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Hi Friend, 

The Nevada Legislature concluded the 32nd Special Session on August 6th.
While some significant bills were sent to the Governor's desk, some bad
ones were too. Check out our legislative wrap-up below, and be sure to
[ [link removed] ]contact your legislator to let them know what you think of their work
this session.

 

Let’s Start With the Bad News 

[ [link removed] ]SB4

Public Health and Liability Immunity 

In short, SB4 is a tale of two issues that should have been kept separate.
The first half provides protections for hospitality workers, and we
congratulate them and Culinary 226 for this accomplishment. Then there's
the second half, which means that many businesses can avoid lawsuits
challenging their adherence to the bare minimum of COVID-19 safety
standards. We joined the Nevada Workers Coalition (which will be around in
2021), calling for the Nevada Legislature to answer the pleas of advocates
statewide by splitting SB4 into two bills. While SB4 had great public
health language in it, the Legislature failed to remove the section on
liability immunity for businesses. Liability immunity means that some
businesses are shielded from being held legally responsible for failing to
keep their employees safe from SARS-CoV-2/COVID.

Why would our historical, female-led majority legislature that prides
itself on progressive values even consider such a thing? First is that we
are sure gaming and other corporate entities put a lot of pressure on this
bill. At the federal level, we have Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
in Washington, D.C. to blame. He's [ [link removed] ]included immunity liability in the
next stimulus package, meaning that for Nevada to be bailed out of our
dire economic crisis from the pandemic, we have to be willing to remove
the responsibility of Nevada businesses to keep their employees safe. Were
it not for the advocacy of people statewide, this same deadly policy would
have extended into our schools, preventing teachers and students from
holding their school districts accountable for failing to keep them safe. 

A whopping 47 of our 62 legislators voted for SB4 without removing
liability immunity from it.

 

[ [link removed] ]SB2

Police Brutality

The Governor and state Senate failed to answer the call of advocates
against Police Brutality statewide by passing and signing SB2 into law.
SB2 included revisions to SB242, harmful and deadly legislation sponsored
by Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro during 2019's legislative
session. 

After 2019's session, the [ [link removed] ]families of Nevada police brutality victims
called for a full repeal of SB242 and the Nevada Peace Officer Bill of
Rights that protects terrible officers. Under SB242, a suspended officer
can still receive pay, charges against an officer can only be brought up
within one year, and statements made from officers during internal
investigations are barred from being used in civil lawsuits. 

Because of SB242, countless victims of police brutality and their families
have not received justice for the violence and murder perpetrated by law
enforcement. SB2 failed to address the changes that families of victims
called for. 

Regardless of the outcome, thank you to the Mass Liberation Project,
Forced Trajectory Project, the ACLU Nevada, and the Progressive Leadership
Alliance of Nevada for all of your work on this issue.

 

 

And Now, the Good News!

[ [link removed] ]AB4

Voting Access in Nevada

This bill protected democracy and safe voting access in Nevada. As you
know by now, the general election is under attack. Nevada took bold action
to ensure that Coronavirus or not, we will have a safe and accessible
election in November! This bill requires that all eligible voters will
receive a mail ballot, expanded in-person vote centers, and ballot drop
boxes for early vote and election day. The bill gave tribes the ability to
request vote centers and drop-boxes and established processes for
collecting and verifying ballots. Thank you, Silver State Voices, and Let
Nevadans Vote for all of your work on this!

[ [link removed] ]SB1

Eviction Proceedings

This bill allows the courts to stay eviction proceedings for up to 30 days
to facilitate mediation efforts - to ensure that tenants have been
connected with community resources, assistance, and hopefully, better
solutions than being formally evicted. Thank you to the Legal Aid Center
of Southern Nevada for all of your work on this bill!

 

[ [link removed] ]SB3

Unemployment Insurance

This "Unemployment Insurance Bill" extends someone's ability to collect
unemployment from 13 weeks to 20 weeks, and it provides COVID-specific
protections for high-risk families to not return to work and still have
the ability to collect unemployment. Usually, a claimant would lose
unemployment assistance if they turned down a job offer. We hope that this
bill will help Nevada slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep families afloat
during this international crisis. Thank you again to the Legal Aid Center
of Southern Nevada for all of your work!

 

What Still Needs Some Work

[ [link removed] ]AB3

Police Brutality 

Overall, we celebrate AB3 as a win, but know that it's just a start in
supporting our partners who do the life-saving work of addressing the
Prison Industrial Complex and police brutality in Nevada. This bill:

-Bans chokeholds

-Addresses the use-of-force matrix

-Mandates drug and alcohol testing for officers immediately after
use-of-force incidents

-Prioritizes medical aid to victims of police violence

-Mandates the collection of data in regards to police stops

-Mandates intervention training to law enforcement officers to intervene
in a use-of-force incident should they perceive excessive force is being
used

Thank you again to the Mass Liberation Project, Forced Trajectory Project,
the ACLU Nevada, and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada for all
of your work. 

 

[ [link removed] ]AJR1, [ [link removed] ]AJR2, [ [link removed] ]SJR1

Mining and Revenue

After decades of activism by Nevada tribal communities and the Progressive
Leadership Alliance of Nevada, the Legislature finally increased the taxes
on the mining industry. Because AJR1, AJR2, and SJR1 are resolutions and
not bills, they need to be voted on again by the Legislature during
another session to get on the ballot in 2022. These resolutions need two
votes before they make it to the ballot because they would change the
constitution of our state. The road to get this funding into our state's
healthcare and education system is a long one, but the first steps were
accomplished with these historic votes!

 

And finally, 

Out in Front with Annette

Through it all, pandemic or not, Annette Magnus was right there in front
of the Nevada State Legislative building, relaying vital information to
our viewers and ensuring our leaders heard the calls of their
constituents. Being a lone wolf away from home during a pandemic is no
easy feat, but her courage ensured that the Battle Born Progress base was
up to date on the happenings of this historical special session. You can
view all of the "Out in Front" episodes [ [link removed] ]on Facebook.

 

Yours in Solidarity, 

Carmella Gadsen

Organizer, Battle Born Progress and Institute for a Progressive Nevada


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