WEEK SIX UPDATE

With one-third of the 83rd Legislative Session now complete, this week welcomed Chris Heavey to Carson City in his new role as Officer in Charge at UNLV. His time in Carson City provided an opportunity to make the rounds with legislative leadership and connect with UNLV’s representatives and alumni. He is looking forward to many more opportunities to work along-side the Carson City Rebel team while advocating for UNLV and higher education. The pace of week six can best be described as “fast and furious,” as Legislators worked to get their bills introduced ahead of Monday's...(more) 

3/10/25 – Team GCE's Constance Brooks, Vice President for Government and Community Engagement, and Leo Benavides, Director of State Government Affairs, were joined by Chris Heavey, UNLV Officer in Charge, in Carson City during week six.

3/10/25 to 3/13/25 - Children’s Week at the Legislature - UNLV’s Nevada Institute for Children’s Research and Policy in partnership with the Children’s Advocacy Alliance hosted Children’s Week at the Nevada State Legislature. Throughout the week, there were many opportunities to advocate for Nevada’s children, while engaging in numerous programming and networking opportunities, including Story Time with Assemblyman Ken Gray which also included a new book for each child to take home thanks to Hachette Book Group! 

3/10/25 – AB269 (Presentation), Assembly Committee on Government Affairs, Dr. Sara Hunt, Director of the UNLV Mental and Behavioral Health Training Coalition and Associate Professor with the UNLV Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, presented AB269, a bill which aims to strengthen mental health provision in Nevada by expanding the student loan repayment forgiveness of the Nevada Health Equity and Loan Assistance Program to a wider subset of providers of mental health care in underserved communities.

3/10/25 – AB269 (Support), Assembly Committee on Government Affairs, Dr. Michelle Paul, Vice President of UNLV Mental and Behavioral Health Training, testified in support of AB269, emphasizing the important role played by the mental health care professionals to which the bill would expand loan repayment eligibility, and the importance of training and retaining mental health care professionals in Nevada.

3/10/25 – AB269 (Support), Assembly Committee on Government Affairs, Dr. Jennifer Nash, Associate Professor with the UNLV Department of Physical Therapy, testified in support of AB269, highlighting the critical role that many rehabilitation healthcare professionals play in improving health outcomes in Nevada.

3/10/25 – AB237 (Support), Senate Committee on Education, Daniel Archer, Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs for Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), testified in support of AB237, a bill that would restrict higher education institutions from applying certain tuition charges against surviving spouses and children of Nevada first responders killed in the course of duty.

3/10/25 – AB223 (Presentation), Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor, Kacee Atherton, Student-Attorney with the Tenants’ Rights Legal Residency at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law, presented AB223, a bill which would expand protections for Nevada renters and tenants related to habitability, payment method, remediation options, and termination of rental agreements, and emphasized the social costs of failure to provide Nevada tenants with access to justice and the court system.

3/10/25 – AB223 (Presentation), Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor, Alice Samberg, Student-Attorney with the Tenants’ Rights Legal Residency at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law, presented AB223, a bill which would expand protections for Nevada renters and tenants related to habitability, payment method, remediation options, and termination of rental agreements, and outlined the benefits of expanding protections to Nevada renters.

3/10/25 – AB223 (Support), Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor, Alex Andreozzi, Student-Attorney with the Tenants’ Rights Clinic at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law, testified in support of AB223, emphasizing the criticality of providing expanded legal recourse to Nevada tenants.

3/10/25 – AB223 (Support), Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor, Heabin Pyo, Student-Attorney with the Tenants’ Rights Clinic at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law, testified in support of AB223, emphasizing the criticality of providing expanded legal recourse to Nevada tenants.

3/10/25 – AB223 (Support), Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor, Ariana McConnell, Student-Attorney with the Tenants’ Rights Clinic at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law, testified in support of AB223, emphasizing the criticality of providing expanded legal recourse to Nevada tenants.

3/10/25 – UNLV Officer in Charge Chris Heavey connected with UNLV alumni in the legislature for a meet-and-greet. 

3/11/25 – (Presentation) Joint Subcommittee on K-12/Higher Education/CIP, Patricia Charlton, Chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, presented a comprehensive budget overview for Nevada’s eight institutions of higher learning, as well detailing progress on improving educational outcomes and increasing efficiency in application of funding.

3/11/25 – (Presentation) Joint Subcommittee on K-12/Higher Education/CIP, Chris Heavey, Officer in Charge, detailed the importance of continued funding as it relates to students and teachers efficiently pursuing education, and outlining the University’s strategies for growth and community support.

3/11/25 – AB289 (Support), Assembly Committee on Education, Leonardo Benavides, UNLV Director of State Government Affairs, testified in support of AB289, a bill aiming to provide financial literacy course offerings to Nevada students, and emphasized the importance of providing financial training opportunities through the higher education system.

3/11/25 – AB345 (Support), Assembly Committee on Education, Leonardo Benavides, UNLV Director of State Government Affairs, testified in support of AB345, detailing the programs already in place to combat financial issues facing students of Nevada institutions of higher learning, and emphasizing the importance of capturing data that will help these and other programs more effectively support Nevada students.

3/11/25 – AB345 (Support), Assembly Committee on Education, Pio Rejas, UNLV Political Science student and current Senator of the UNLV College of Liberal Arts, testified in support of AB345, detailing the ways that financial barriers hold students back, and the important ways the bill supports Nevada higher education students by addressing the challenges that many students face.

3/11/25 – Nevada State Senator Fabian Doñate and UNLV’s Officer in Charge Chris Heavey take a moment to visit with each other between hearings in the legislative building.

3/11/25 – UNLV Officer in Charge Chris Heavey attended a reception hosted by Intermountain Health.

3/11/25 – Former NSHE Regent and current Nevada State Senator Michelee Cruz-Crawford and UNLV Officer in Charge visit at the Intermountain Health reception.

3/12/25 – (Presentation) Senate Committee on Education, Dr. Anna Colquitt, Director of Education Policy at the Guinn Center for Policy Priorities and UNLV alumna, presented educational policy research and reports prepared by the Guinn Center, highlighting considerations and proposals to strengthen the Nevada education system, and detailing best practices for engaging Nevada’s students and preparing them for professional success.

3/12/25 – SB277 (Presentation) Senate Committee on Education, Dr. Danica Hays, Dean of the UNLV College of Education, and Dr. Kenneth Varner, Associate Dean of the UNLV College of Education, joined State Senator Michelee Cruz-Crawford to present SB277, a bill aiming to strengthen the availability of social services employees in Nevada schools.

3/12/25 – AB340 (Presentation), Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor, Dr. David Orentlicher, Professor of Law at UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law, Director of the UNLV Health Law Program, and Nevada State Assembly Member, presented AB340, a bill which would expand health insurance coverage to include the screening, assessment, and diagnosis of a broader spectrum of physical and mental disabilities in order to improve long-term healthcare outcomes in Nevada.

3/12/25 – AB340 (Presentation), Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor, Dr. Tara Raines, Deputy Director of the Children’s Advocacy Alliance of Nevada and Assistant Professor with the UNLV Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education, presented AB340, emphasizing the importance of early healthcare assessment and intervention to maintaining positive and healthy child development.

3/12/25 – AB340 (Support), Leonardo Benavides, UNLV Director of State Government Affairs, testified in support of AB340, detailing the important mental health research being conducted in Nevada’s institutions of higher education and the data-supported benefits to the community of further broadening Nevada’s screening and assessment capabilities.

3/12/25 - UNLV College of Education Day at the Legislature – Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, former State Senator Joyce Woodhouse, UNLV’s Vice President of Government and Community Engagement Constance Brooks and Director of State Government Affairs Leo Benavides, and UNLV College of Education Dean Danica Hays and Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Initiatives Kenny Varner engaged in a discussion about Teacher Pipeline advocacy. 

3/12/24 – During a recess of the Senate Education Committee, Committee Chair and proud UNR alumna Angie Taylor showed UNLV’s Rebels some love in her scarlet attire, along with Senator and UNLV alumna Marilyn Dondero Loop. 

3/13/25 – AB286 (Presentation), Assembly Committee on Education, Dr. Danica Hays, Dean of the UNLV College of Education, presented AB286, a bill aiming to establish a pilot program through the UNLV College of Education for alternative assessment of teaching license applicants, with the aim of developing and strengthening the Nevada educator workforce.

3/13/25 – AB286 (Presentation), Assembly Committee on Education, Dr. Kenny Varner, Associate Dean of the UNLV College of Education, co-presented AB286, a bill aiming to establish a pilot program through the UNLV College of Education for alternative assessment of teaching license applicants, with the aim of addressing Nevada’s educator workforce shortages. 

3/13/25 – SB262 (Support), Senate Health and Human Services, UNLV Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine Dean Marc Kahn, Chief of Staff, Marianna Sarmiento, and School of Medicine students Raul Marquez, Natalie Osbourne, Mary McDonough, and Salvatore Aiello gathered for a photo following their testimony regarding the impacts and importance of SB262 which would result in the Graduate Medical Education Grant Program’s ability to have a broader impact on Nevadans.  

THE WEEK AHEAD

March 17 - 21, 2025

• 3/17/25 - UNLV Boyd School of Law Day at the Legislature
• 3/17/25, 1:00pm, SB322, Senate Education Committee - A bill that requires each member of the Board of Regents to get yearly professional development.
• 3/17/25, 1:30pm, AB337, Assembly Health and Human Services Committee - A bill that authorizes the UNLV and UNR Medical Schools to create the Nevada Memory Network for early detection of dementia.
• 3/17/25 – UNLV Boyd School of Law Day at the Legislature
• 3/17/25, 3:30pm, SB290, Senate Government Affairs Committee - A bill that allows RTC to remove passengers who behave in unlawful or disorderly conduct.
• 3/18/25 to 3/20/25 – UNLV Honors College Days at the Legislature
• 3/18/25, 8:00am, Joint Assembly Ways and Means and Senate Finance Subcommittees on K-12/Higher Education/CIP - Capital Improvements Budget presentation, including NSHE.
• 3/19/25 - Nonprofit Day at the Legislature
• 3/20/25, 1:30pm, AB328, Assembly Education Committee - A bill that establishes the Commission on Racial Equity and Social Justice through NSHE.

SAVE THE DATE

• March 31st – Latino Lobby Day

• April 9th – UNLV Day

• April 10th – College of Fine Arts Day

• April 10th – TRIO Upward Bound Legislative Action Day

• April 16th – Equality "Lobby" Day

• April 28th – Deaf Day