Basically, this law enhances reporting requirements and requires information that was used to prepare a report to be submitted with the report.  The Bill Requires certain state agencies and entities to submit additional data on greenhouse gas emissions  then was previously required. For the entirety of the bill see the link below

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8128/Text

Effective July 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 18: Nevada senate bill 18 relates to public utilities and increases the amount of administrative fines that the public utilities commission of the state of Nevada is authorized to assess for certain violations relating to public utilities. The new law further authorizes the commission to assess administrative fines on a person who provides in accurate or misleading information to the commission. This law revised certain provisions relating to determining how certain administrative fines are assessed by the commission. This law goes so far as to increase criminal penalties for certain violations relating to public utilities and providing other matters that relate there too The bill increased the fines to a maximum of $200,000 per day for each violation up to $2 million for any related violation. The fines imposed by this new statute are extreme and prove the commitment of our state legislatures to protecting the environment and penalizing those who violate Nevada law for firstly reporting or failing to comply with Nevada environmental policy.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7193/Text

Effective on July 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 283: Nevada senate bill 283 relates to local improvements and authorizes municipalities to create a district for certain qualified improvement projects. This new law sets forth the requirements for creating such a district and authorize a certain financing to pay for qualified projects. This law makes various changes relating to the laws regarding local improvement for environmental protections. You may live in an area where you see your city or county removing grass and changing out landscape. This Bill deals with these kind of projects and funding therefore to improve water use and Improve our energy resources. It allows for funding for landlords to improve their properties and rewards public works projects for improving environmental impacts

The bill authorizes local governments to create commercial property financing programs to support energy efficiency, renewable energy, resiliency, or water efficiency improvements. 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7879/Text

Effective October 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 448: This is an extraordinarily long and multi-prong bill that aims to increase clean energy investments in our state  and promote storage and transmission. The Nevada legislature approved this sweeping clean energy bill that is directed at accelerating the construction of a massive transmission project. The bill also aims at increasing spending on electric vehicle infrastructure and requires that the state join the Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) by 2030. This bill puts legislative backing behind the planned $2 billion “Greenlink Nevada“ transmission upgrade which would construct two new 525 kilovolt transmission lines that would essentially link the entire state. Nevada energy would be required to complete construction of the project by the start of 2029. This bill passed our legislature 32 to 10 after passing the Senate unanimously.

This Bill  was introduced by state senator Chris Brooks of Las Vegas and is advancing Nevada towards its goal of reaching 100% carbon free resources by 2050. This bill requires utilities to forecast a path to achieve 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from the 2005 levels by the end of the decade. The Greenlink Nevada project encompasses more than 600 miles of new transmission lines connecting the Western part of the state to the East and to Las Vegas. These new powerlines would effectively create a transmission triangle that will connect the population centers with geothermal and solar energy. This could give Nevada access to large amounts of renewable energy that are currently not able to reach the grid because of transmission constraints. Experts believe this is a significant path towards fully decarbonizing Nevada. The bill sets our state on a path toward joining a competitive wholesale energy market with other western states creating an 18-member task force to examine the steps Nevada would need to participate in the RTO.

The bill also requires Nevada Energy to file a plan by September 2021 to invest $100 million in electric vehicle infrastructure including charging stations along interstate highways, at outdoor recreation facilities and in urban areas where people may not be able to charge vehicles at home. At least 40% of that infrastructure would have to be located in underserved communities. Nevada energy supported the bill that will transform Nevada’s clean energy landscape and create thousands of jobs in our state. 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/8201/Text

Various effective dates.

At TheOneLawyer.com, we are here to serve our community and provide legal services in the Henderson and Las Vegas area. We are a boutique law firm providing experienced and personal representation to injured clients.  At the Law Offices of Laura Payne-Hunt, TheOneLawyer.com we provide professional and personal service to each and every one of our clients on various legal matters and have over 15 years of experience in reviewing insurance policies and in Nevada insurance law.   If you have a question regarding any type of personal injury or paying your medical bills from an accident, please don’t hesitate to call the offices of TheOneLawyer.com and speak directly to attorney Laura Marie Payne-Hunt, Esq. a Henderson Injury Attorney for over 15 years.  Laura is recognized as one of Nevada’s Top 100 Lawyers.  She has the experience and knowledge to obtain the maximum settlement you deserve.  Please call our office if you or a loved one is injured.  We can make sure that you receive the care you need and deserve and advise on how to preserve evidence.  

At our office, we are experienced in helping injured victims get the compensation they are entitled to.  Insurance companies never have the best interest of the injured person at the top of their priorities.  They want to pay as little on every claim as possible.  Having worked for an insurance company as an attorney for 9 years before opening my boutique law firm specializing in helping injured people, I have reviewed thousands of auto accident claims and policy provisions.   

At the Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury law offices of TheOneLawyer.com, Laura Marie Payne-Hunt and her staff are here to help you and your family in the event that accidents and tragedies occur.  For any of your legal needs, do not hesitate to contact our Henderson and Las Vegas Accident injury offices.  TheOneLawyer.com is a boutique, family-owned law firm that specializes in helping injured people and the community of Las Vegas and Henderson Nevada with legal issues involving auto accidents, wrongful deaths, slip and falls, truck accidents, injuries to children, bicycle accidents, dog bites, product liability claims, and all types of injury claims.  Please do not hesitate to call us anytime you have a legal question or you or a loved one has sustained an injury at 702-450-(HUNT) 4868 and text 24/7 at 702-600-0032.