CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Lawmakers are officially through the halfway point of the Nevada Legislature, and the upcoming week will see a repeat of issues that most Republicans support and Democrats loathe. Next week will see legislators battle over more bills affecting unions, an alternative Republican tax plan and a proposal to repeal the state’s health exchange program.
Here’s what to watch for this week at the Legislature:
UNION LEGISLATION
Nevada Republicans are pushing a bevy of bills designed to sustainably change how collective bargaining agreements in Nevada work.
Republican Majority Leader Michael Roberson is sponsoring SB 241, which would prevent school administrators from collectively bargaining with their employers. The bill is scheduled for a hearing Monday in the Senate Government Affairs Committee.
Roberson said collective bargaining is meant to protect the rights of laborers and not management, and that many administrators’ salaries hover around six figures.
Another Republican-backed bill, AB 356, would prohibit labor organizations from threatening businesses or physically damaging the property or merchandise or any business.
Assemblywoman Michele Fiore is sponsoring the bill, which is scheduled for a hearing Monday. The bill would also allow businesses to sue unions for the violent actions of members.
TAX LEGISLATON
An Assembly-Republican backed tax measure claiming to be a viable alternative to Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed business license fee increase is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday.
Republican Assembly members Derek Armstrong and Majority Leader Paul Anderson are the architects of AB 464, which would raise the rate on the Modified Business Tax from 1.17 percent to 1.56 percent for general businesses, and would require companies that spend more than $50,000 in wages each quarter to pay it. That threshold is lower than existing law, which exempts businesses that pay less than $85,000 in a quarter.
The plan would also raise the business license fee to $500 a year for corporations and $300 for other businesses.
Sandoval’s measure increasing the state business license fee passed out of a committee last week with Democratic opposition. Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson said he plans to hold the measure, SB 252, on the Senate floor until he can get enough Democrats to meet the constitutional two-thirds requirement for any tax increase.
SICK OF THE HEALTH EXCHANGE
A group of Republicans are trying to scrap the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange launched as part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.
The Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee is holding a hearing Monday for AB368, which is sponsored by Assemblyman Brent Jones - the same lawmaker leading the charge to repeal Common Core education standards.
The exchange was plagued with so many technical problems in its first few months and fell so far short of its stated enrollment goal that the state prematurely canceled its agreement with contractor Xerox. Nevada then shifted from a state-run exchange to a federally supported exchange that uses the infrastructure of the federal HealthCare.Gov website.
Nearly 74,000 Nevadans had purchased an insurance plan through the federal marketplace by end of the enrollment period that wrapped up in February. That’s double the number that enrolled in the first go-round.
HELLER OF A TIME
U.S. Senator Dean Heller is scheduled to address both houses of the state Legislature on Monday. Heller’s visit to the state capitol comes on the heels of Democratic Sen. Harry Reid announcing his retirement two weeks ago and cancelling a scheduled speech at the Legislature.
The Republican senator won a close 2012 general election race against former Rep. Shelley Berkley. Heller also served 12 years as Nevada’s Secretary of State.
Newly elected Republican Rep. Cresent Hardy will also address the Legislature on Wednesday. Hardy, a former state Assemblyman representing Mesquite, surprised many by defeating Democratic incumbent Steven Horsford in the 2014 election.
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Associated Press writer Michelle Rindels contributed to this report.
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