Nevada
Vegas Chamber: No bad bills for Nevada business community survived in legislative session
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A wise observer of Carson City once opined that the legislative process was designed to kill bills, not to pass them.
And judging by the Vegas Chamber’s post-legislative session breakfast on Wednesday at the California Hotel & Casino, success in Carson City this year was measured as much in bills that died as in ones that passed.
WATCH | Here are the killed bills discussed at the lobbyist breakfast
Vegas Chamber: No bad bills for Nevada businesses survived in legislative session
Chamber Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Paul Moradkhan said his team had tracked 879 bills, testified on 204 and helped negotiation more pro-business amendments to 24.
But he said that the Chamber had helped kill 41 bills and cheered the veto of another 26.
“And you look because of the work of the business community as a whole, we were able to stop those,” Moradkhan told the crowd. “They were either killed, vetoed or mitigated. So I’m proud to say not a single bad bill got through the session. That’s what we talked about is a huge win for the Nevada business community.”
KTNV
Among the bills Moradkhan said he helped kill was Assembly Bill 388, a measure by Assemblywoman Selena La Rue Hatch, D-Washoe County, that would have offered state and private-sector workers eight weeks of paid family leave. That bill was vetoed by Gov. Joe Lombardo, one of 87 bills he rejected during or after the 2025 session.
Another was Assembly Bill 414, by Assemblywoman Cinthia Moore, D-Clark County, that would have required safety standards for warehouse workers exposed to vehicle exhaust fumes. That bill was vetoed.
And Senate Bill 182 — by state Sen. Rochelle Nguyen, D-Clark County — would have required staffing plans at hospitals, including setting minimum nurse-patient ratios. That bill was also vetoed.
But it wasn’t just killing bills that occupied the Chamber’s team. Moradkhan said he was most pleased with Assembly Bill 444, which requires chambers of commerce to be notified of new regulations.
He also cheered a similar measure, Assembly Bill 125, which requires that all public agency meetings be posted on a state website and Senate Bill 373, which provides for business licenses in Clark County that are good across jurisdictional lines.
He said that the Chamber was already at work preparing for the 2027 session, when he said he expects to see some killed or vetoed bills return.
“We were able to kill some bills, stop some bills, but we know they’re going to come back, so we’re prepared to have that conversation,” he said.
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Ask Steve: Your questions about politics, elections and government in Nevada
California Gov. Gavin Newsom won’t admit it, but a move by President Donald Trump is especially helpful to drivers in California — and Nevada.
Gasoline prices are pressuring consumers around the country. On Friday, the average U.S. price was $4.55 a gallon. In California, that would be a bargain. The average there was $6.16 a gallon. Nevada’s average was $5.23 a gallon, the result of around 88 percent of the state’s gasoline coming from California.
It might be getting worse — regardless of what happens in Iran.
In recent months, two major California refineries have shut down. That represented a 17 percent reduction in California’s refining capacity. Their closures weren’t caused by the Iran war, but by Gov. Newsom and California’s relentless attacks on fossil fuels.
To make up for the fuel it won’t extract or refine in-state, California depends on imports from foreign countries.
“We are importing 30 percent of our crude oil from the Middle East,” Mike Ariza, a former control board supervisor at the Valero Benicia Refinery, said in an interview. He has been warning the public about California’s potential fuel shortage. “There are not very many ships left on the way that have fuel,” he said last month.
Last week, KCRA-TV in Sacramento reported that “about 2 million barrels of oil are in the process of being unloaded in Long Beach off of the last California-bound tanker that got through the Strait of Hormuz.”
At a California legislative hearing Tuesday, Siva Gunda, the vice chairman of the California Energy Commission, said the state has enough gasoline to accommodate demand for the next six weeks. That’s not a very long time, especially given that it takes weeks or months for oil to travel from the Middle East to California. And that process won’t begin until the Strait of Hormuz reopens.
There is a region, however, with abundant oil available for sale and safe passage — the southeastern United States. Unfortunately, the Jones Act, an antiquated 1920 law, mandates that only U.S.-flagged ships may move cargo between U.S. ports. But only 55 of the more than 7,000 oil tankers worldwide comply with this requirement.
This is where Mr. Trump rode to the rescue. Late last month, the White House announced Mr. Trump would suspend the Jones Act for another 90 days. In March, he originally waived it for 60 days. This will make it easier for California and Nevada to obtain domestic product.
If only Mr. Trump could also suspend the destructive energy policies imposed by Gov. Newsom and California Democrats.
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — An adoptable pet is in the spotlight for “Furever Home Friday,” with Amy from the Nevada SPCA featured in a segment highlighting an animal available for adoption today.
The Nevada SPCA encouraged viewers looking to add a pet to their family to consider adopting.
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