2017 WEEKLY REPORT FROM THE CAPITAL
 
Week 3: February 20-24

 

Sponsored by:

Wells Fargo - BEST  

 

A Healthy Private Sector Ensures 

a Healthy Public Sector

 

Follow The Chamber on Twitter.  Tray Abney, the Chamber's Director of Government Relations, will be tweeting from the Legislature.  Follow him at @trayabney. 


 

     Minimum Wage, Maximum Impact

Thus far, the biggest business news in Carson City would have to be the two minimum wage increase hearings.

The first, on AB 175, occurred in the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee last week.  This is the more aggressive of the two bills, increasing minimum wage by $1.25/year for four years until the wage is $15.00 per hour.  Various activists and labor unions (who are exempt from minimum wage restrictions) spoke to support the bill and most of the business associations and trade groups took fire for "attacking working people."  Click HERE to view the hearing.

The second hearing occurred early Monday morning in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.   SB 106 was heard for a little over two hours and, while it included the same cast of characters, it was a bit more tame than the Assembly hearing.  Click HERE to view the hearing.

Your Chamber testified in opposition to these increases because it believes we do not create jobs by making it more expensive to do so.  Nor do you enhance workforce development by making it difficult to hire first-time workers and giving them the basic skills they need to move forward in their careers.  The Chamber asserted that if the minimum wage is going to be raised on our small business employers, our members need relief in the form of a tip credit and a change to Nevada's daily overtime law.

This is a major issue for the Democratic majority this year.  Governor Sandoval has already issued a strongly-worded statement against an increase.  

The real question is if the Democrats move quickly on one of these bills and receive a veto in return, will they introduce a constitutional amendment and start that five-year process?

Click HERE for our interview on KOLO.

This issue will be around all Session, so stay tuned.

Forced Paid Sick Leave

Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford has introduced SB 196, which would require employers to provide paid sick leave to ALL of your employees.

In summary, this bill states:

-every employer must offer earned sick leave that is to be accrued I hour for every 30 hours worked
 
-may be used by an employee 90 days after the start of employment
 
-employers can limit the use to 24 years per year
 
-employers can limit the accrual to a maximum of 48 hours per year
 
-employers can set a minimum increment of leave that can be used at one time, but that minimum can't exceed 2 hours
 
-employers must maintain records for inspection for up to three years after an employee has left and must provide employees with documentation of their accrued sick leave every pay period
 
-you would not be required to compensate for unused sick leave upon employment separation, but if an employee returns within one year, their unused leave is returned to them
 
-can be fined $5,000 for each violation

We are looking for YOUR input on this.  Please email me at tabney@thechambernv.org and let me know how this bill would affect your ability to create jobs.

This bill has not been scheduled for a hearing yet, but will be soon.

    Pathways to a Blueprint

In an effort to out-Nevada and out-America each other, the Democrats and Republicans have each released their own version of the Great Nevada Society.

The Assembly and Senate Democrats are more unified, as they released their joint Nevada Blueprint HERE.

The Senate Republicans have released their "Pathway Forward" HERE.

And the Assembly Republicans have Battle Born Priorities HERE.

  A Few Bills This Week

-Senator Heidi Gansert's SB 160 was heard in Senate Government Affairs on Monday.  The Chamber testified in support of the measure, which would make the regulatory rule-making process more transparent by requiring a three-day posting requirement for follow up workshops and meetings.  Click HERE to watch the hearing.

-AB 159 was heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday.  This bill would ban fracking in Nevada.  There was a lot of time spent in the 2013 Session creating stringent rules for fracking.  While there is not a lot of this activity going on within our state right now, there is future potential for this energy.  The Chamber has always supported an "all of the above" energy policy and wants to ensure that the opportunity for energy production jobs remains robust in Nevada and that we increase our energy independence.  As such, we signed in opposed to this bill.  Click HERE to watch the hearing.

-Assembly Government Affairs heard AB 106 yesterday.  The intent of this bill is to ensure that employers who contract with Nevada state government agencies are providing equal pay for equal work.  While the original bill linked above included several onerous provisions, including mounds of reports and paperwork and heavy fines, sponsor Ellen Spiegel is working with The Chamber and several other interested parties to turn this bill into an incentive program that would give companies special recognition if they are certified as an "equal pay" business.  Click HERE to watch the hearing.

Up Next Week...

 

-AB 211 will be heard in Assembly Commerce on Monday, February 27, 2017. This bill would allow TRIPLE damages to be awarded to an employee who prevails in an unpaid wages case.

 

-AB 149 will be heard in the same hearing.  This bill would codify a recent Nevada Supreme Court decision and would not allow certain noncompete agreements.

 

-Assembly Health will discuss AB 113, which would require employers to provide reasonable break times and a "clean, private place" for employees to express breast milk.  Companies with under 50 employees would be exempted if these requirements present a hardship.  This bill returns from last Session and was worked on extensively by The Chamber and others. This is the language we agreed upon in 2015 and we will be supporting this bill.

 

-Senate Revenue will hear SB 147, which would provide Modified Business Tax (MBT) credits to employers who assist in the cost of daycare for their employees.


 

The Chamber's 

2017 Legislative Priorities:

 

 

Link to The Chamber's 2017 Legislative Priorities Page

 

Prepared by Tray Abney