LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Assembly Bill 398, a bill that seeks to include charter school teacher pay raises and increase compensation for hard-to-fill public school positions, passed in the assembly on Friday night.

The bill would appropriate more than $19 million to the State Public Charter School Authority for charter school teacher pay raises.

This move comes after Gov. Joe Lombardo threatened to veto any education budget that does not include charter school teacher pay raises.

“Governor Lombardo made it very clear; charter school teacher pay raises were nonnegotiable, and I am honored to have worked with Speaker Yeager to get it done,” said Minority Leader Gregory Hafen. “One of my top priorities this session has been to ensure we get the Governor’s priorities passed. I believe we will be immensely successful at accomplishing that goal,” Hafen said.

Speaker Steve Yeager and Minority Leader Hafen both sponsored the bipartisan bill.

The bill will now go to the Senate and will need to be passed before June 2.

A Friday deadline in the Nevada Legislature was the last one on the calendar of the 120-day session until June 2, but there is still plenty for lawmakers to consider in Carson City before the 2025 session adjourns.

About 60 bills have been considered by both chambers and are on their way to the governor’s desk as of 6 p.m. Friday. Hundreds more must be considered in the next 10 days or face failure.

Bills without exemptions needed to pass through their second house, either the Assembly or state Senate, before they could receive Gov. Joe Lombardo’s consideration. But they weren’t the only measures considered; leaders also pushed through some of their recent proposals to cap insulin costs — and sailed through four out of five major budget bills in late-night votes.

Here are some highlights from Friday’s second house passage deadline in the Legislature.

Bills that survived

A bill criminalizing wrong-way driving will head to the governor’s desk. Assembly Bill 111 — dubbed “Jaya’s Law” — passed unanimously in the Senate on Friday. The bill was named after 3-year-old Jaya Brooks, who was killed in a wrong-way crash on U.S. 95 near the Durango Drive off-ramp in December 2023.

“I am thrilled both the Assembly and Senate understood the importance of this bill, and I look forward to the Governor signing it into law,” bill sponsor Brian Hibbetts, R-Las Vegas, said in a statement.

A proposal to allow workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement to use sick time to take care of family members advanced through Friday’s deadline. Assembly Bill 112 removed an exemption for employees under collective bargaining, making the use more widely available.

AB 112 passed the Senate 15-6. Two Las Vegas Republicans joining the Democrats: John Steinbeck and Lori Rogich. The bill was returned to the Assembly, where they still must vote to agree on new amendments.

Gun possession policies that Lombardo vetoed last year passed the Assembly on party-line votes Friday, with Democrats in support. Senate Bill 89, sponsored by Sen. Julie Pazina, D-Las Vegas, would prevent someone convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime from owning or purchasing a firearm for 10 years.

The bill heads to the governor’s desk, where it may face another veto.

Other actions in the Legislature

Lawmakers also advanced a key last-minute proposal from Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager. The chamber unanimously approved Assembly Bill 555, which would cap insulin at $35 for a 30-day supply for private insurance users. The legislation, introduced on May 8 and not subject to Friday’s deadline, follows the federal government’s price cap for insulin costs for people on Medicare.

“I think most of us here campaigned in 2024, and I’m sure that your voters made clear to you that their No. 1 concern was rising costs,” the Las Vegas Democrat said during the bill’s hour-long hearing on Wednesday. “This answer is a partial answer to that to so many Nevadans.”

AB 555 now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Lawmakers also saved legislation that could have failed Friday’s deadline. Senate Bill 179, defining “antisemitism” for Nevada Equal Rights Commission investigations, was exempted from deadlines on Friday.

Jewish advocacy groups asked for it to be amended to include the widely adopted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition, which includes contemporary examples, during a May 13 hearing. The Government Affairs committee recommended it as amended on the previous deadline day, May 16. The exemption gives the bill more time for a floor vote from the Assembly.

State budget moves along

Lawmakers moved four of the five major budget bills this week. The bills allocate funding to K-12 schools, state employees, capital improvement projects, state departments and authorize the use of federal funds and other fees generated by the state. They are typically among the last bills considered, but only the capital improvement projects bill, Senate Bill 502, needs the Assembly’s approval to head to the governor.

On Friday afternoon, senators appeared ready to send two of the bills — Assembly Bills 591 and 592, appropriating funds for state agencies and state employees salaries, respectively — to the governor’s desk. They voted on the bills before rescinding them when they realized the Assembly had not yet acted on the education budget (Senate Bill 500), which is constitutionally required to be approved first.

Late Friday night, the Assembly uanimously approved SB 500 allowing the others to be voted on, as well.

Contact McKenna Ross at
mross@reviewjournal.com.
Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.

The UNLV Rebels athletic department has won the Silver State Series presented by America First Credit Union for the third straight year and for the 10th time in its 13-year existence. With all the points now tallied, the Rebels have won by a score of 27 – 21. 

The Silver State Series is a competition between UNLV and the Nevada Wolf Pack each year since 2012. It was originally known as the Governor’s Series. The two Division I athletic departments compete head-to-head for statewide supremacy in both athletic and academic challenges. The team with the most points based on athletic wins, series results, and Academic Progress Rate wins the series and retains the trophy for a year. 

“- Head-to-head competitions will be worth 3 points

-Series or home-and-home competitions will be worth a total of 3 points; head-to-head competition in the conference tournament will serve as a tie-breaker (if available); 1.5 points for series tie in the event the teams split in the regular season and don’t play head-to-head in the conference tournament.

-Highest finish in Mountain West Championships will be used for sports that don’t compete head-to-head or in a series

-3 points will be awarded for sport-by-sport comparison of APR scores (school with the most “wins” by sport in the head-to-head comparisons will be awarded 3 points; 1.5 point per institution in the event of tie)

-Winning institution will be retain the trophy for one (1) year

-In the event of a tie, the winner of the Battle for Fremont Cannon football game will be used as the tie-breaker”

This is a victory that means a lot to both schools, and after a tight 6 – 6 race at the end of the fall, the Rebels pulled away. UNLV athletic director Erick Harper congratulated his student-athletes and staff after their big series win. 

“I want to offer my congratulations to our student-athletes, coaches and staff for another win in this ongoing series,” Harper said. “Keeping the Cannon red always gets us off to a good start in the competition and we earned points throughout the calendar from a variety of men’s and women’s teams this year. America First Credit Union is a tremendous partner and we owe a great deal of gratitude for their unwavering support of the Silver State Series. We look forward to another spirited series next year and wish all teams the best. Go Rebels!”