RGJ recap: What you missed during a dramatic special legislative session in Carson City

Legislators balanced the budget, but fell short on controversial mining tax hike

James DeHaven
Reno Gazette Journal

The reviews of Nevada’s latest special legislative session are in, and they’re not kind.

Pundits, activists and political experts agree the past few weeks in Carson City featured way more partisan bickering, and a lot less actual lawmaking, than Gov. Steve Sisolak hoped for when he called legislators back to the capital to fill a projected $1.2 billion budget deficit caused by the coronavirus. 

Lawmakers managed to complete that task — and even restored some of the steepest planned cuts to health care and education spending — though the state’s 31st special session will likely be best remembered for what they didn't do: Pass a landmark mining tax hike that failed on two separate votes in the Nevada Senate.

More:Nevada lawmakers approve $116 million in budget cuts, with a few choice words for Sisolak

Related:BREAKING: Special session ends after lawmakers OK hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts

That bill’s dramatic demise seemed to suck the remaining energy out of an already slow-moving 12-day session that ended on July 19.

Shortly after it was over, Sisolak — who has faced bipartisan accusations of failing to communicate with the Legislature — delayed a promised second special session focused on criminal justice, unemployment insurance and election system reforms. In a statement, Sisolak explained he had “serious reservations” about keeping the Legislature open amid a statewide spike in COVID cases.

Skeptics think the governor’s decision had more to do with making sure the next special session is more productive than the first. 

“Obviously, (the session) wasn’t managed properly, but I think that reflects the problem we have with term limits now,” said Fred Lokken, a registered Democrat and professor of political science at Truckee Meadows Community College. “To have not one but two failed votes was problematic and unfortunately it aroused more partisanship than anyone wanted — either party or the governor.  

“Frankly, I think that may be one of the reasons for delaying the second session.”

Here’s what you missed during the first session, and a look ahead to the second: 

State Senator Yvanna Cancela outside the Legislature on the twelfth day of the 31st Special Session in Carson City on Sunday, July 19, 2020.

What bills passed?

Legislators saved the bulk of the budget repairs for the session’s final 24 hours, when they turned their attention to a half-billion dollar package of spending reductions, pay freezes and state worker furloughs outlined in Assembly Bill 3

By the time it was heard in the Senate, the Legislature’s lower chamber had already made several changes meant to soften the bill’s projected $400 million blow to state health care and K-12 spending.

One of those amendments was made possible by passage of Senate Bill 3, which temporarily increased state access to highway funds and fast-tracked the collection of taxes owed by mining companies, freeing up around $71.4 million to offset some of the lawmakers’ least favorite budget cuts.

Senate Bill 1 shaved another $73 million off the state’s deficit by delaying, canceling or refinancing construction and upkeep at dozens of state-owned properties.  A $20 million advanced engineering building at UNLV counts as the largest casualty of the belt-tightening. Senate Bill 4 also passed without opposition. It allows officials to sell off up to $150 million in debt if the state starts to run low on cash later this year.

Senate Bill 2 is actually expected to cost the state a few million dollars, though it enjoyed a similarly smooth ride to Sisolak’s desk. That bill allows the state Board of Regents to temporarily waive minimum GPA and college credit requirements imposed on Millennium Scholarship recipients when the governor declares a state of emergency. 

Students eligible for the popular 21-year-old scholarship program are typically required to maintain a minimum 2.6 GPA per semester while pursuing at least nine credits at a college or university accredited by the NSHE.

The Legislature on the eleventh day of the 31st Special Session in Carson City on Saturday, July 18, 2020.

Taken together, lawmakers were able to defray $188 million in planned reductions to this year’s spending plan, including more than $85 million in add-backs to the state’s education and health care budgets. 

Amendments to AB 3, the budget cut bill, revived once-threatened merit pay raises and halved the recommended number of state worker furloughs — lowering that tally to six unpaid days per year, instead of 12. A separate revision sent some $50 million in federal COVID relief funds toward “alternative intensive instruction” initiatives, such as distance learning, during the pandemic.

Of course, lawmakers weren't able to avert every cut spelled out in Sisolak's budget repair plan. 

The state still aims to save around $140 million by delaying and reducing Medicaid reimbursements for health care providers, and plans to preserve another $28 million by scaling back state-subsidized dental and mental health services.

Lawmakers also slashed $25 million in higher education spending and a combined $100 million from popular K-12 programs such as the Read By Grade 3 literacy initiative, which Sisolak has pledged to restore if and when the state receives another influx of federal COVID relief funds. 

Officials predict the Silver State's first batch of federal aid will cover most of the costs associated with holding the first special session, a tab some Republicans say could top $720,000.

What bills failed?

Assembly Bill 4, introduced a mere three days before the session concluded, would’ve capped dozens of tax deductions now enjoyed by mining companies, raising around $102 million to put toward the state’s budget deficit.

That amounts to only about one-fifth of the nearly $536 million in across-the-board spending cuts Sisolak asked for, though Democratic lawmakers and prominent mining company critics praised it as a “good first step” toward making the industry pay its “fair share” of taxes. 

But their support couldn’t overcome stubborn GOP resistance to the proposal, which died twice over the course of a single, dizzying day at the state capital. 

It all started with a late-night hearing in the state Senate, where Republicans banded together to withhold a key vote needed to pass the measure with a constitutionally required supermajority in both chambers. Democrats quickly countered with a deal that would’ve sent proceeds from the tax increase straight to K-12 schools in exchange for the crucial support of state Sen. Keith Pickard, R-Henderson.

At first, Pickard agreed. Then he changed his mind, kicking off a daylong soap opera that culminated in accusations of “cowardice” on the Senate floor.

The resurrected measure ultimately failed on the same party-line vote that killed it a day earlier.

Flip-flop sandals lead to Senator Keith Pickard's office inside the Legislature on the eleventh day of the 31st Special Session in Carson City on Saturday, July 18, 2020. More than 300 sandals were placed inside the legislature by members of the Assembly to protest Senator Pickard.

Assembly Bill 2 suffered a much swifter fate after seemingly being orphaned by its own sponsor.

The measure, carried by the Clark County School District, would’ve allowed district officials to donate unspent school funds to the state’s ongoing budget repair effort.

But it was left to die on the chief clerk’s desk just two days after a series of combative floor exchanges with district Superintendent Jesus Jara, who was grilled by lawmakers worried about sweeping funds from schools already facing $163 million in spending cuts.

Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, claimed Jara backed away from the measure after it had already been approved for the special session agenda laid out by Sisolak.

“You don’t get to light a firecracker and run just before it goes off,” he added.

Sisolak later issued a statement backing up Frierson’s account and accusing Jara of trying to  “mislead the communities he represents.”

The Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday reported school board members were poised to reconsider Jara’s $320,000 employment contract.

What’s next?

Sisolak’s decision to delay a special session sequel came as a surprise to some in Carson City, underscoring the apparent disconnect between the governor and his partisan colleagues at the Legislature.

Faced with a near-unprecedented public health crisis, the first-term Democrat simply may not have realized the need for a more hands-on approach, said Laura Martin, executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.

She’s hoping Democrats walk in with a better plan the next time around, when major policing reforms are likely to top the agenda. 

“For us, the best case scenario is repealing (Senate Bill) 242,” Martin said, referring to a Democrat-backed 2019 law that expanded protections for police officers accused of misconduct. “We also stand with the ACLU on the chokeholds and things like that.”

Martin said lawmakers are rumored to be considering measures that would allow drug and alcohol testing of police officers involved in shootings, as well as a proposal that would require police to intervene when they see another officer misusing force on a suspect.

Legislators expect to weigh similarly sweeping unemployment insurance and election system reforms during the as-yet-unscheduled second special session. They also anticipate a fight over whether or not to hold a traditional in-person election in November. 

Mail-in ballot issue

Lokken, the TMCC political science professor, said they ought to add at least one more item to the docket: Republican-requested protections for businesses embroiled in COVID-related lawsuits.

“They’ve got to address the liability issue, because the lawsuits have already started, Lokken added. “And the November election. … I think they’ll definitely want to push the mail-in (ballot) issue.”

Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske has long signaled her intention to return to in-person voting after COVID forced officials to hold the state’s first vote-by-mail primary election in June. 

Nevada’s lone Republican statewide officeholder on Friday confirmed she was sticking to that plan despite a statewide spike in virus cases, explaining she would need a budget bump of up to $5 million to pay for a second all-mail election.

Democrats, long seen as the primary beneficiary of mail-in elections, are unlikely to let that happen without a headline-grabbing fight over expanding access to the polls.

Lawmakers are expected to return to Carson City in early August.

James DeHaven is the politics reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal. He covers campaigns, the Nevada Legislature and everything in between. Support his work by subscribing to RGJ.com right here