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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 contact your legislator to let them know what you think of their work this session.
Let’s Start With the Bad NewsPublic 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 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.
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 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!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! 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!
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 WorkPolice 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.
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 on Facebook.
Yours in Solidarity, Carmella Gadsen Organizer, Battle Born Progress and Institute for a Progressive Nevada 
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